Ninja Gaiden II Review

Who doesn't think ninjas are freaking awesome? Nobody, that's who. Ninja Gaiden II once again pits our favorite ninja, Ryu Hyabusa, against a cast of freakishly designed hellions and fiends (i.e. blade wielding hell dogs..nice). And oh what a blood splattered gore fest of joy it is. Starting off with the re-known, Dragon Sword, you are quickly rewarded with the Lunar Staff (bad-ass) and the Falcon's Talons (ultra bad-ass). Everything about this game screams next-gen. Though the first Ninja Gaiden was a sight to behold NGII is definitely a step-up.
With tons of combos to master and the rewards of relatively easy achievements this game is highly addictive. Severed limbs, decapitated bodies, and pools of blood will litter the battlefield as you progress through the game. There will be so much blood that Ryu actually has to take the time to shake the blood off of his weapons when he's done destroying his enemies. Though you will be using the "Y" and "X" buttons most of time and can pull off most combos by just mashing buttons it never gets old. I actually felt empowered as I released my aggression out on the helpless fiends. I have yet to notice anything vastly different since the last installment which isn't totally a bad thing. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
That doesn't mean this game is without flaws. As usual the camera tends to be a problem. Simple tasks like using the wall-run to reach a ledge proves to be more work than it should be. Bow and Arrow wielding fiends tend to be overly powerful and incredibly accurate. This adds to the challenge but sometimes tends to slow down the flow of the action. There's nothing more frustrating than being mid-combo kicking major ass when all of a sudden your combo is broken by some douche-bag shooting a flaming arrow from what seems like a mile away. So far the boss battles have been pretty lopsided. Meaning, I destroyed them without much of a challenge. I did have the difficulty on the normal level however. I'm sure that if I cranked-up the difficulty this game would be next to impossible to beat.
I don't care much for the story, though I do think the idea of a spider-like clan of demons is a great theme.
All in all, NGII is a solid game but not a masterpiece. It's more of the same intense action with a fresh new face. It offers a good challenge, nice weapons, a fantastic combo system, and a fast pace but also a few minor technical issues. Good job Team Ninja! Ninja Gaiden II earns 8 decapitated fiends out of 10.