Game Card
Ninja Gaiden Sigma (PS3)
- Publisher:
- Tecmo
- Developer:
- Team Ninja
- US Release:
- 03.07.2007
- EU Release:
- n/a
- Number of players:
- n/a
- Type:
- Action Adventure
- Reality Factor:
- Fantasy
- Perspective:
- Third-Person
- Blood Level:
- Medium Blood
- Age:
- Ancient Times
Preview
Ninja Gaiden Sigma Preview
After their smash hit in 2004, additional content the following year and another year of development, developer Team Ninja announced plans to re-release Ninja Gaiden for the Playstation 3 under the name “Ninja Gaiden Sigma.” Offering new weapons and playable characters, Team Ninja promised to correct the errors of the original Xbox title and its expansion pack as well as provide additional content.
However, like any redone game coming to a different console, especially a much more powerful one, much skepticism is involved. Why the game is being redone in the first place, what is new and different, how does it take advantage of the newer hardware…these are all questions that Team Ninja will have to answer. Yet with no price and little to no information on it, the newly released demo on the Playstation Marketplace will have to do.
Following the same story from the original Ninja Gaiden, Ryu Hayabusa of the Hayabusa clan, must retrieve the Dark Dragon Sword to keep the world from utter destruction. The demo starts off in the mountains surrounding a large training ground, owned by Murai. Through this first mission, Ryu must go through his dojo and fight off the other ninja within it to reach Murai, though there is still no reason behind it.
After beaten on normal mode, hard mode is unlocked, then very hard mode. Each one, like Sigma’s predecessor, is incredibly difficult to beat, perhaps even to a fault.
What is important to note are some of the new features. Though there isn’t a set list of new weapons, the demo and recent videos have made pleasant use of dual swords, the Dragon’s Claw & Tiger’s Fang. Other than being absolutely awesome to watch, the swords are just like any other weapon. In fact, they seemed more oriented towards fighting individuals, as opposed to groups of foes. For harder difficulties, it became very cumbersome to wield.
The offered campaign mode has not changed in any way, save for the new weapon and updated graphics. Minor changed like smooth gameplay, glassier picture and the 1080p resolution are good, but not enough to want to buy the same game for the PS3.
Problems with the original Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox were slow loading times, camera placement and movement, and difficulty. They all still apply. Though on the Xbox Ninja Gaiden was using the system at peak performance, it’s hard to imagine that the PS3 is really being stressed by any title coming out for at least another year. Yet not only are there loading times between levels, but there are loading times in levels as well. On more than one occasion it interfered with a battle at hand, and that is unacceptable.
Camera issues are, if anything, worse than on the older version. Though it is possible to adjust the camera angle at any time by using the right analog stick, entering a small room or corridor and not having the camera follow normally is terrible. Even after three years of time to fix this, the camera is just as bad, if not worse, than before.
Additional material for Sigma are missions with Rachel, the fiend huntress. Four missions with her for the campaign are promised, on top of the 16 for Ryu. There will also be ‘special’ missions, where some simple goal is to be achieved, i.e. killing all enemies, defeating the bosses, etc., that will allow Rachel to be playable.
One such mission that is in the demo has Rachel fight off fiends in the church chapel, also with all of the difficulty settings allowed. Playing as Rachel is an experience on its own, mainly because she doesn’t have the agility of Ryu, but is also simply a different character with different moves. It would have been more enjoyable if the demo included a list of all the moves instead of forcing players to figure it out. Hopefully the full version will include this.
Finally, ninpo, the magic of Ninja Gaiden, has taken the motion-sensing abilities of the SIXAXIS and put them to use. When activating ninpo, simply shake the controller and it will become stronger by doing this. Although it isn’t the most imaginative use of the sophisticated accelerometers built into the expensive controller, it works.
And, of course, rankings for who is the best ninja return. The demo included this function, which was nice, though only hours after the demo reached the marketplace people were using the same glitch to gain tens of thousands of points unfairly.
Updated graphics, weapons, characters and gameplay are all plusses for this three year old title, but the reoccurring problems are heart breaking. Any fan of Ninja Gaiden, regardless of what console they own, is anticipating Ninja Gaiden Sigma, but as it is now, the price has to be pretty low for players to be happy. Set to release on June 26th in America, hopefully these issues will be dealt with before that date and the price will be fair, like the small $30 of Ninja Gaiden Black.
However, like any redone game coming to a different console, especially a much more powerful one, much skepticism is involved. Why the game is being redone in the first place, what is new and different, how does it take advantage of the newer hardware…these are all questions that Team Ninja will have to answer. Yet with no price and little to no information on it, the newly released demo on the Playstation Marketplace will have to do.
Following the same story from the original Ninja Gaiden, Ryu Hayabusa of the Hayabusa clan, must retrieve the Dark Dragon Sword to keep the world from utter destruction. The demo starts off in the mountains surrounding a large training ground, owned by Murai. Through this first mission, Ryu must go through his dojo and fight off the other ninja within it to reach Murai, though there is still no reason behind it.
After beaten on normal mode, hard mode is unlocked, then very hard mode. Each one, like Sigma’s predecessor, is incredibly difficult to beat, perhaps even to a fault.
What is important to note are some of the new features. Though there isn’t a set list of new weapons, the demo and recent videos have made pleasant use of dual swords, the Dragon’s Claw & Tiger’s Fang. Other than being absolutely awesome to watch, the swords are just like any other weapon. In fact, they seemed more oriented towards fighting individuals, as opposed to groups of foes. For harder difficulties, it became very cumbersome to wield.
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The offered campaign mode has not changed in any way, save for the new weapon and updated graphics. Minor changed like smooth gameplay, glassier picture and the 1080p resolution are good, but not enough to want to buy the same game for the PS3.
Problems with the original Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox were slow loading times, camera placement and movement, and difficulty. They all still apply. Though on the Xbox Ninja Gaiden was using the system at peak performance, it’s hard to imagine that the PS3 is really being stressed by any title coming out for at least another year. Yet not only are there loading times between levels, but there are loading times in levels as well. On more than one occasion it interfered with a battle at hand, and that is unacceptable.
Camera issues are, if anything, worse than on the older version. Though it is possible to adjust the camera angle at any time by using the right analog stick, entering a small room or corridor and not having the camera follow normally is terrible. Even after three years of time to fix this, the camera is just as bad, if not worse, than before.
Additional material for Sigma are missions with Rachel, the fiend huntress. Four missions with her for the campaign are promised, on top of the 16 for Ryu. There will also be ‘special’ missions, where some simple goal is to be achieved, i.e. killing all enemies, defeating the bosses, etc., that will allow Rachel to be playable.
One such mission that is in the demo has Rachel fight off fiends in the church chapel, also with all of the difficulty settings allowed. Playing as Rachel is an experience on its own, mainly because she doesn’t have the agility of Ryu, but is also simply a different character with different moves. It would have been more enjoyable if the demo included a list of all the moves instead of forcing players to figure it out. Hopefully the full version will include this.
Finally, ninpo, the magic of Ninja Gaiden, has taken the motion-sensing abilities of the SIXAXIS and put them to use. When activating ninpo, simply shake the controller and it will become stronger by doing this. Although it isn’t the most imaginative use of the sophisticated accelerometers built into the expensive controller, it works.
And, of course, rankings for who is the best ninja return. The demo included this function, which was nice, though only hours after the demo reached the marketplace people were using the same glitch to gain tens of thousands of points unfairly.
Updated graphics, weapons, characters and gameplay are all plusses for this three year old title, but the reoccurring problems are heart breaking. Any fan of Ninja Gaiden, regardless of what console they own, is anticipating Ninja Gaiden Sigma, but as it is now, the price has to be pretty low for players to be happy. Set to release on June 26th in America, hopefully these issues will be dealt with before that date and the price will be fair, like the small $30 of Ninja Gaiden Black.
