Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Review
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 arrives at a time where there is a real shortage of strong titles that focus purely on the art of combat, but in a free-flowing non-versus format. Based off the popular Xbox 360 title, Ninja Gaiden II, Sigma is now being released exclusively on the PlayStation 3 and boasts a host of new features, but is it enough to warrant a re-release for this fabled ninja?
After catching wind of some terrible events, Ryu Hayabusa ventures to Tokyo. Coincidentally, at the same time an FBI agent by the name of Sonia is searching for him. However, although their paths cross, they aren't in the best of circumstances and Sonia is captured by the Black Spider Ninja Clan despite Ryu's best efforts. Following her rescue, Ryu manages to discover the true nature of the Black Spider Ninja Clan's plans - an attempt to resurrect the Archfiend - and as a member of the Dragon Ninja clan, he sets out to stop them from fulfilling their goals.
Generally games of this nature have fruitless, trivial plots. However, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 doesn't fall into this category. Despite being entirely fictitious, the story is relatively believeable, and there is just about enough development - albeit sometimes unexplained - to quench the player's thirst for more. There are various locations, some based on reality, and numerous bosses to square off against. It helps drive things forward more progressively, and reward progress. The addition of non-Ryu based story Chapters also helps to provide a different perspective on the events that are unfolding and the comic that's shown during the loading screen also serves as a nice prologue. More development of the story would have been nice, but that could perhaps be slightly greedy. After all, Ninja Gaiden's main focus is the gameplay, not an oscar winning narrative.
Combat has always been a strong point for the Ninja Gaiden franchise, and that's no different with Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. Ryu has two basic attacks, weak and strong, which must be used strategically to achieve victory in the numerous encounters that he will face throughout the game. Through a combination of these two buttons, situations, and directional movement, there are plenty of different moves that can be performed. However, to be able to perform all of the moves, the player must upgrade Ryu's various weapons. In total, there are nine weapons, all of which offer a distinctly different style of combat. These range from the traditional sword, to more unconventional Talons and Flails. Each weapon can be upgraded manually three times, although some of the more story-critical weapons obtain a fourth upgrade.
Alongside his melee weapons, Ryu can also use ranged combat. Shurikens can be used in conjunction with another, more powerful weapon, like a bow, or hand cannon. They allow the combat to become a bit more diverse, while also enabling Ryu to string longer combos together. However, unlike the melee weapons, these cannot be upgraded. The same also applies to the Chapters that see the player controlling other characters, like Rachel and Ayane. They are only playable for one Chapter each, so upgrading would be redundant, but their weaponry is suitably apt.
