The orginal Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox nestled snugly between Halo and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic as the second best game on the Xbox system. The hype for Ninja Gaiden II was high, is this the sequel that we have been waiting for?

If you care about the story, Ryu's village is attacked and devastated yet again, an artefact is stolen from it yet again and it's up to Ryu to avenge his clan yet again. I wouldn't have minded all of this if it wasn't presented in such a poor and disjointed manner. Worse is the replacement of Rachel with someone named Sonia who not only looks suspiciously similar to her, but is developed worse than she was. The story on a whole would've done a lot better without Sonia.

If you have ever played a Ninja Gaiden game then you know it's one of the most fastest, furious and rewarding games that you have ever played. Ninja Gaiden II introduces obliteration techniques and regenerating health bar.

Obliteration techniques are brutal finishing techniques that apply to practically every enemy in the game, including most bosses. They look great and over the top but sadly, it reduces the game to be more fun to watch than to play. The regenerating health bar however, is useful and increases survivability during the game.

Unfortunately, the gameplay suffers from cheap enemies and an absolutely appalling camera. I expected Ninja Gaiden II to be hard, but to the point where it pushes you away by sheer cheapness. The enemies are constantly attacking you from around corners, shooting spams of rockets at you and going grapples that take off half of your health. None of this is helped by the camera, which drags itself behind you liked a wounded dog, be in the wrong positions when an enemies is about to attack you and overall being more of a nuisance than being helpful.

The graphics, while they haven't advanced much at all past Sigma and Black, are quite good. The character models in particular are quite slick. Ryu is as fluid and graceful as ever in his brutalizing, his weaponry and movements are flashy, gore is splashing all over the place and limbs are flying everywhere. Most of this is done at a good 60 fps, but occasionally the game will slow down immensely due to too much action going at once. Also what is disappointing are some of the level textures which are quite bland, as well as level designs.

For the sound, this is one area of the game where Team Ninja did stick to what works, the soundtrack is really good, plenty of original and atmospheric music that never seems out of place. The sound effects for the weapons are awesome; the bone-crunching and slicing noises are simply brilliant and really make those finishing blows all the more satisfying.

Overall, Ninja Gaiden 2 may have flaws and may not be the worthy successor to Ninja Gaiden for the orginal Xbox, but no one can deny that it's a great action game around today. The difficult bosses, the smooth action, the blood and gore, and the whole experience gave me a few sly grins throughout my day.