OK, I admit it; I never finished the first Ninja Gaiden. And while the statement is also true with regard to the NES version, I am specifically referring to the Ninja Gaiden that debuted on Xbox. But unlike most people who didn’t finish, I’m assuming I was unique in the sense that I didn’t finish it because of something other than the difficulty. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still one of the hardest games I’ve ever played. But the reason I stopped playing is more ironic. I somehow tricked myself into thinking the game was too difficult.

A specific part in the middle of the game led me to believe the game was much less forgiving than it actually was. How could it not have been? By the time I sat down and played it, the game was already notorious as one of the hardest games of the generation, if not all time. In the end, I wasted all my healing items and had none left for the boss. After attempting the boss fight four or five times and failing miserably, I decided to just give up. Not because it was insanely difficult, but because it reminded me of my own stupidity.

When Ninja Gaiden II was first announced, I eagerly anticipated the release. It was a chance for me to redeem my mistake the first time around. The fact that it looked absolutely incredible did not hurt either. And since I’m assuming most of you saw the score, I’ll stop beating around the bush and tell you why it plays incredible as well.

Since Ninja Gaiden II is an action game, it’s hard not to compare it to the recently released Devil May Cry 4 or even the much older God of War 2. Therefore, I won’t hesitate to. To me, the best part of Devil May Cry 4 was during the intro when Nero fought Dante. The cinematography and choreography of the fight were better than what’s found in most action movies. But when you actually replayed the battle in the game itself, it was nowhere near as cool. But DMC4 is not the sole perpetrator here. Most games feature some outlandish cut scenes that are nowhere close to being replicated in the actual gameplay. God of War tries to rectify the situation by using QTEs to perform actions that are too complex (read: awesome) to configure into the main control scheme. This mechanic works, but has always felt like a cop-out to me.

Ninja Gaiden II, however, actually pulls it off. Not only is the combat better than most games, it’s better than the cut scenes found in most games. This is not some minor “pro” the game has going for it, it is the main reason it’s one of the best games I’ve played this year. I was literally stunned at the stuff I could do in-game, which I guess leads me to talk about the major emphasis of this game: violence. You’ll notice that in the first few minutes of combat, this game is not exactly on Jack Thompson’s Christmas list. In fact, it’s probably the only thing you’ll notice. While the violence can be described with negative terms like ‘gratuitous,’ ‘over-the-top,’ ‘unnecessary,’ and ‘unrealistic,’ I believe it to be more of a positive. This is because it perfectly accentuates the gameplay. Oddly enough, I re-watched Kill Bill Vol. 1 a few days ago and pondered the thought of a video game based on it. It was then that I realized that Ninja Gaiden 2 was almost exactly that. This game is like the Crazy 88 scene, only one million-fold. The dismemberments and decapitations are all heavily stylized, reminiscent of O-Ren Ishii’s decapitation of Boss Tanaka. I was a bit of a skeptic of the violence at first, but I came around soon after I lifted up one enemy ninja into the air and five pieces of him fell down. I’d also like to say that it’s about time that a game does not fuck around. You’re using ancient blades that should be sharper than an Aquos HDTV, so there’s absolutely no reason why they shouldn’t be able to cut off body parts.

But I think everyone knew, based on Ryu Hayabusa’s previous adventure, that the combat would be top tier. While that doesn’t mean the combat didn’t impress me, it does mean that the game needed to do something more. Thankfully, it did. I’ve found the best part of the game to be the fear it creates. My roommate jokingly said “Nothing beats an action game where you don’t want to see any enemies.” The funny thing is that that statement is true. I really don’t want to see any enemies, because they intimidate the shit out of me. Whereas God of War and Devil May Cry’s enemies serve as obstacles from getting from point A to point B, Ninja Gaiden’s enemies are truly a force to be reckoned with. If you’re going up against werewolves or dragons, you better step up to the plate and accept the challenge, or else you’re going to get fucked up physically in the game and mentally in real life.

The biggest draws of this game so far are the combat and the thrill created by the enemies. And while other things like level design and presentation are also great, the former two are really all this game needs. In these two respects, Ninja Gaiden II outclasses all of its competitors, the entire industry, and even its predecessor. It’s true Ninja Gaiden/Black/Sigma had a great combat system (not as good as NG2’s) but the enemies just seemed to be really thick obstacles as opposed to the thin ones found in God of War. NG2, on the other hand, actually makes you care about your enemies, as in you care about seeing them slaughtered and making sure you’re the one doing it. Through this, the game achieves what truly makes games art: satisfaction. The satisfaction of dispatching hordes of enemies is unrivaled by anything else I’ve ever played. I’m not saying Ninja Gaiden 2 is an artistic masterpiece, but it certainly goes after the values that I believe to be artistic in a video game.

Since I just summed the main reasons for my admiration of the game, I’m running out of good things to say about it. Instead, let’s switch over to the negative side of things so that we can finish this review on a high note. Let’s ease into it by first mentioning something I didn’t find to be negative but other people did. This game is very hard. Probably the hardest game I’ve played this generation, not including shmups for XBLA like Triggerheart Exelica and Ikaruga HD. But analyzing it further, I’ve realized it has the same moral as my anecdote very early in this review. Most games today feature difficulty levels that can be easily dominated if you just play long enough. I’m of course referring to the relatively new mechanic of rewarding players for persistence. Ninja Gaiden 2 tells that mechanic to fuck off, and reverts back to the old school mechanic where nothing was easy and everything required skill. And in this sense, the game is more rewarding than most. The difficulty actually makes you a better player because instead of just playing the same segment over and over to pass it, the game forces you to try new strategies and improving existing ones. Of course, it’s not all perfect, as a significant (but not major) part of the difficulty is cheap in the form of inconsistent save points, overpowered friends, and annoying level design choices. The thing I found most frustrating was when the game forces you to use the bow, a weapon that you can’t use while moving.

I guess another major complaint is the camera. I personally didn’t have much of a problem with it, but there were some times when I thought it could have been handled better. However, the game is possessed with all sorts of other technical issues that detract from an otherwise fantastic presentation. Frame rate drops, mid-game loading, and minor glitches are present throughout the entire campaign. They are especially severe considering the fact that I hardly ever notice or care about such technical problems. One part in the game requires you to climb up a long set of stairs. As you’re climbing up, I’d say about one hundred ninjas attack you almost simultaneously. The frame-rate drops to fifteen, maybe ten fps, and there is massive slowdown throughout. But does it shock you when I say this is hands down the best part of the game? Well, how could it not be? The description alone sounds like it’s the Matrix meets Kill Bill, which in reality, is spot on. In fact, this part of the game alone gives me the urge to give it a perfect score.

So why exactly didn’t it get an A+? Our scale doesn’t require a game to be perfect to obtain that score. But because as much as I, a person who thinks innovation is overrated, hate to admit it, the game just doesn’t do anything new. It doesn’t shift any paradigms or bend any genres. With the recent release of GTA IV, I’ve had the craving for a game with the precise control and excellent melee combat of Ninja Gaiden in the vastness of the incredible GTA IV environment. I didn’t expect NG2 to do this, but I certainly wanted it to. But alas, Ninja Gaiden is perfectly fine with sticking to its roots as a kickass, top tier, old-school action game. And I’m fine with it being so.

The game is great, one of the best games of the generation, and has the possibility of dethroning God of War for my favorite action game of all time (albeit God of War is on the top for completely different reasons). But the most important thing I have to say is that you can beat this game. Don’t be intimidated by the enemies. Ninja Gaiden II is the video game equivalent of any test of adversity in life. Skill will be required, but tenacity, determination and even persistence still go a long way. Giving up will just result in you being a Ninja Dog for life, like I once was.

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