I don't think I'm inside my own mind today...
Ninja's may bear different sentimental value to us all, be-it as a deadly assassin, as a silent hunter, as The Batman or a master of deception and trickery, its unanimous that they are one thing: Bad ass. The Ninja is a unique character most of the time shrouded in curious enigma. We often know very little of the ninja, his history or his motives. Be he an evil or good ninja, they're fierce and uncompromising, if anything a true professional.
My personal sentimental value toward Ninja's wasn't very strong until Ninja Gaiden was released for the Xbox back in 2004.
Here's a game that easily stood strong as an example of the Xbox's visual capabilities well after it's release. It was a game that I had not played very much, upon it's release a few of my friends grew captivated by its majesty and I would be lying to say that I too wasn't sucked in as well. The game's atmosphere sucked you in. You were Ryu Hayabusa, a deadly ninja in charge of getting the Dark Dragon Blade from the demonic fiend Doku who has taken it from your village. Gamers may recognise Hayabusa from Team Ninja's Dead or Alive series.
Your ability was robust, you could drop a group of ninja's in a moment if you were skilled enough. If you were tardy, you would die. The game harbored minimal room for failiure and it's difficulty intrigued me. The boss of the game's first chapter plagued me. It must have taken me hour's of trying again and again to defeat him. Now he's nothing but that's not the point, the game rewards effort, you feel powerful as soon as you advance it's like you've unlocked something in yourself. The game was addicting.
Before long, my friend had to return Ninja Gaiden and I was left with this longing inside myself. I've played many 3rd person action/adventure games. Anyone could argue their similarities but few could argue their enjoyment factor and I thought Ninja Gaiden had succeeded where games like Devil May Cry or Soul Reaver had lost me. God of War wasn't exactly my cup of tea either, The Gaiden was where it was at. With the sword (or a slew of other interesting weaponry) in hand you felt like you were more than just a man, and as you would slay demonic creatures and virtual demi-gods you wonder how you got so far.
Few games would last long in a gamer's console for the trial-and-error relapse that Ninja Gaiden puts one through, what makes it different? Is it simply the presentation or is their really no substitute for good gameplay? I was confident that they couldn't improve upon the combat system in Ninja Gaiden 2 and when I read in different magazines that they were focused on improving the experience, knowing full well the combat played a large part of that. I was curious to see what Ninja Gaiden 2 was going to cook up.
Needless to say I got what I expected. The game is a bit more linear as you don't have minimal open-area zone's to roam so much as you are guided through a path. This game brings me back to the old school Shinobi games on Genesis. You run down a corridore and a new mob of Ninja is there waiting to take you down at any means neccesery, even so much as to throwing themselves on you to blow themselves up to hurt you. They mean business. Thanks to the first Gaiden's riggorous training process I felt more than adequately prepared for the challenge that Gaiden 2 posed for me. With ease I cut through the different mobs of ninja.
The game's upped action makes dismemberment much easier. It's not an uncommon occurrence to casually cut off a limb as you're weaving through you're foes. Once you've wounded a foe you can do devistating attacks that will instantly kill a wounded foe. In the new game your power is up but thanfully they've upped the anti.
Enemies are relentlessly hellbent on destroying you. I casually called out to my housemate as I was playing "Hey, watch this." He stumbles over. I'm running along a metal bridge, there's a gap in the bridge but there's a wall nearby that I can run along to get across. As I come towards this, two ninja begin to approach me from the other side. A leap and a dash attack, I land on the ground and the body of my fallen lands behind me, headless. His friend lands beside me and quickly meets a similar pace. He's quick to ask me "Whoa man, what just happened?" Unsure exactly of what just unfolded.
The game is that awesome.
Boss fights are insane, I'm stuck midway through the game and every boss seems to get more and more difficult. It's awesome but I'm only one man and apparently the japanese are far more adept ninja than canadians. Its something I've come to accept but it's not going to stop me from trying, the desire to get to the next stage and take on whatever the game wants to throw at me. It's that constant carnage, the devistation factor. You're so violently potent it's amazing and this is all at a fingertip.
This game has quite a bit more gore and blood than the first ninja gaiden, unruly parents might want to take note of that before they poop a brick because their child is playing this game. The fallen bodies of your foes also remain afterwards so if you're backtracking you'll find that many fell before you... It's kind of creepy in a way.
Overall though, I think any gamer with a 360 who is looking for an uncompromising action experience, this is a must own. Its pretty much exactly what we should have expected.
Until next time, keep your shuriken at the ready.
Peace!
No comments:
Post a Comment