CONCEPT:It’s Ninja Gaiden II but on PS3, with new playable characters, new weapons, new enemies, and a new co-op mode.
How will Ninja Gaiden fare with Itagaki out of the picture?

An artist’s work is never done, or so the saying goes, and it’s particularly apt when applied to the Ninja Gaiden series. The NES trilogy, handheld games and Sega titles each tweaked the formula in their own ways, but it was with the post-2004 next ­gen output that the perfectionist nature of Team Ninja became evident.

Xbox’s Ninja Gaiden became Ninja Gaiden Black, which in turn became P53 exclusive Ninja Gaiden Sigma, the two remakes fine-tuning the action-adventure mechanics with shin obi precision. Similarly to the silent assassins, the changes were all but invisible to the uninitiated. Invisible but no less effective.

360 exclusive Ninja Gaiden II is set to get the same treatment, and is arguably the game most in need of improvement. Challenge and technique were ever-present in the sequel, and the combat felt as precise and deadly as before. Yet its greatest innovations added up to little more than superfluous amounts of blood and severed limbs – leaving many fans wanting.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 will alter gameplay from the ground up like in dota 2 guide, ranging from mechanical adjustments such as essential tweaks to the camera to the addition of new enemies, bosses and characters (see Kunoichi Colleagues). It’s set to be a more concentrated version of Ninja Gaiden II, escalating the game play to new heights with added visual spectacle while retaining the finely tuned balance of dodge, parry, block and strike combat.

It’s important to bear in mind that Tomonobu Itagaki will not be involved, following his much-publicized departure from Tecmo, with Yosuke Hayashi reprising his role as director. It’ll be interesting to hear Itagaki’s opinions on this refined sequel, given that he openly stated the enhancements made in Ninja Gaiden Sigma were largely redundant.

It would be particularly enlightening to learn his reactions to the game’s toned-down levels
of gore. Ninja Gaiden //caused quite a stir with its incessant stream of bloodthirsty combat: the lopping off of limbs an integral game play feature and violent finishing moves ensuring
decapitations occur frequently. Sigma 2 will replace the spurts of crimson with a blue vapor, and while some may find this emphasizes actual game play over gratuitous violence, many will find the visceral thrill of Ninja Gaiden II diluted when the Dragon Sword’s swipe isn’t followed by a satisfying spurt of claret.

The game’s notorious difficulty is also said to be an element the reshuffled Team Ninja group hope to address. There’s a difference between difficulty and challenge – a balance Hayashi hopes to hone, retaining the tight combat without ever making it feel overbearing. Ninja Gaiden II suffered from difficulty spikes during its more tasking boss battles, something Sigma 2 hopes to level out.

The new feature that invites the most curiosity, however, is the co-op mode. Traditionally, hack-and-slash action-adventure games have been a singular affair, with most developers claiming co-operative play in that game space wouldn’t function with the same finesse. Yet Team Ninja hasn’t shoehorned co-op into the game’s single-player, rather the co-op mode will be a bonus confined to 30 separate challenges with four difficulty levels. It’s more akin to the likes of Resident Evil’s Mercenaries or Gears Of War’s Horde, and likely to be a draw to fans of the genre who want to experience something a little different.

Since this is being referred to as the “ultimate version” of Ninja Gaiden 11 by its developers, some may wonder why Team Ninja didn’t just put out the definitive version the first time. But like the ever-perfecting artist, Team Ninja has had time to reflect on the issues that
plagued Ninja Gaiden II and has returned with better judgment. Even if it were just the ornery camera that saw improvements, this would be a worthwhile update – not least because it gives PS3 owners a chance to once again sample Ryu Hayabusa’s deadly flair.

Itagaki may have left the premises, but Sigma 2 looks like it’s from the same Team Ninja we’ve known and loved for years. Fingers crossed it’s the first step towards paving „for, the way for a trilogy.