Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Review - PS3

More than a year after being released on the Xbox 360, the slice & dice action game Ninja Gaiden 2 is finally coming to the PlayStation 3 in the form of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. But while — much like the Sigma and Black editions of 2004’s Ninja Gaiden — this new version doesn’t change the game itself (well, not much, anyway), it does add some interesting new ways to play it.

For Those About To Rock

Ninja Gaiden 2, in its original Xbox 360 form, is a hack & slash action game in the vein of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Devil May Cry, and God of War. Except that instead of playing as the Sexiest Man Alive, a pouty emo dude, or some guy with anger management issues, you’re Ryu Hayabusa, a modern day ninja, and a damn good one at that. Which is good since the entire Black Spider Ninja Clan is coming after you and everyone you know. And you know what that means: it’s clobberin’ time! Using your trusty sword, some ornate staffs, a very effective scythe, and these bladed gloves that would make Wolverine jealous, you have to shred your way to vengeance.

As you’d expect, Ninja Gaiden 2 basically plays the same, and just as solidly, as the first Ninja Gaiden and its many permutations. The game has tight, responsive controls, the environments are sprawling and beautiful with many little corners to explore, and the boss battles test your ability to think as much as they do your ability to hit the buttons quickly. But this game isn’t a rehash of the first Gaiden, as there are some distinct changes to the gameplay.

For starters, you can now cut off limbs with ease. Not that it matters, since your enemies sometimes think it’s just a flesh wound and keep coming at you. But you can always just hit them again, and again, and again, until they finally go down, at which point you can do a finishing move that will stop them once and for all. Hopefully.

Dispatching enemies, as is common in this genre, releases colored orbs, with blue ones restoring health, yellow ones used to trade for new items and weapon upgrades, and red ones restoring your magic, which is called ninpo. Except that, unlike in the first Ninja Gaiden where ninpo was used defensively, here it is used as a weapon. “The Art Of The Inferno,” for example, causes a wave of fire around you that shoots out as a fireball, while “The Art Of The Wind Blades” encircles you in a mini-hurricane that can slice any nearby bad guy to shreds.

Gathering blue essence isn’t the only way you get healthy, though. Being such a super ninja, Ryu actually recovers some of his health after a battle. But not all of it. Some of his wounds are bit more severe (indicated by the red area in his health bar), and must be healed with herbs or those aforementioned blue orbs. You can also be healed by the statues you use to save your game, though while you can use the statues to save whenever you like, you only get that health boost the first time you activate it.

Not that it’s all non-stop slaughtering. Being a ninja, Ryu can also do the usual ninja acrobatics — including running across walls, flipping up other walls, and running across water kind of like he’s Jesus, but not in a sacrilegious way — which helps keep this from being a redundant button masher.

For Those Wondering Whether They Should Rock Again

So what’s different about Sigma 2? Honestly, not much. The Story mode looks, sounds, and plays just like the original. Which, yes, means it still has the same camera issues that sometimes made it hard to see who you should be hacking and slashing. Though it is less bloody: cutting off limbs in the 360 version was like turning on a faucet, but that’s has been excised in this version. Though all it does is make this game less Jackson Pollack-y.

Sigma 2 also seems slightly tougher than the 360 version. Not by a lot, mind you, but even at the beginning of the game, where I previously sliced through crowds of ninjas like a katana through butter, I found myself having to use the block and dodge buttons a lot more. Though I was a lot younger back then. Still, it's not like this game was easy before. While the harder “Path Of The Warrior” is a death wish, even on the regular “Path Of The Acolyte” skill level you need all your ninja skills to survive.

As for the story, Sigma 2 takes a cue from Ninja Gaiden Black by adding some moments where Ryu takes a break to go get a coffee or something, and you instead play with Rachel from Ninja Gaiden, Momiji from Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, and Ayane from Dead Or Alive, each of whom have their own killin’ skills and enemies to use them on. But while these brief bits are fun, and break things up a little, they ultimately don’t add that much. But while the game itself is ostensibly the same, there are big differences in how you can play it.

In the same vein as the Nazi Zombies mode in Call Of Duty: World At War, Horde from Gears Of War 2, and Firefight from Halo 3: ODST, Sigma 2 has Team Missions mode, in which you and a friend, holed up in arenas made from small sections of Story mode levels, have to fight a rapid succession of bad guys until either they or you are dead. But while this is rather fun, it’s also rather short, since games are just one round. But it’s one intense round, since there are no breathers, and a replayable one, since you can unlock new weapons and characters (Rachel, etc.) by beating parts of the Story mode. You can even play this mode solo, which isn’t as fun as it is with a friend, but it’s still a good workout.

Also new is the Chapter Challenge mode, which lets you replay any chapter, except it keeps score based on how well you do and how quickly you do it. The game even records your games of this and Team mode, letting you relive every hack and slash in the Ninja Cinema.

Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go?

If you already played the 360 version, you don’t need this one as well unless you really, really love Firefight, Horde, and/or Nazi Zombies but wish there was more melee. Or you really, really love Rachel, Momiji, or Ayane. But if you’re expecting this new version to be radically different, or easier, or to have a better camera, you’re out of luck.

But if you haven’t played this game yet and like the genre (and don’t mind that it has the same camera issues that, well, every third-person game seems to have), buy it. It’s not only a worthy addition to this series but it’s also one of the best games of its kind. Especially if you’d rather be a ninja than someone pretty, pouty, or really pissed off.