Hands-On Preview: Creating a whole new generation of Ninja Dogs
One of the most popular – and challenging – action games of last generation was Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox. A brand new adventure based upon the NES classics, it became one of the crown jewel exclusives of Microsoft's debut console, lauded for its finely tuned gameplay and demanding difficulty. Now it's hitting the PlayStation 3 in all its brutally tough glory, but it's not a port – no, it's a remake, a director's cut. Dubbed Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Team Ninja is bringing PS3 owners the ultimate edition of its modern classic, complete with enough new stuff to make it a tempting buy even if you played the original, or even the 2nd edition, Ninja Gaiden Black. If the demo that hit PlayStation Network is a sign, Ninja Gaiden Sigma could be so great that it'll make PS3 owners and Ninja Gaiden virgins forget all about the whole Devil May Cry 4 situation, as the jump to PS3 has been no hindrance on the quality.
The demo of Sigma drops you into the first level of the game, which progresses exactly the same as the Xbox game. As Ryu Hayabusa, you've gotta hack, slash, and sometimes decapitate rival ninja and solve a quickie puzzle on the way, and it's just as tough as you remember (or perhaps as you've heard if you are a newbie to the game). Those familiar with the game will be able to breeze through this stage, as generally it progresses exactly the same. Though now using a different controller, the game still performs quite well with the Sixaxis, and now the d-pad can be used for quickly selecting health/ninpo items rather than going through the menus. And oh yes, the game looks absolutely spectacular and is one of the better uses of PS3 hardware thus far. That said it's not mindblowingly different than the Xbox version, but that's less of a knock on the PS3 as a nod to the Xbox, which really could deliver some stunners when someone actually put the potential to use. The game runs at 60 FPS in at least 720p/1080i without a lick of slowdown; and keep in mind, this is the demo - things can only get better as the game gets the final polishes for its summertime release.
It doesn't end there though. As an added bonus, beating the demo once unlocks Hard mode – as if normal wasn’t bad enough. Not only that, but your Karma score gets uploaded to the PSN for all the world to see. Yes, rankings in a demo. Beating hard unlocks even harder difficulties, all the way up to the mind-bogglingly hard Master Ninja. Suffice it to say, there's plenty of replay in this freebie trial version. And that's not all! Act now and you get a special mission with the new playable character, the, uh, large chested Rachel! Hopefully this special mission won't be in the final game, as it's quite drab, taking place in a circular room with about a dozen enemies to fight and a boss encounter, and that's it. Likely it was designed to show off how different Rachel plays compared to the faster Ryu, as Rachel is slow and plodding, and much more powerful than Hayabusa. Playing as Rachel is like playing God of War 2 after Kratos gets the barbarian's hammer – the game changes from a fast-paced, twitchy action game to a more methodical one. It's also one of the few times where the female character is actually slower and more powerful than the male.
