A year, minus Tomonobu Itagaki, has passed and Tecmo decided to pull another "release on Xbox 360 first then let’s bring it to the PS3" strategy with Ninja Gaiden Sigma II, a re-envisioned version of the 2008 Xbox 360 title. While this PS3 version is in many ways different than the Xbox 360 version, Team Ninja manages to add enough substance to please PS3 gamers who haven’t (or didn’t want to) played the game on "the forbidden console".

You must guide once again Ryu Hayabusa on a mission to avenge his clan and prevent the destruction of the human race. The CIA is looking for Hayabusa in order to help them defeat a group of Greater Fiends spread around the world who want to resurrect the Archfiend. Amusing storyline? Confusing? No matter how you want to describe it, Ninja Gaiden Sigma II is one of those rare games in which understanding the storyline isn’t a must. All you will care about is beating the crap out of demons and defeat every boss until you finish the game…and this time you will be able to. The difficulty has been re-worked and it’s definitely much easier than the Xbox 360 version. I’m not talking about a dumbed-down version, the game remains extremely challenging. It is just that early NG2 adopters will clearly see a difference, especially those who have never stopped playing it.

There are other changes but these may not be all as understandable as the difficulty level. For starters, dismemberment plays an important, but not necessary, part in the experience. Ryu can still decapitate enemies but now, the gore has been toned down. Gone the days were blood would be spilled everywhere, now a Purple smoke comes out from your foes. This doesn’t affect the gameplay mechanics but all I can say is that I did enjoyed it. It’s funny because you can still hear the blood shower but you can’t see it. The visceral action takes a hit, but that might be just me. Certainly, it will appeal to those who refused to play because they thought the violence was gratuitous and un-necessary.

Another little annoyance: the incendiary Shurikens don’t carry the same impact as in the Xb360 version. People complained they were too strong and I agreed back then. Now, they have been reduced to almost non-existent. Other oddities such as the removal of the New Game + (lets your replay the game with all your previous unlocked gear) and the unnecessary revamping of the shop system (unable to upgrade the weapons the way you were once able to) will piss off early NG2 adopters. If you are looking for the “Tests of Valor”, fear not, they weren’t removed but moved to its own game mode that you need to unlock after finishing the game. Ultimate Ninjas should know that upon completion of your first play through, two new difficulty levels will be unlocked.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 might have received a few tweaks but it also received notable additions. The first being new playable characters in the likes of Momiji (Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword), Ayane (Dead or Alive series) and the lovely Rachel from the first Ninja Gaiden game, each having its own playable level scattered throughout the main campaign which, just like NG2 on the XB360, contains twelve chapters in total. Additionally, you can also play as one of them with a friend online in thirty cooperative stages (ten per character). I have to put the emphasis on playing with a friend because honestly the A.I won’t necessary be that helpful since you can also play these challenges offline by yourself.

Last but not least, when playing with one of the three female characters, you will be able to make their breasts jiggle by moving your SIXAXIS controller. I won’t comment on this very long. I can live with the fact that most of the Tecmo games (especially the DOA series) have some kind of fixation with breast physics. To give me the option to move them the way I want is just dead wrong. I’m serious…I know you don’t trust me, that’s fine. This only shows how low the SIXAXIS functionality has gone.

Graphics & Audio

Although the graphical differences between this and the Xbox 360 version aren’t huge, porting NG2 to the PS3 does suffer from a few hiccups the first NG Sigma title didn’t went through. While framerate drops can occasionally happen during certain action sequences, texture tearing is indeed an issue. It’s a shame because the character models and texture look a bit better on the PS3 version. The other thing I’ve noticed is that even though the game requires a mandatory install, it doesn’t seem to improve the loading times at all.

What would be a Ninja Gaiden game with a great camera view? An outstanding Ninja Gaiden game for sure. The camera issues have been plaguing the franchise since its first arrival on the black Xbox. Ninja Gaiden 2 for the Xbox 360 was no different. What about the PS3 version? Well, the problem remains but a button to reset the camera has now been implemented. It does help but not much. I’ve said to myself that it would never be completely fixed and that I had to live with it. If it gets fixed, then I would be the first to write a love letter to Tecmo.

Sound wise, the voice-overs, environmental sounds and the soundtrack is good but nothing particular to mention. What I like about NG Sigma 2 is that no matter which language you pick, the voice-over work is great. Personally, I like to set the voices to Japanese and read the subtitles in English. Not that the English voices aren’t great but I think that it adds a certain charm to the whole experience. Like watching old Kung-Fu movies…

Value

The additional levels and the possibility to play cooperatively with friends certainly put this game in the must-have list. For those, like me, who have logged a substantial amount of hours with the Xb360 version may not feel like going through the same game all over again. Truth is, the thirty cooperative missions are worth checking out as they bring a new dimension to the franchise.

Conclusion

The Ninja Gaiden games aren’t for everyone. People will hate it; some will love it to death. The adventure may be linear and the hack n’ slash ridiculously repetitive but it’s so much fun. Despite the fact that this revamped version of last year’s Ninja Gaiden 2 game does things differently, it manages to keep the essence of the game intact. Taking into account that you might have never played a Ninja Gaiden game, there’s no reason why you should pass on this one.