Ninja Gaiden Sigma II

Ninja Gaiden Sigma II

If frantic action games are your thing and you passed on Ninja Gaiden II, NGSII is a must.

By Avinash Bali

The Ninja Gaiden series has always had a bittersweet relationship with gamers. They're brilliant games burdened by unforgiving difficulty. This is probably the biggest reason it appeals only to a certain niche. Team Ninja tried to expand that audience with Ninja Gaiden II (NG II) and it worked to a certain extent but it was still an extremely tough game. Now it seems with Ninja Gaiden Sigma II (NGS II) they’ve managed to come up with a title that can be enjoyed by newcomers and veterans alike.

NGS II is pretty much the same game as NG II. You do have bonus missions woven into the single player campaign but the plot stays the same. To bring you up to speed on what’s happened so far head over to our NG II review. Right now that you’re back let’s address the biggest boon of the game – its difficulty. At the lowest difficulty level (there are just two to choose from anyway), NGS II is manageable and dare I say, easy to a certain extent. I haven’t tried the highest difficulty level because I value my sanity but I hear it’ll reduce you to tears.

While playing through the Path of the Acolyte I found a lot more health strewn around, checkpoints replenished my health bar completely (this was present in NG II as well) and bosses weren’t insanely tough (initially at least). Sadly you still have boss fights back to back that can be a real bitch if you finish up all your herbs and health on the first one. Still this game is far from a cakewalk. It’s challenging and will beat you over the head with a stick if you’re one of those guys who aren’t used to blocking or have really slow reflexes. The action in NGS II is fast paced and frantic much like the Xbox 360 version with tons of improvements. NG II while a lightening fast game did have some framerate issues that have now been ironed out now. The game’s been given a visual overhaul and looks a lot prettier. On the flipside all the awesome blood and gore from the first game has been axed considerably and decapitating enemies just doesn’t feel that satisfying.

To most people the omission of blood and gore wouldn’t mean a lot but for me it was nearly a deal breaker. NG II carved a name for itself as one of if not the bloodiest action games ever made. Without that it’s just another well made action game. Think about it for a minute. Would you enjoy Gears of War or God of War or Manhunt without the violence? No you wouldn’t because that’s the game’s identity and in doing so you would rob it of its identity.

New to the Ninja Gaiden series is a Horde mode of sorts called Team missions whereby you and another player take on wave after wave of enemies in a particular level for a stipulated period of time. If you’re a total loner and have absolutely no friends or faith in friendly AI you can play these Team Missions by yourself as well. But that would defeat the whole purpose anyway.

Blood or no blood Ninja Gaiden Sigma II is still a solid action game. It’s improved on all aspects of NG II to give you an easier and a more accessible game. There’s tons of extra content here in the form of extra missions, a horde mode, newer weapons and improved visuals. If frantic action games are your thing and you passed on NG II because you were too scared of what it would do to your ego I most definitely suggest giving NGSII a shot.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma II is available exclusively for the PS3 for Rs. 2799.

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Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2