Sonia not playable in Ninja Gaiden 2

Buxom CIA beauty Sonia from upcoming action game Ninja Gaiden 2 will not be a playable character, Tomonobu Itagaki confirmed today.

Speaking to press in London this morning, Itagaki-san, the legendary Ninja Gaiden developer, said that Rachel, a playable character from the PS3-only Ninja Gaiden Sigma game, “wasn’t done very well” and that if he had made Sonia playable in Ninja Gaiden 2 “we would have had to make a game like Gears of War”.

“I would just like to point out really quickly that the playable Rachel in Ninja Gaiden Sigma was something that was done by a junior member of Team Ninja and I didn’t really have any involvement in Ninja Gaiden Sigma for PS3 because I was working on this title,” Itagaki-san explained.

He added: “That being said I think that Ninja Gaiden is a story of Ryu Hayabusa and of his journey. Particularly I didn’t think that the Rachel playable aspect in Sigma was done very well. Sonia is mainly a supporting character that provides function with the story. She uses machine guns and bazookas and things like that, so if we were going to feature her as a playable character we would have to basically make a game like Gears of War.”

Itagaki-san then teased press at the event by hinting that there may be more to the blonde bombshell than meets the eye, saying: “Maybe some of you will get the reference but Sonia from Ninja Gaiden 2 is a CIA agent. Her name in this game is Sonia but who knows if that is really her name or not.”

You can expect the rest of our interview with Itagaki-san next week. Until then, why not head over to our Ninja Gaiden 2 game page where you’ll find all the latest screens and videos on what promises to be one of 2008’s best games.

Ninja Gaiden 2 will be out exclusively on Xbox 360 on 6 June.