Ninja Gaiden Sigma II Review

You can play through special challenge missions with a friend online

You don't always want to absorb these essences for health though. By holding down the Triangle button Ryu draws them in, allowing him to unleash an Ultimate Technique move. These devastating moves destroy any enemies standing in your way and look spectacular to boot. The standard combat in the 360 version was extremely brutal, with limbs flying and blood spilling all over the place, but this PS3 game has been quite significantly toned down - something that is likely to anger and disappoint fans hoping this would be the ultimate version of the game. Limb and head dismemberment doesn't leave bloody stumps but instead a glowing purple patch. On 360 all the carnage remained in place too, with body parts lying strewn across the floor and blood smeared over walls. This just doesn't happen to the same extent here and the combat loses some of its edge as a result. Still, the new obliteration moves, triggered by pressing Triangle near to a damaged enemy, are pretty brutal.. It's essential you perform these finishing moves as enemies will keep going at you until they're dead - one set of enemies even commit suicide by blowing themselves up while on top of you.

In stills Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 doesn't come close to showing its true beauty, although the reduction in gore has made the game less spectacular to see in motion. It doesn't have the same "WOW" factor of something like Killzone 2, but it's still a fine looking game when running at a pin-sharp 1080p resolution. The best is reserved for the bosses, which are immense. We're talking proper Shadow of the Colossus scale beasts here, each with numerous attack stages and techniques for taking them down. Just when you think you've seen it all you'll come face to face with another giant monstrosity that defies belief. As with the rest of the game, they're no push over either, with my PS3 controller coming dangerously close to being hurtled towards the TV screen on more than one occasion. Even better for PS3 owners is the fact that Sigma 2 includes a number of bosses not included in the original 360 game!

The Ninja Cinema mode lets you watch replays of your action in the game, but it's pretty basic. All you're able to do is watch what happened as if you're actually playing. Without the ability to change camera angles or slow down playback it feels like a mode that hasn't been fully fleshed out, which is a shame. Viewing some of the combat in glorious slow motion would have been great.

Completely new to the PS3 game is online cooperative play during a number of special challenge stages. It's a shame that there's no story mode to play through with a friend, but the inclusion of any multiplayer at all can only been seen as a good thing. It does make for a rather more chaotic experience, so be prepared for a screen full of carnage. Sadly there's no split-screen co-op, but you can play with an AI partner offline. With medals to go for and stages set across four difficulties there's plenty here to keep you playing once you're done with the campaign. You've also got online leaderboards, although given the game's hardcore following you're going to have to be pretty good to get anywhere near the top.

Graphically it's pin sharp, but lacking the gore of the 360 original.

Everything isn't perfect of course. The story is largely forgettable and simply serves to fill the gap between levels. Voice acting is pretty cheesy too, although the voices of the main baddies are typical '80s cartoon quality, which makes them sound pretty menacing and cool. Swimming is once again something I'd rather avoid if possible, with the underwater controls feeling a tad clumsy. Running on water is handled well, but if you get caught in a fight it's all too easy to miss an attack and fall in, resulting in some easy hits for your foes. Some complaints could also be levelled at the save points, which on occasion are a little too spread out and the frame rate drops from time to time during particularly action packed moments just as it did in the 360 game.

Playing Ninja Gaiden 2 is a very different experience to playing the majority of games. Whether it's for simply beating a wave of blood-thirsty bats or for finally slaying a boss you've been tearing your hair out over for more than an hour, the sense of reward and gratification is practically unrivalled. For every level you beat you feel like you're becoming a better gamer and that's a feeling that very few games can claim to give. This is action gaming at its very best, although with the toned down carnage during combat there's a nagging sense that Sigma 2's not quite the ultimate edition of the game it could have been.