Ninja Gaiden Sigma - From Xbox with Love

Superb, meticulously crafted combat mechanics, tons of weapons, a huge variety of techniques, fast enemies, and interesting bosses. Indeed, it's hard to name a slasher where every fight turns into a tense CONFRONTATION, where victory is brought not by fast button mashing, but by mastery of weapons. But in all other respects - a complete failure.

You are snatched from a street crowd, shoved into a car, a black bag is placed over your head, and you are driven to an unknown destination. You are in shock. Naturally. Then you are pulled out, kicked forward, pushed into some room, the bag is ripped off, a scalpel is placed in your trembling hands, a gun is pressed to the back of your head, and you are ordered to urgently, right then and there, remove the appendix of some groaning criminal. You are terrified. Firstly, because you are not the famous surgeon they mistook you for. Secondly, because you will have to operate, hoping for luck, otherwise - say goodbye to your head. Scary?

In Ninja Gaiden, every encounter with a boss resembles this scene. With one difference. If you suddenly, unexpectedly, turn out to be an equally capable surgeon, the operation will be quick, successful, and beautiful. You will have much joy and a bag of money as a reward. If not - you will pound the boss again and again, dozens of times, dying and resurrecting until you devise an optimal method yourself. Or until you give up on everything, furiously rip the disc from the console, and frantically gnaw it into a thousand pieces. It's normal, nothing terrible. It's just that the developers didn't think that normal people would want to play a hardcore slasher. Ninja Gaiden is not friendly, the difficulty is off the charts. So, enjoy, gentlemen.


Rarely do you see a game that claws and thorns away players who are languid from elaborate design and cinematic cutscenes. You want to love Ninja Gaiden, but you can't. The plot is barely discernible here. Enemies burned down the protagonist's home, stole a beloved sword, and fled to the imperial capital. The valiant fighter Ryu Hayabusa, a master ninja, goes to seek revenge and kills everyone along the way. There are hardly any cutscenes. All narration is presented between missions in a couple of sentences: “Ryu killed [insert name]. But his thirst for revenge is not yet quenched, and he goes to kill [insert name]”. Great! Indeed, why burden people's minds if they are already filled with bone-crushing attack combinations?

Ninja Gaiden is experiencing its third rebirth (not counting its 2D past on NES, of course). In 2004, it appeared on Xbox, became one of the highest-rated games, and sold well. Then, in 2005, Team Ninja decided to skim the cream off the stale milk once more and released Ninja Gaiden Black – a slightly refined version. Finally, in 2007, the developers honored PlayStation 3 with their attention. They took the old-timer, added HD resolution, redrew five locations, polished the monsters, blessed Ryu with one type of weapon (dual katanas) and a busty girlfriend. An excellent reason to rejoice - hardcore is already with us, it's not all about playing God of War and Devil May Cry. The delighted users, suffering from a deficit of good games, rushed to buy and one after another started getting raked over the coals. And it's not about the plot – a good game can be forgiven even for its absence. It's about the presentation.

Team Ninja's limping sense of style barely carries the game – it looks like it's about to fall apart on the way. They mixed everyone into one universe: samurai, ninjas, demons, dragons, zombies, cyborgs, mutants, helicopters, special forces, flying droids, fish-people. Poke this construct, and it will crumble into a couple of dozen incoherent levels. The only binding material is the need to constantly return to already seen locations. Indeed, why bother if you can draw a small city with a few streets and send Ryu through them. Ran in one direction, met a boss – one chapter. Found a key, ran in another direction, met a boss – another. Only at the beginning and on the last levels do you break free from the tenacious claws of monotony. Sometimes even beautiful. But more often – gray and dreary.


It's hard to expect any unearthly beauty from a ported game from old consoles. But the design in Ninja Gaiden, alas, is not its strong suit. A simple corridor with boxes of nondescript houses or bare dungeon walls. There's simply nothing for the eye to latch onto. Of course, the developers redrew a few locations to show off to PS3 users, conducting “comparisons,” but their number can be counted on one hand. For the most part, the action takes place in typical catacombs, sewers, streets, which you constantly have to return to, clutching another lockpick for another locked door in sweaty palms. By the way, notice how skillfully Team Ninja presents the game in official screenshots. Neat character and monster models are in focus, while the environment, so as not to bother the eyes, is blurred. Well done. They know how to pull the wool over your eyes. In the game itself, there are no such spectacular angles. There aren't as many fights as one would like, and most of the time you have to crawl through small labyrinths in search of keys and secrets. So, alas, you have to “admire” the design. Hardcore in the flesh. Semantic content and external design – nothing. Game mechanics, multiplied by the difficulty of passing – everything.

Well, at least the main character is a ninja, clad in black latex with a steel crown on his head. He confuses demons with the mysterious glow of polished buttocks in the dark and blinds soldiers with sunbeams in daylight. It's immediately clear that this guy fears nothing and is completely devoid of complexes, except, perhaps, sexual ones.

But the local ideal of female beauty is a girl with pomaded lips and silicone melons. Naturally, all in black straps and leather lingerie. People who are familiar with the fighting game series Dead or Alive know that Team Ninja has a special relationship with female breasts. They must be large, barely covered, and gelatinous. Rachel's breasts jiggle with the slightest movement. Even when the stunned girl falls to the ground. The enemy laughs triumphantly, the music and camera in a smooth dance try to emphasize the tragedy. And the breasts keep swaying, swaying... As if trying to hypnotize.


Rachel is, so to speak, the face of the PS3 version. Specifically to pique players' interest, the developers spiced up Ryu's adventures with several exclusive missions for this beauty. In vain. She walks through the same locations that the master ninja has already explored thoroughly, moving slowly, skipping, playing out a miniature of “a blonde in high heels saw a mouse.” She has only one weapon – a slow, but powerful hammer (War Hammer). Her task, as a rule, is simple – to run from point “A” to point “B”, meet a boss. Moreover, in every second case, the girl gets hit on the head, so that the valiant ninja Ryu then saves her, so that she continues her adventures, only to get hit on the head again. But in some locations, she can fight a crowd of constantly resurrecting demons and win… (ta-da!) a new hairstyle!

The PS3 version of the game, strangely enough, turned out to be slightly worse than the Xbox version in terms of content. Firstly, because of the useless Rachel (these missions would have been better as optional). Secondly, because of the removed moments. Judge for yourself. For some reason, they cut out the colorful CG intro, which actually presents the backstory. They removed the ability to rewatch CG cutscenes after completion, change Ryu's costumes when loading saves (if you want to change the hero's appearance – start a new game), threw out arcade machines where you could get acquainted with Ninja Gaiden's 2D past. In some places, they moved weapons from one chapter to another. They made the game a little easier by adding dragon statues (for saving) and old man Muramasa (for purchases and upgrades). They removed several particularly tricky puzzles and gameplay moments. They redrew five locations. They updated the appearance of old monsters.

Thus, the PS3 version turned out to be slightly simpler and more beautiful, but in return, it lost many elements, and the “addition” in the form of missions for Rachel was a complete failure. So Xbox users (and Xbox 360 users - since they can download Ninja Gaiden Black via Xbox Live Marketplace) lost nothing. Especially considering the imminent release of the exclusive Ninja Gaiden 2.

Wait, wait. The description above might give a negative impression of the game. But Ninja Gaiden is considered one of the best (fans suggest – THE best!) slashers for a reason. So enough with the negativity. Let's praise it.


There is such a concept – a benchmark. This is the game that all others should emulate if they want to succeed in a certain genre. For slashers, Ninja Gaiden is indeed a guiding star and an example to follow (although no one seems to be in a hurry to follow this path, they are engrossed in cloning the much more spectacular and successful God of War).

More than ten types of melee weapons. For each – a long list of attacks and their combinations. Nothing is useless, everything depends on your preferences and abilities. Some are easier to use. Some hit a wide area at once. Some require fine control. For the money flying out of corpses, they can be upgraded by old man Muramasa, increasing their power and the number of possible techniques. Therefore, from beginning to end, there is a constant development of the hero.

Ryu finds new weapons and upgrades them. Ryu scours locations in search of hidden chests, which may contain elixirs, scrolls of resurrection, and blue pearls (find 9 – increase the “health” bar). Ryu masters magic and pelts enemies with fireballs and lightning. Eventually, Ryu learns to deal with enemies from a distance, shooting them with a bow. Here and there, golden scarabs lie around, which Muramasa gladly exchanges for valuable items. Therefore, you explore the locations with interest. There are a huge number of secrets in the game.

After Ninja Gaiden, some Devil May Cry seems like a sleepy kingdom, where sad monsters hobble towards Dante, clutching signs that say “Kill me gently.” Enemies created by Team Ninja are characterized by high speed and maneuverability. They jump around Ryu like fleas, break his blocks, grapple him, and deflect cunning attacks. A fight with one is already a challenge. Any ordinary ninja can easily deal with an unprepared hero with a couple of blows. And if there are several of them, survival becomes a very, very difficult task.


One blocks attacks, the others jump from behind, throw exploding shurikens, catch you even in the air. Just when you've mastered dealing with these, other enemies appear on the scene, even more agile, skilled, and robust. Plus, additional elements are introduced. Learned to fight soldiers? Now try to fight under heavy fire from two turrets! Just got used to the presence of slow, strong zombies? Here are a few nimble demons to go with them! Do you think samurai are easy opponents? What about cover from teleporting mages?!

Whether you want to or not, you delve into the depths of a long list of attacks and combo series. Until their execution becomes as natural a process as breathing. Until you learn to anticipate all enemy actions, block in time, roll, and dodge. Until you understand what you can do and what you absolutely cannot. Otherwise - reload, another one, and another. Each battle is a test of skill, nerves, and endurance. From this, victory is sweet, like ambrosia. Suffered through sweat, blood, and calluses on your fingertips.

But enemies are just a prelude to future achievements. Almost every chapter offers a battle with a boss. Or bosses. And these are by no means dumb oafs with a couple of super-attacks. Oh no. These are equally fast, agile creatures, each requiring a separate tactic, which is developed by the classic method of trial and error. What's nice is that they are killed quickly, there are no protracted fights. But to break through their defense, Ryu must move around the arena with the agility of a cat and the quickness of a chimpanzee. A jump, a roll, a run along the wall, a lightning-fast move behind their back, a powerful blow, and a quick retreat. Maneuvers and acrobatics, multiplied by masterful weapon handling. If after defeating ordinary monsters only satisfaction comes, then after a successful battle with a boss you feel exhausted, but almost happy. I did it! I managed! I could! And after completing Ninja Gaiden, you feel like a real hero. You even get offended that the news isn't trumpeting about you, and the city administration isn't calling with an offer to erect a monument in the central square.


And finally, a few words about porting. Two things are annoying. Firstly, the camera problem has not been resolved. During combat, it faithfully follows the hero and constantly turns - enemies disappear from view. Unpleasant. With such high-speed dynamics. Secondly, long loading times. The locations are already tiny, but they are sometimes interrupted for several seconds (even during a fight!) by a “Loading” message. Unforgivable. With such outdated graphics. And a remark from the category “not a drawback, but an eyesore.” Blood pours out of enemies in the game. Liters of blood. It irrigates the floor and walls with textural stains, but often hits corners, and characteristic red cobwebs hang in the air. Judging by the in-game videos, Team Ninja has not fixed this problem in the second part either. Hardcore first and foremost!

Diagnosis

Gone are the days when the plot was presented as a dry two-line text on the screen. When players were thrown into labyrinthine game levels without motivation, without a clear understanding of what was happening, and had to carefully explore every corner in search of the coveted lockpick for one of the locked doors. When we hadn't yet learned to be entertained by cinematic cutscenes, when design and variety of game elements were neglected. When there was nothing in the game but the game mechanics themselves, honed and polished like a samurai blade.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma is precisely such a greeting from the distant past. Superb, meticulously crafted combat mechanics, tons of weapons, a huge variety of techniques, fast enemies, and interesting bosses. Indeed, it's hard to name a slasher where every fight turns into a tense CONFRONTATION, where victory is brought not by fast button mashing, but by mastery of weapons. But in all other respects – a complete failure. A flimsy story, an impersonal hero, running around the same locations in search of keys, bland design, lack of additional entertainment, and the DIFFICULTY of passing. Choose what is more important to you.

Pro:

• Superb combat mechanics
• Well-developed character animation (acrobatics are especially successful)
• Detailed, refined models of heroes and monsters
• Huge variety of weapons, attacks, and combo series
• Agile, fast, challenging enemies
• Many unexpected and interesting bosses
• Constant character development
• Lots of secrets and hidden spots
• To complete the game, precise control of every hero action is required
• Hardcore audience will be satisfied

Contra:

• Necessity to constantly return to already explored locations
• Graphics a generation old
• Unimpressive and dreary (mostly) level design
• Simplistic plot and its terrible presentation
• Unsuccessful “additional” missions for Rachel
• Some nice little things were inexplicably cut from the PS3 version
• Problematic camera
• Long loading times
  
• Casual audience will cry