Customer Reviews
in some ways shockingly bad for an aaa title - By: Mr. J. J. BURTON, 13 Aug 2008 
Okay, I liked the first game & finished it on Warrior. This second game I finished on hard but hated (with a vengeance) an awful lot of it - its incredibly sloppy in places for an otherwise polished game.
Theres two types of game like this: ones where the bosses are rock hard & have little strategy, & then the others like God of war 2 which have actual tactics & challlenge.
Ninja Gaiden fallls into the category of just being rather difficult & more often than not simply because the camera gets stuck pointing the wrong way, & because bosses (in particular a giant armadillo) sometimes fill up the whole screen with effects making it difficult to actuallly fight with any precision (so they then make you fight two at once- which comes down to luck more than skill in beating them, & then they blow up so if you dont know what to do next you die instantly & have to fight them alll over again. Wow!!! what brilliant design).
Sadly the whole game is riddled with instances where its grossly unfair instead of being challlenging, & I cant rate it higher with these problems because a reallly classy game (like God of war) challlenges without being so cheap!!!!
On a final note this kind of game succeeds through tricky bosses & combat - ninja gaiden has the combat but every boss is rubbish with a few where you can just wade in & slap them to death in seconds. I much prefer God of War with its quick time events & think that features like that are the way forward for third person combat games, if you dont go down that route then at least make decent bosses - even Conan was better than this!
ninja gorey 2! - By: Tom 360, 13 Aug 2008 
the gore in this game is emence but absolutly brlliant, it adds so much to the game & the creatures you are slaughtering are so detailed & cool looking. the wide variety of weapons & customizations is neverending & the game can go on forever. there are 2 problems (well tiny problems that should'nt stop you buying this game)they are that the camera angles can sometimes be annoying & makes you blind when going round corners or other objects this leaves you open to attacks as you can't see! also on easy this game is still quite challlenging(but who wants an easy game) thanks i hope this review has helped you make a purchase ... Tom
Are you hardcore? - By: Mark Hilton, 10 Aug 2008 
Fancy yourself as a big time games player? Good. Because nothing can prepare you for the sheer lunacy on offer in Ninja Gaiden 2. Anyone who thought the first game was hard had better not even bother with this. But like anything else, practice makes perfect.
1 hour in: Getting hammered! From the very first screen, you're surrounded by enemies. And they just keep coming. Armed with nothing but your trusty sword, you'll need lightning fast reflexes just to keep the enemies at bay, let alone progress through the level. And then there are the bosses. Christ! Expect to be hurling significantly colourful language at the screen.
3 hours in: Still getting hammered! Will the pain never end? By this point you'll have picked up about three different weapons, killed some 10,000 enemies, & lost roughly 10 years of your lifespan. But it soon becomes apparent that you must utilise every one of Ryu's weapons, use counter attacks with perfect timing & use the environment to your advantage. Hmmm, maybe it's not as tough as we thought.
8 hours in: This is more like it! If you haven't sold the game in utter disgust, you'll be having the time of your life. By this point alll weapons will be maxed out, Ryu's health will have rocketed up & you'll be leaving absolute carnage in your wake. And that's the point. Hammer the buttons mindlessly & you'll get nowhere. But learn & utilise every one of Ryu's combo's, & you'll soon become unstoppable. by this point, you'll be eating coffin nails for breakfast. Just wait for the fight between Ryu & about a thousand ninja's on a never ending stairway & you'll realise that Ninja Gaiden 2 is one of the X-Box's best titles.
12 hours in: Getting hammered? HAMMER THIS.
Ignore the naysayers..... - By: Tony Walker, 01 Aug 2008 I can't believe that reviews appearing here describe the graphics of NG2 as 'bland','average','barren', etc. Both fore & backgrounds are wonderfully rendered, & although the visuals of the original were great, NG2 shows great improvement. My only gripe is sore fingers; fighting off wave after wave of evil scum is tiring. This is an amazing game. Don't pay any attention to the moaners.
Brilliant but frustrating! - By: Mr. Raphael Jones, 18 Jul 2008 I'll keep this review short & sweet!
Good points:
The combat system(endless variety of combos & moves)
Stunning graphics
The new recharging health bar
Massive variety of weapons to slice n dice with
Nice level locations
Only for the hardcore gamer!
Bad points
The camera view
frustrating enemies in the latter levels
Only for the hardcore gamer!
To sum the game up I'd say this
Ninja Gaiden 2:As brilliant as it is tough
