Ninja Gaiden II Updated Hands-On

Ninja Gaiden II has been set loose from Team Ninja’s dojo and will soon be upon our very doorsteps. Due to visit North America on June 3, and Europe on June 6, fans of the series will no doubt be keen to see Ryu picking up his Dragon Sword once more, as he continues from where he left off in the Xbox original back in 2004.

At the European press launch for the game, we got our hands on the previously unseen chapter eight, aptly titled: Submit, or Die! The action begins straight after the events on the Daedaelus airship–seen in our previous hands-on with chapter seven–and starts with the Greater Fiend Zedonius being awakened after a long snooze. It appears he’s not a happy Greater Fiend, what with being surrounded by a small army of puny Earthlings intent on his destruction. Luckily for him, he makes quick work of a bombardment of tank shells and issues an ultimatum to the inhabitants of Earth: accept the yoke of the Archfiend, or die.

After the brief cutscene featuring the red-winged demonic fiend, you’ll assume Ryu’s role. You won’t encounter Zedonius immediately, as you’ll be preoccupied with an array of smaller enemies to dispose of. The setting is a snow-laden city, reminiscent of Russia. You’ll have to proceed through narrow streets, open courtyards, over sandbagged defences, and around deserted tanks, as you progress through the level, on your mission to stop the Archfiend.

Hindering your progress will be wave after wave of soldiers equipped with rocket-propelled grenade launchers. They usually appear two at a time and unleash a series of rockets at you in quick succession. It certainly pays to dodge these barrages–being a sitting duck will result in your health quickly diminishing. While sprinting straight towards your assailants is one way to avoid staying put, it’s a challenge to dodge projectiles en route, as you try to get within striking range without being hit. Another option is to hide behind cover, wait for the soldiers to reload, and then use your bow to take them out from afar which works well should you value your life. Although your health bar will regenerate this time around, it will only happen once you’ve cleared an area of enemies, and each time you bear the brunt of an enemy’s attack, your health bar capacity will be permanently reduced by a small amount. Thankfully, full health can be restored by using health packs, or finding restore points.

In addition to foot soldiers, we also encountered some pesky dogs that looked to be armed with explosives (but of course!), and some larger enemies–including one that resembled the queen from Aliens. Although we didn’t see them, we’re sure the Spider Clan, as well as more unworldly enemies, will still be on the lookout for Ryu.

While Ninja Gaiden was a challenging game for even hardcore gamers, Ninja Gaiden II’s difficulty has been dropped a notch so as to cater for a wider audience. Despite that being the case, there’s still a range of difficulties and even the easiest one (Acolyte) will be a challenge for Ninja Gaiden novices. Thankfully we were able to have a play through the first couple of levels before attempting level eight, but even with a bit of gameplay under our belt it certainly wasn’t a walk in the park.

The idea is that you’ll unlock new moves, abilities, and ninpo (magic), as well as level up your weapons as you progress through the game. Once you’ve gotten to the harder and more advanced levels therefore, you should have the appropriate training to be able to vanquish any foe that stands in your way, although it might still take you a few attempts when it comes to the more challenging situations and boss battles.

Battle through hordes of foes in locations inspired by Tokyo, Venice, Russia and more.

During our playtime, we were also able to check out some of Ryu’s alternate costumes. While they’re not included on the game disc, they will be available after launch as a download on Xbox Live. We saw seven costumes in total including Ryu’s Legendary Black Falcon costume (his traditional garb) and Dark Blood (a variant of this with a blood-coloured theme). The rest of the costumes, codenamed USA_COS_B0, B1, B2 and so on, were fiend variants. These included variants of the aforementioned costumes, as well as a gold-coloured suit with a red glowing visor in place of Ryu’s eyes, a reptilian-like green and grey suit, and a suit that made you look like a mummy, only with silver, black, and meshed fabric. While providing a nice aesthetic addition to the game, they don’t seem to have any affect on your character’s performance when playing.

As you’d expect from Team Ninja, Ninja Gaiden II is proving to be a sumptuous feast for the eyes. After being in development for over two years, the game has already gone gold. The preview build we saw looked impressive, and we only experienced slowdown on one or two occasions when the screen was filled with sword-swinging ninja action.

To find out more about Ninja Gaiden II, watch our video interview with Team Ninja’s Itagaki-san from the event and stay tuned for our full review of the game.

-If Its Games