TGS: Ninja Gaiden 2 Preview

Tales of gore.

"Can I have some I.D, sir?"

"Sure" (fumbles for business card) "Here you go".

"No, can I have your age I.D, Sir? CERO age rating! "

"But....I'm... 34...." (fumbles incredulously for battered passport, furrows brow, points at 1973 D.O.B).

"You may go."

"Thanks!"

Such is the way of vigilant Microsoft staff at TGS, that even embattled old hacks like myself need to be protected from the disturbing scenes of blood and gore that await me behind the curtain of this special Ninja Gaiden 2 auditorium. You may have also witnessed the very same footage on EGTV a few days ago, albeit presented by the enigmatic, shade-wearing Tomonobu Itagaki in the run-up to TGS. If you haven't, check it out now, and rejoin us in a few minutes. If you're too young, have your parent or guardian on hand to shield your eyes from the uberviolence.

As you might recall, Itagaki-san's thinking big with Ninja Gaiden 2. Team Ninja isn't content to just make more of the same, but is aiming to create "the world's premier action game". He fully admits the original wasn't "flawless" in the way some of the fans of Ninja Gaiden perceive it to be, and says that in trying to push the Xbox to its limit, he omitted 10, maybe 20 features from the 2004 title, and says that being able to include all these on the 360 gives them "no greater thrill as a developer".

'TGS: Ninja Gaiden 2' Screenshot 1

He reckoned that "because it's so speedy and frenetic" he didn't personally want to demonstrate it (cop-out!), but had someone on hand to demonstrate the Aqua Capital stage - in exactly the same way as we were shown three days later at TGS. Who knows if someone really was "waiting in the wings" playing it in real-time? Who even cares? Most of us were just grateful to finally see the game running for the first time, and after the years Team Ninja has wasted on developing pointless voyeur sims that sold precisely sod all, to see the developer going back to doing what it does best is great news.

Gained entry to the dinky auditorium, we took our shoes off respectfully, and sat down cross-legged to enjoy what would hopefully prove to be a hectic, barnstorming run-through of one of the best action games to emerge in years. After seeing the game's protagonist Ryu Hayabusa wielding a massive scythe, a field full of swords stabbed in the ground, and the game logo, we're shown the functional level select screen. Eight chapters, eh? The unseen hand selects Aqua City, evidently the fifth portion of the game. The camera pans around the serene Venice-inspired architecture, complete with gondolas moored in the urban canals, and ornate bridges spanning the waterways....and then the action kicks in.

From nowhere, a half dozen enemies spawn into the scene. Ryu reaches for his giant scythe and begins swishing and swatting away the black suited foe like irritating flies. Within seconds, the first dismemberment occurs; Ryu spiking his foe with the tip of his scythe, holding him aloft for a brief moment before slicing him decisively in two. Seconds later, another foe is eviscerated into what can only be described as a splodge of blood. Next up, another poor unfortunate is ripped to shreds, limbs flying asunder. The canal side stone bespattered with blood, Ryu spins upwards into the air, and with an effortless whirl slices more goons to their inevitable doom. The next man minced. The other beheaded. Another chopped in two. With a further four hapless individuals encircling him, the stragglers are finished off one after the other with dramatic, graceful, violent ease. With a swish and a slash and smash. Frenetic indeed. Less than two minutes into the game, and the death toll and gib count is immense.

'TGS: Ninja Gaiden 2' Screenshot 2

With a few moments respite while Ryu runs up some stairs and heads for the nearby canal bridge, we get a chance to take in the ornate architecture for a moment. The feel is very much in-line with the splendour seen in Devil May Cry 4, but maybe not quite as strikingly beautiful. Regardless, it's no slouch in the visual department by any means, and before we know it we're back in the action, once again dealing with a posse of aggressive, relentless, but ultimately defeated adversaries. At this stage we get to see what appears to be a charged attack where Ryu stands still for a moment, invoking some hidden force and whipping up the air around him, symbols encircle him and blasting anyone nearby with a vicious proximity attack which ultimately rips them apart in a shower of gore.

With the last of the bunch sent packing, Ryu puts his trusty scythe back on his back and cycles through the available weaponry. Without too much intimate knowledge of what's in store, we can tell there's a handful at least, with dual swords eventually plucked from the inventory. Running headlong into a fruit and veg market, the scene's set for even greater levels of manic destruction. You might imagine smashed canvas canopies, busted up crates, and mashed fruit, Stranglehold-style, but the levels of environmental destruction are strangely minimal. You see a few items of fruit scattered around after Ryu's special attack, but that's about it.

Interacting with some sort of statue head, your energy is restored, but it's not clear whether this also checkpoints your progress. Clearly the demo man is far too good at the game to die. With some sort of fireball attack selected, Ryu then sets about blasting all-comers with these hot blasts of death, showing off the nifty flame effects in the process. Facing off against a gun-wielding, acrobatic death troupe, it's hardly surprising to see that the gigantic swishing scythe wins out despite Ryu being shot while prone on the ground. With a massive flame special attack unleashed on the remaining unfortunates, it's amusing to note the collective "Arrrrrrrrrrgh"s as the perish in a dance of fiery death.

And the hits keep on coming. Now faced with rocket launcher-wielding enemies, Ryu ducks, rolls, impales, slices, lunges, and eventually takes the remainder down with a ball of unavoidable flaming retribution. What he's angry about we can only speculate. Maybe someone cussed his mum? Maybe he couldn't get his new mobile phone to act as a modem while trying to connect his laptop to the Internet while stranded thousands of miles away in a Tokyo hotel, with only a swearing lunatic for company? Modern life has unique, unforeseen pressures.

The next thing you know, two giant winged demons decide to intervene. Replete with lanky swagger, you'd think the fight was all over bar the demented screaming, what with their purple breath of death and all. But these unreasonable assailants clearly hadn't reckoned on Ryu's patented whirling blade of death attack. To be fair, who could anticipate that? All that extensive training in Hell's Dojo clearly didn't prepare these giant winged beasties, and so it's off with their lithe black-skinned limbs, and an enviable street cleaning job for the folk tasked with cleaning up the sticky green blood now messing up the stone paving. I bet it stinks as well. Despite this, they fight on to the end, with another two suckers joining the merry throng. In mere seconds Ryu has reduced the pair of them to kneeling corpses with his claw attack, and a blizzard of improbable Ninja skills finishes off the straggler. One thing this game definitely doesn't lack is impact. This is brutal stuff, and the lizardy detail on these winged bastards is absolutely incredible. Top marks, chaps.

'TGS: Ninja Gaiden 2' Screenshot 3

Running into a area surrounded by tall stone pillars we reach the climax of this ten minute video. With a magnificent fountain the centrepiece of this (boss?) location, we get a close-up of Ryu's leather boots, and the approaching rumble of an unseen giant. Leaping spectacularly into the fray, this bug eyed behemoth looks pissed off. Who wouldn't? He's just heard that 70 of his mates have been slain by a scythe wielding git. Breathing halitosis and readying his insect arms for battle, this nine-eyed bug freak roars in fury, towering over the relatively diminutive figure of Ryu. With blade raised, the scene fades, and it's time to ponder over what Ninja Gaiden II has in store for us when it emerges exclusively on Xbox 360 in 2008. Maybe now the Japanese will finally dig deep into their pockets and spend their yen on what Team Ninja promises will be "the world's premier action game."

Comments (44) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • BadBoyBonner #1 4 years ago

    PS3? - either the Eurogamer home page is borked or your being very cruel or you have just announced today's biggest story (no I do not mean that htere is a decent game coming out for the PS3) but that Ninja Gaiden 2 is coming out for the PS3.
    Edited by 1 at 24/09/07 @ 11:40
  • drumbaby #2 4 years ago

    Woot!

    PS3 exclusive!
  • 3william56 #3 4 years ago

    I thought ninjas were meant to be oh, subtle and steathy and stuff...

    PS3 version? I don't think so.
  • sugapunk #4 4 years ago

    lol, queue "Ninja Gaiden 2 coming to PS3?" threads on PS3 forums across the world.
  • fiery_jackass #5 4 years ago

    aside from leaving in the gore for Euro people this time (black pack excluded, of course), what I most want to see is:
    No ghost fish, ever.
  • Danbojones Verified Senior Staff Writer, GamesIndustry.biz #6 4 years ago

  • Yossarian #7 4 years ago

    I haven't seen the footage and I probably won't even bother. Ninja Gaiden owned my soul completely. All this needs to be is Ninja Gaiden HD with slashy blades on its feet and I am sated. Everything else is (red, red) gravy.
  • Garulon #8 4 years ago

    Advance warning: If bloody Germany make this green blooded (except for the monster that are _actually_ green blooded natch) or remove the decapitations I will stab a vegan.
  • BillyBrush #9 4 years ago

    the demo city looked like Soleanna from the latest sonic game though *shudders*
  • Rirekon #10 4 years ago

    That, right there, is some beautiful gore.
  • CyberClaw #11 4 years ago

    In Ninja Gaiden 1 those floating dragon statue heads were to save the game. I can only presume they serve a similar purpose in NG2.
  • SuperBas #12 4 years ago

    "From nowhere, a half dozen enemy spawn into the scene."

    "Enemy"?
  • Skeletor #13 4 years ago

    @Garulon
    Germany had nothing to do with the censored EU version of NG!
    Blame the European publisher who wanted (and got!) a lower rating.
    Same bullshit with Sigma...
  • ExitGhost #14 4 years ago

  • alkeygs01 #15 4 years ago

    mmmmmmmmmmmm........

    Wow seriously the 360 is gonna pwn all (to quote those damn yanks).

    I mean this Christmas and new year and into next year, and in the words of foxy "the hits keep on coming"

    and wolverine type claws with ninja gaiden movement and action....oh man my legs just went and the rooms gone hazy....
  • jachap #16 4 years ago

    It might just be me but does anyone else think that this preview seems to ooze sarcasm?

  • Dizzy #17 4 years ago

    "He's just heard that 70 of his mates have been slain by a scythe wielding git."

    ROFL :)
  • The-Bodybuilder #18 4 years ago

    >"It might just be me but does anyone else think that this preview seems to ooze sarcasm? "

    ??? O_o
  • RexRunti #19 4 years ago

    I was begining to worry that 2008 would be a little flat after the massive 2007 releases. This is one of the games allaying my fears.
  • Santino #20 4 years ago

    the combat in this looks so damn brutal compared to the first, i simply cannot wait. If pal version is censored in any way i just hope its region free. and those vega style claws are sure to be getting some use from me i think. nice.
  • dllord #21 4 years ago

    Skeletor, it was the germans who who got NG on the xbox censored, hopefully this time us adults won't have to be forced in to playing a borked game!
  • TheJuriel #22 4 years ago

    I never had any interest in Ninja Gaiden.

    But this pretty gore has made me curious...
  • daedalus2 #23 4 years ago

    Looks like more of the same, but when the original was as spectacular as NG, that's just fine.

    @fiery_jackass: Seconded. I could also do without those 'make a series of pixel perfect jumps while enemies are trying to shoot you off the ledge and make you do the whole thing again 500 times' sections.
  • wa_uk #24 4 years ago

    "...after the years Team Ninja has wasted on developing pointless voyeur sims that sold precisely sod all, to see the developer going back to doing what it does best is great news."

    Fuckin' right! Woohoo! I' SO EXCITED about this game
  • Khanivor #25 4 years ago

    I adored the first NG. It was pitched perfect, imo, damn hard, (oh horse archers, how I loathe thee) but when you died it was your fault for not being good enough. Persevere and you improve and progress.

    Can't wait for the sequel, crossing fingers for MP dueling options.
  • Stepharneo #26 4 years ago

    So, um, there are lots of comments that suggest a PS3 version, but i was under the (unhappy) impression that it was 360 exclusive...so it begs the question; who's the tard? is it eurogamer who made a mistake or some PS3 fanboy spouting lies?
  • Skurmedel #27 4 years ago

    Stepharneo: It was listed as a PS3 game at first on the frontpage if I recall correctly. The article suggests that its a 360 exclusive.
  • captain-future #28 4 years ago

    I want to BELIEVE!!!
  • Rash' #29 4 years ago

    Yawn. Another game to appease the male dominated hardcore market. It may turn out to be the best action adventure ever, but compare this to the content coming on rival platforms. Hell the content isn't even that original. Lone ninja out for more revenge I predict. I'm done fullfilling that fantasy. I need more than a good game, I need a good game with original content. This being a 360 exclusive isn't a good thing for MS IMO /Goes to sleep/
    Edited by 1 at 24/09/07 @ 20:21
  • Skeletor #30 4 years ago

    @Rash'

    Try Bioshock, or Mass Effect or Alan Wake or...You know what these games have in common?

    @dllord
    Is that what your mama told you? That's bullshit. It was censored in order to receive the PEGI 16 rating instead of PEGI 18. The German ratings board doesn't have anything to say when it comes to EU versions. Why should it be any different? Logic? Btw, NG-Black was released uncut in Germany, rated 18.
    Edited by 2 at 24/09/07 @ 22:14
  • captainrentboy #31 4 years ago

    Rash', what would this rediculously original title be that you are hinting at? Because all I see coming is sequel after sequel, FPS after FPS, and driving game after driving game, all basically identical to their predecessors bar now having wonderful HD graphics.
  • The-Bodybuilder #32 4 years ago

    >"Another game to appease the male dominated hardcore market."

    So....what appeals to females like you, eh? Fluffy kittens?
  • Strac #33 4 years ago

    @TheJuriel: it's not the gore, it's the incredibly well-paced action & controls
    1 was very very hard, but not unfair. you could learn it and whenever you started again, the first levels that had seemed so hard were a complete breeze

    1 was a very good game, looking forward to this
  • dllord #34 4 years ago

    Skeletor, No its what your mama told me! Also, you don't happen to be german do you? LoL!
  • Ryze #35 4 years ago

    Please, please - just fix the f*cking camera!!!!!
  • Skeletor #36 4 years ago

    @dllord
    Right, that's why I know you're wrong. OMFG, ze Germans took ze blood avay! LOL, what's next? German spies forced the BBFC to reject Manhunt 2? Democracy under attack!
  • Les #37 4 years ago

    "Germany had nothing to do with the censored EU version of NG!
    Blame the European publisher who wanted (and got!) a lower rating.
    Same bullshit with Sigma..."

    Got the US version so escaped that bullshit (and was much cheaper as well). Now if only the game itself would be nice to play... :(

    At least Sigma, together with Oblivion, taught me to never again get a game of which I detest the art direction.
  • busboy33 #38 4 years ago

    @bodybuilder:
    ">"Another game to appease the male dominated hardcore market."

    So....what appeals to females like you, eh? Fluffy kittens? "

    Now that would be hot. A tiny little kitten, ripping arms and legs off, then licking the blood from its claws before retracting them and going to the next fight . . .

    A kitten named . . . Tim.

    I'm sold. As long as there are boobies in there somewhere.
  • Rash' #39 4 years ago

    captainrentboy: Two titles come to mind: Echochrome (a PSN title for godsake) and No More Heroes.
  • Rash' #40 4 years ago

    Skeletor, I have nothing against the 360, but I have to question all this excitement over a hardcore game for a console notorious for it's hardcore content? Hell even the three titles you mention are all gear toward the gaming enthusiast. There's a reason why the Wii's out selling all before it.
    Edited by 2 at 26/09/07 @ 17:02
  • Skeletor #41 4 years ago

    @Rash'
    True, 360 is pretty much 100% geared towards the hardcore market. I don't think there's something wrong with this as long as they try to balance the difficulty so people with less time and experience can enjoy the games too. From the perspective of a hardcore gamer a game like Ninja Gaiden 2 is a bliss - proven formula polished to perfection, that's what the customers want and that's what they gonna get.
    I really like the Wii but looking at the people I know really all of them buy Nintendo titles exclusively and barely any third party titles. Actually they don't buy many games at all. Imho, a lot of people bought the Wii because it is something new and fresh. Once the novelty wears off they won't buy many games for it which is not very healthy for Nintendo's platform in the long run.
    The hardcore crowd on the other hand is demanding but they also spend way more money on games. To me it seems that the balance between first party and third party titles is a lot more balanced on the 360.
    Ninja Gaiden 2 looks like the definition of a Ninja game...that's what I'm looking for and hopefully that's what I'm gonna get:-)
    Edited by 1 at 27/09/07 @ 01:11
  • Rash' #42 4 years ago

    Skeletor, Fair enough. I'm just pointing out the obvious, that there only so many hardcore gamers out there and they aren't going to help MS reach mainstream status. If the sequel's anything like the prequel I'm happy without. I don't want to spend £50 to torment myself through a game. My time and money can be put to better use, but we all have our poison.

    With regards to Wii, the reason consumers aren't buying third party games is simply because the third parties haven't done enough to capture their imaginations like Ninty have. The balance will be there if the 3rd parties produce the products to justify it. As it is I predict the balance will come through exp. just as it has with the DS.
    Edited by 1 at 27/09/07 @ 16:56
  • DAN.E.B #43 4 years ago

    ninja gaiden2 360 exclusive! strange PS3 owners loved sigma but dont care about part2? mmmmmmmm
  • wa_uk #44 4 years ago

    with all the munhunt contreoversy about it's 'bleak atmosphere', does anybody else worry that the gore in gaiden will have to be cut? i know gaiden is an action game rather than a thriller like manhunt but it worries me all the same.