Wreaking havoc in tight leather: Ninja Gaiden Sigma demo impressions |
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Sitting in front of the PS3 and experiencing the first few seconds of the Ninja Gaiden Sigmademo, I couldn't help but think: "Autumn leaves falling, rocky cliff walls, and me controlling a ninja. Please don't let this be another Genji!" And by god, I can't even believe how different the whole experience was (the camera angles were fit to a T!).
Well aside from the stunning graphics, what concerns us a lot right now is the gameplay (It's probably already a given nowadays that the Cell Processor will always throw out stunning graphics - so any more discussion on that would be redundant). Controls; check. Learning curve; check. Blood, gore, and decapitation; check. Weapons and combos; check. Camera angles; definitely check. Judging from this demo, the full version of Ninja Gaiden Sigma is very much what the original Xbox game only dreamed of becoming.
Fine, I died while trying to defeat the first boss during my first run. I just wanted to get my bearings and have a feel for the game. During my second run though, I was flying through the level (ninja-style, no less) with my tongue lashing out expletives and curses along the way every time I'd connect a cool looking combo (which would often result to a lovely beheading). Took me ten minutes to finish the whole level during my second run. Here's my take on the demo:
Dual swords are the way to go: Don't even bother with the two-handed heavy sword. You're a ninja, after all, not some yellow-bellied hippo trying to swing a club in a vat of jello. Unless your gameplay style goes along the lines of "heavy-hitting but slow-moving," I'd suggest you go for the dual swords.The nunchuks are okay, but they're only for flair and stringing some long combos that don't damage (and decapitate) much. Not good on the long-range aspect though, but these babies are perfect for close-quarter ambushes. The Lunar spear (if I recall the name correctly) is quite the opposite. Fast, also, but better if you're going against a group of baddies in a somewhat open space.
Replayability - Next stop, Rachel: Finishing the level will unlock the HARD and MISSION modes. While I haven't tried the hard mode yet (much less know what it would unlock upon completion), the mission mode allows you to play as Rachel. Yep, that hot-in-leather ninja chick.
The bad side that I found here is that she uses a war hammer. Not my cup of tea since I find it too slow and unwieldy, but for some who think that Rachel is a goddess (in skimpy leather) *cough*, it still makes for a fun killing-spree. On top of that, there are leaderboards, so you might get a kick out of showing off your mad ninja skillz over teh netw0rx.
Save your Ninpo!: Whatever you do, save your Ninpo. That's the super attack, accessible by hitting Circle and Triangle at the same time. Tempting as it might be, your ordinary weapons - if used strategically and effectively - can wipe the board clean and spill some considerable blood. Use the move at the direst of occasions... like annoying bosses. Imagine my delight upon getting to use the SIXAXIS sensors to boost the attack and reduce the boss' health bar around half. It made the battle a heck of a lot easier.
In the end, the demo has done nothing but make me even more excited for the game. June 26 release for Ninja Gaiden Sigma, huh? Well, I'm sure this demo is more than enough to tide over the wait. Meanwhile, let me go back to the game. My rank on the leaderboard is still somewhere way above the 5,000 mark. And so for now, I shall be heading back to stealth mode and get back to playing the demo while singing to myself that "Ask A Ninja" theme song.
28 Jumps Custom firmware 5.50GEN-D now out
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Comments [refresh]
i was unimpressed with this demo,
my first impressions, i thought the graphics were god awful,
gameplay good but terrible graphics. looks cheap and
not that different from genji's graphics which were total trash!!!! well lets hope for lair , heavenly sword and metal gear............
awesome game so far. no flaws seen. graphics is awesome. dunno what the guy above me is talking about. i'd prefer a much darker setting though for a ninja game. but great overall.
maybe he's playing on a regular tv or something.
the demo was gorgeous in hi def and will be a definite purchase in june. the speed is cranked over the last games and the combos and animations are much, much smoother if that's even possible.
1080p at 60 frames. I didn't think it was possible either but it's true. a real showpiece on the ps3.
wow you must be expecting photographic 3d or something. As far as graphics go in regards to what we normally see on all the other consoles, it made both my gf's and my roommate's jaw drop. It looks good. Of course there are better looking games on the way, but seeing it in motion in 1080 is hot (aside from the jaggies on the wooden pillars, but if you'll recall people could not figure out AA on the PS2 until way later in it's life cycle)
But then, this game looked great on the XBox and was running at 60fps, so it's no surprise at all to be running at 60fps at 1080p on a console which is many times more powerful than the original XBox. :)
It still maintains the 'clean + sharp' look of Team Ninja's games, which is great but somewhat clinical in appeareance (if you know what I mean).
With Ninja Gaiden 2 obviously being built specifically for next-gen consoles (both 360 and PS3 I hope), the graphics of that game sholud blow this version away. But NGS is good enough until then. :)
i am wondering where to find this demo, as i assumed it would be on the ps store, but it isn't... is it not out yet in the uk?
No the demo is only out in usa an jap. But you can make a usa acount and download it. It works on pal 1.70 ps3.
To slowmosus. You are entitled to your own opinion, but maybe you weren't playing the demo on 1080p, because from what I saw, I was blown away.
I think the author needs to adjust his tin foil hat, as the camera is AWFUL! It ruins an otherwise near-perfect game.
it in the US PS store afaik.. make ur self an account either in Canada or usa and you can acquire it ;)
This is a very fun game. The graphics look great in hi-def, but in anything below 720p it looks pretty average (To be expected, as that's barely a good TV resoultion these days). The camera is fine! You all complain too damn much. Jaggies? Come on now.
I like it a lot still and might rent it or buy it when the price drops since I already have the XBOX version.
YES the graphics is ugly..... in 480i TV.....if you forgot to enable 720p or 1080p or 1080i setting on your ps3 on HDTV.
i remember once forgettng to put check/enable 720p on the ps3 settings and i played armored core demo. it was fine 1080p on the ps3 XMB but ugly when i play, i thought demo was crap, then i looked at the settings on my wall projector and saw that it was only receiving 480i. i was thinking why would they release a 480i only ps3 game demo? so tinkled with the ps3 gfx settings and found out i forgot to enable 720p support. i quickly enabled it and tried the demo again, its was stunning graphics hehehe.
Has anyone else noticed that the demo only supports 720p? I downloaded Virtua Tennis 3 at the same time, which supports 1080p, but Ninja Gaiden is only showing 720p. It still looks amazing, but maybe the demo was finished before the graphics were optimized...
The game supports 1080p.
It depends on your settings. If your running on a component connection, then your TV does not truly support 1080p over component.
The game doesnt look good running in 1080i so the developers made it so that if you have 1080i set as your maximum resolution, it will make the game 720p.
You can force it to play in 1080i by going in and disabling 720p before starting the demo and the game will play in 1080i @ 60fps.
this is the only demo that has actually lived to the hype of the real game =) im really excited now.
its only 720p you retards there is no 1080
for this game
the game is practically dogshat.
its a 720p game like all the other and it look like polygon nightmare.. motor storm looked way better!!
disable 720p and enable 1080i to see 1080i if you don't have 1080p in the ps3 display settings
i think if you played Genji, you would know where the author was coming from. he did after all mention it somewhere towards the first part of his article. compared to the fixed-rail camera angles of Genji, Ninja Gaiden was perfect! you need some tin foil hat adjusting yourself, my friend.
Jesus Christ, Mosus, you really must be "slow".
You haven't actually played this game, have you?
FYI, Genji's graphics are not "total trash", like you claim. It's actually one of the best-looking games for the PS3 out there. Guess you haven't actually played that one either.
Please don't flame games that you haven't played. You're making yourself look like a dumbass. :)
you guys are saying it's only 720p, you must only have 720p or 1080i tv's. The game runs in 1080p @60fps and it looks awesome! this actually might be the system seller and 1080p seller sony was looking for.
An enhanced port of an XBox game is not going to be a system seller, no matter how good it is. That said, I can't wait for the final game myself (it was great on the XBox). :)