Ninja Gaiden II

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Boasts the deepest, fastest, most gruesome combat on the planet Is simpler than previous NG games Satiates the gore hound within Falcon's Talons are without doubt the best weapons ever devised Can be painfully tough at times Platforming sections suck Camera can be problematic

Ninja Gaiden has the distinction of being known as one of the toughest games ever made. Its various iterations (Ninja Gaiden Black for the Xbox and Ninja Gaiden Sigma for the PlayStation 3) were tougher than the original game and brought even the most "hardcore" gamers to their knees. Any game this intimidating is bound to make casual gamers a tad apprehensive, but with video games catering to the casual crowd today, people were expecting Ninja Gaiden II to be a bit more noob-friendly.

Well, noob-friendly it isn't, but it's a lot simpler than the previous games in this series. I'd go as far as to recommend this game even if you're new to the series, because it is by far the most fast-paced, brutal, and visceral action game I've seen and played till date.

Unfortunately I cannot ignore the fact that the game is plagued by a bunch of nagging issues that could dampen the experience for you. For starters I'm not a big fan of this game's camera that unlike other hack-and-slash games on the block isn't fixed – you have to constantly press the Right Trigger (RT) to reset it behind Ryu. This didn't bother me much during combat but it did annoy me no end during platforming, that by the way is pretty crappy in this game.

Next up is the game's difficulty level which, as you've probably heard by now, is pretty erratic. You'll be enjoying yourself in a particular level killing people left, right, and center, when suddenly you're up against a huge boss... only, he isn't the level's main boss. Here's merely an oversized minion, a mini-boss if you will, who if you aren't careful can decimate you in seconds and/or make you use up all your herbal remedies (that restore health).

Now I know this is a Ninja Gaiden game so I really wasn't expecting a stroll in the park, but shoving multiple bosses in a level doesn't amount to a lot of fun. Also, certain enemies tend to be a lot tougher than others, and a single attack from them can nearly deplete your entire health bar. Save points that replenish your health entirely (thank God for small wonders) are scattered all over the place, but there were times when I couldn't see one for miles on end. Finally, the game really doesn't have much of a storyline so you're pretty much just shoved from one location to another in a bid to stop the bad dudes from stealing an artifact that's capable of resurrecting pure evil.