The young woman has come seeking a legendary warrior named Ryu Hayabusa. She has information about a demon that she is certain Ryu will want to hear. The old man fumbles a bit and then tells the young woman that he doesn’t know where Ryu is. She leaves, but even as she gets outside the shop, the night closes in and with it, enemies of Ryu – which may also be allies to the aforementioned demon.

The woman is easily captured and even as she is being carted off, Ryu shows up and a major battle ensues. By the time the enemies are decimated – some in a very visceral and bloody manner – the leader of the bad guys has flown the elevated city area with his captive firmly bound and tossed over his shoulder.

While the whole scene is merely a prelude to the grander storyline and serves mostly as a tutorial for the evolving combat, it is enough to sink hooks firmly in and draw gamers into the world of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, an exclusive for the PS3.

Tecmo is the developer behind the title, and the team at Team Ninja (the developers) have taken the foundations forged in the first game and driven home as compelling an action-adventure game as you are likely to find. It is a beautiful game to look at, with environments that are huge and imaginative as you scan the horizons, while the animation is certain to impress. The story arc will traverse several locations and culminate with battles that will test players – whether they are playing in the easier of the two modes, or stepping up to the harder mode.

Be forewarned – if you have never played a Ninja Gaiden game before, start on the easier mode. It looks simple at the start but ramps up significantly. You will need to learn not only how to fight, but more importantly how to defend and dodge. Stay in one play overly long, try going toe-to-toe with the bad guys and you will wind up restarting … a lot.

As you move through the levels, you will find upgrades to skills and weapon drops that will give your characters (and there are several playable characters) the opportunity to customize their look to suit their style of combat. Ryu, for example, will get metallic claws for his hands and feet. They slice and dice faster than a Japanese chef and make both kicks and punches much more devastating.

Expect dismemberment, expect blood and expect finishing moves that will have you staring at the screen with a mixture of horror, wonder and disbelief. Think this game is merely a button-masher? Think again. NGS2 is as much about analyzing (quickly) the situation, exploiting the weaknesses of the enemy, hitting and moving. You have to be a constant tornado of mayhem, hitting and moving, if you wish to stay alive.

(It needs to be mentioned that the review code sent out for this story was for the debug unit, and some features – such as online cooperative multiplayer – were not available at the time of this review.)

The controls are intuitive, and while there is a certain amount of button mashing initially, as you unlock battle moves, the game takes on a fast-paced strategic element that has you thinking an attack sequence, or two (or three), in advance. 

There are 17 levels in the game and four playable character that are from titles you may otherwise recognize – such as Ayane from the Dead or Alive series or Momiji from Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword. The opposition each fights seems almost tailored in many ways and each story thread presents its own challenges. And the bosses are big, nasty and require all the skill you accumulate in the areas leading up the encounter. The first you take on is a giant stature come to life that hammers down on Ryu, and requires nimble tumbling, evasion techniques and the dive in, attack and get back out in a hurry to avoid the counter. It's challenging (a word that seems synonymous with the franchise name) and a lot of fun.

From a graphical standpoint, NGS2 is terrific, but the game elements are enhanced with solid voice acting and a decent musical score.

NGS2 is a terrific game, one that may not seem totally innovative but one that gets the various parts right and presents them very well. This is a challenging game, but is a journey worth taking.

Gameplay: 9.0
The controls are not hard to learn, but the game is more than merely button mashing – you have to approach this from a strategic perspective and maneuver your fights into areas that are either capable of allowing you to hit and move or where you can choke-point the enemies or narrow the attack angles.

Graphics: 9.2
A truly beautiful game with amazing landscapes and excellent combat animation.

Sound: 8.8      
Solid voice acting and musical score.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard

Concept: 8.5
Not totally original by any means, but still the components are put together very well.

Multiplayer: NA
There will be online cooperative play – it just was not available in this advanced build.

Overall: 9.0
This is an arcade-style adventure with thoughtful and challenging battles. It is graphically gorgeous and the animation is superb. While there are two modes of play, easy and challenging, NGS2 is not for the faint-of-heart. This is a thoroughly entertaining game that is a delightful bit of eye candy rolled into an adrenaline-charged action-adventure game.