Perhaps one of the most fondly remembered non-Nintendo series on the NES, the Ninja Gaiden franchise was practically the pinnacle of action gaming on said platform. When Tecmo brought back the series in March of 2004 to the original Xbox, Ryu and company were once again vaulted to the top of action gaming. And now, Tecmo aims to do the same to the next-generation (is it current-gen yet?) with Ninja Gaiden Sigma on the PlayStation 3.
Sigma can best be described as a remastered version of Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox. With all of the content from Ninja Gaiden Black in tow and a healthy dose of new and enhanced content to encourage existing fans to plunk down $60, Ninja Gaiden Sigma is set for release late this Spring on the PS3. Tecmo stopped by our offices today to give us an in-depth look at the game, and yep, Ryu looks set to do it all over again.
From a technical aspect, Ninja Gaiden Sigma looks about as sharp as we figure games can get. Every texture in the game has been reworked for the PlayStation 3, and a number of other effects have been added to spice things up, like self-shadowing and so forth. Some creatures now shine with ooze, while others emit clouds of something as they scurry about the battlefield. Tecmo said that it has just recently managed to implement full 1080p support into the game, and at a full 60fps to boot. Yes, this is one slick-looking title.
One secret Tecmo let slip is certain to get Ninja Gaiden fans pumped for Sigma. Early on in Ninja Gaiden, Ryu's village is being attacked by the evil Doku. A beautiful CG cut-scene shows Ryu battle against Doku and lose badly. In Ninja Gaiden Sigma that CG cut-scene is gone. It's no longer necessary -- because now you get to fight that battle!
This is just an example of the many twists that awaits those who have already played Ninja Gaiden. Of course, those new to the series can still enjoy the "ultimate" Ninja Gaiden experience. Though, more than likely, they'll be too busy getting their ass handed to them to appreciate the experience. I simply can't wait to start playing Ninja Gaiden again. I can't believe I'm even typing that, but yes, once again Ninja Gaiden has me hooked once more.
In the conclusion to a three part series, CV takes a look at the most recent Ninja Gaiden games, for better and for worse.
They need to make a true sequel to Ninja Gaiden 2, that was the most satisfying combat I've experienced in a hack n slash game.
been playing 1&2 on and off since they were released. I usually will play until I get frustrated then take another year off lol. Nver tried 3 or the 4th one even though they are in my backlog.
I tried to go back to Sigma but good god those controls are just insufferable. Couldn't do it.
It’s a big month for the PlayStation Now Subscription, with new games and new devices to play on.
Is PS Now fairly consistent with a good internet connection? Do the games offer trophy support?
yes and yes. Go read on forums, you only hear good things once your connection is good enough. (and you don't need a very fast one)
Trophy support is there.
did you even watch the vid?
on 20 seconds they tell you about trophy support :P
No, i was mainly concerned with hearing a users opinion of the service so i just commented. But I will be giving this a try tonight
Yes it works and works very well. Trophy Support is there as well as cloud saves for any game progression.
@abzdiine,
As of January, no 3D support. Now is not set up to properly detect your 3D display and manual choice is off since 3D requires a massive amount of bandwidth. Frame packing doesn't work well of bandwidth that currently supports smooth play in standard mode.
I would think it could be done without a hit but they would have to substantially increase the intial cache size during the game launch on the resident system (PS4, PS3, Vita, PS TV, or Sony TV) that is running Now.
yeah. I have never tried it with a fighting game yet. But the games I've tried worked just fine. Never tried multiplayer either though. I didn't eve know you could also play multiplayer games on PS NOW.
It works great on my vita. My internet connection is fairly good, but not the best.
I have 18mb/s download and it worked pretty well for me. The game I played was a simple hunting one though.
Thanks everybody for feedback, i was pretty intent on believing that streaming a game to my ps4 would work like crap, but after streaming shadow of the colossus to my ps4 im actually pretty excited about it. Its definately going to help me knock out some of my backlog!
I love ps now, think about 100 + ps3 games streamed right away to your tv. Don't have to wait for gamefly, don't need to get up and go to the store. Instantly streamed to you from an internet connection. Think about it. gamefly two disc plan runs you 22.00 a month for two disc and sometimes you have to wait. 2-4 days for a game. $44.00 for 3 months gets you unlimited access to ps3 games and soon ps2 and ps1. If you are an mmo player you pay 15.00 a month just to play that one game. i think the value is perfect. Even when psn goes down. Think about mmo's when they go down or go down for maintenance you still pay 15.00 a month for that one game. Not trying to fanboy here but ps now will be a good investment. Think about it you don't have to hook up your old console just to play a game.
Playstation Now won't include Playstation 4 titles while the Ps4 remains on the market, it doesn't make any sense.
@andresegr,
"Playstation Now won't include Playstation 4 titles while the Ps4 remains on the market, it doesn't make any sense."
why not? sony already mentioned this along with ps1 and ps2 games.
http://www.gamespot.com/art...
rental outlets are becoming harder and harder to find. they may not see much value adding it to the pay by the month plan since they have the plus service and it's monthly free give-aways but it could be a great option to rent games.
"Playstation Now won't include Playstation 4 titles while the Ps4 remains on the market, it doesn't make any sense"
Not sure what you mean. PS now has PS3 titles on PS3...
Not sure why you wouldn't have PS4 titles on PS4. I say this based on with PS4 you have buttons, features etc that make more sense to only be streamed from another PS4.
I very much see them streaming PS4 games in the future as I see no reason not to.
I'm not trolling either, but what would make you think the couldn't or wouldn't?
As a core gamer. Would you consider it going forward even though you might already own a PS1,PS2 and PS3?.
I am actually surprised that its getting good reviews from core gamers.
I tried PS Now for a month and am now really intrigued by the games on demand model, the convenience of such a massive catalogue at your fingertips is awesome. But I have ps3 so the value just isn't there at the moment. Also I couldn't help but wonder why there aren't more Sony exclusives featured on Now?
Agreed. That and games from previous generations besides PS3. Where are all the PS1/PS2 classics?
The best games to play on PSNow would be RPGs, Card Games, Board Games, pretty much anything turn-based or non-reflex related. On the opposite side, Fighting games, for example, are absolute trash on PSNow because if you're even half serious about them you don't want any interference, period. Normal online tends to be bad enough as it is for serious players.
I would also stay from anything like 1001 Spikes or Shmups.
Also, when is the price going to drop to a reasonable $10 per month/$100 per year?
You can tell by your comment you either never really tried PSnow or your internet sucks.
A Change.org petition to bring all three titles in the new Ninja Gaiden trilogy to Steam is gaining traction.
This definitely looks better than the other videos that I saw. Thats more like it! Still can be better though.