While thinking of my next Girls & Gaming article about, well, girls and gaming, I decided to write up a quick game review. I just recently picked up Ninja Gaiden II (actually, my boyfriend did, but it’s my game by default because I’m awesome. But let’s keep that a secret) and Ryu Hayabusa is back kicking butt and, well, kicking more butt. I loved the other Ninja Gaiden games, especially the PS3 version, and I’ve always been a fan of button-mashing hack n’ slash, like Champions of Norrath, Arkadian Warriors, etc. But man, does this game blow me away!

First, the graphics are amazing. I mean, you can actually see the blood splatter in individual drops. The bodies basically stay piled up so you know the engine’s working hard to keep the visuals there and not drop the ball by glitching or slowing down game play. (Though they do go away after you run out of an area and then go back.) The cut scenes show people who look almost human. I haven’t seen a human-looking person (I mean, seriously looks like a human) since Heavenly Sword.

Second, the weapons and moves are fantastic. You start off with Dragon Sword and then work your way up. There is a good range of short, mid, and far range weapons. Along the way you get the Lunar Staff, Falcon’s Talons, Dragon’s Claw and Tiger’s Fang, Kusari-gama, Eclipse Scythe, the Tonfa, and Vigoorian Flail. Yes, those are all the weapons that I have found that you can use. (I personally am a fan of the Lunar Staff. So much carnage so quickly!) Besides hand to hand combat, you also have access to distance weapons, like throwing stars. You can also upgrade and purchase weapons from shops you come across. You also get abilities like Art of the Piercing Void and Obliteration Techniques. The list goes on, so I’ll just sum it up and say that each helps you defeat enemies quickly and gore-ily.

As for the game play, it’s fun. The movement is fast. I mean, like super fast. So fast I actually had to stop playing after 45 minutes because I started to get motion sickness. Sometimes I couldn’t figure out where I was, it was that fast. I loved it. It was so fluid and quick, which of course if you played the PS3 version would already know.

Now for the cons.

First off, the controls are a little quirky. There are other controls besides default, but when I switched to them I couldn’t get some of the ninpo (your magic or super moves) to work, so I think it switched the buttons for the ninpo and I couldn’t figure out what buttons to hit. The game doesn’t give you a tutorial based on the controllers you choose, just the original settings, so be warned.

Second, the story is so-so. I mean, really, the game just is about pretty violence. The story is kind of weak, and the supporting characters are kind of forgettable.

Third, the camera view. I don’t know what they were thinking about the camera view. It doesn’t stay behind Ryu the entire time, so you have to hit the left trigger to keep it behind you. And if the camera isn’t behind you, it’s really hard to see what’s up ahead (or right in front of you).

My last complaint is the save system. I hate all games that make me run to a save point. What’s worse is that the game saves in Ninja Gaiden II are few and far between. Granted, you can heal at the save point, but once you’ve saved there you can’t go back and resave! With all the enemies and death n’ destruction being handed out, you’re going to wish there were more save points.

The game saves, or lack thereof, definitely is playing the biggest part in my score. However, with all the other great features of this game, I’ll give it….

8 Gir Screams out of 10.