Last year, Ninja Gaiden Sigma was released exclusively for Playstation 3. After one year, Ninja Gaiden 2 makes a comeback exclusively for Xbox 360 with Ryu Hayabusa on the front page. Does it exceed the expectations or will it fail to satisfy our digital hunger for blood?

Once again, players will have the chance to play with Ryu Hayabusa, one of the Hayabusa Ninja Clan, a descendant from the Dragon Lineage. After Ryu saves the world by protecting the Dark Dragon Blade (in Ninja Gaiden Sigma) a new threat is coming from the underground. The Black Spider Ninja Clan is up to no good. Their plan... resurrect the Archfiend. This is the premise of the story, which will unfold nicely along the way. But basically, the story is just a reason to hack and slash different enemies, building massive body counts.

Team Ninja managed to maintain the fast-paced action, that's why all the previous titles were cataloged as huge successes. But the producers changed the formula a bit, and while adding new features to the game, older stuff like the camera control is still an issue (more on that later).

Depending on your skill level, you may choose to follow the Path of the Acolyte (Easy) or the Patch of the Warrior (Medium difficulty) if you want a more challenging approach. The Path of the Acolyte is recommended to the newbies of the series, but don't expect to be invincible. The difference between difficulties is measured by the number of the enemies and the damage dealt. On Warrior mode, one enemy can easily steal up to half your hit-points if he gets the chance. That's why you should choose carefully before venturing the ninja path.

A couple of days before writing this review, I was complaining on how difficult the combat is, that some mobs are nearly invincible and was going to put low grades. But I was wrong. Every enemy can be killed fairly easy. Ninja Gaiden 2 combat happens a lot faster than the previous title, that's why it's imperative to defend a lot. A quick combination of block, dodge and attack is the way to succeed.

The developers created a very simple and intuitive control scheme. Quick attacks are represented by the "X" button, "Y" button is for hard attack, "B" is for projectile/ranged weapons like different types of Surikens and Bows, and finally "A" is for jumping. Left Trigger will block while Right Trigger will center your camera.

The feature that allows you to finish off enemies quickly is the way they take damage. Now foes get wounded and when you chop a limb off, you can kill them instantly, by pressing "Y" when you're next to them. But remember, even seriously wounded foes, can take you down, with a last suicidal attack. In the heat of the battle, when you're facing lots of enemies, the wounded ones must fall first, decapitation being the standard option.

For a more dynamic combat, Team Ninja introduced a new health system. After the last enemy is killed, the health bar refills itself almost completely, except a certain amount of damage received. This damage can only be healed with health potions or when you reach a save point where you automatically fully heal yourself.

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Ryu has in his arsenal some wicked weapons, weapons from the previous titles like the Dragon Sword or the Lunar Staff but new ones like the Falcon's Talons, Eclipse Scythe, Tonfa and many more will make their way in the game. Every weapon is upgradable, up to three times, new moves and more damage being added each time. I must admit that I'm impressed by the large number of techniques for weapons, there are over 40 techniques for each but I doubt that any of you will memorize them. But if you do spend the time and learn, you'll get some serious action on the screen.

Each weapon has different techniques that will make battles against one type of enemies a lot easier. Let's say, if you have about 10 ninjas on your head, it's faster to kill them using the Lunar Staff than the Dragon Sword. Plus, killing blows and special attacks look awesome with all the weapons and it's recommended to check them out. Although, the combat looks and feels really cool, it might get repetitive after a while. I don't think it's something that will happen soon, but still, for some it might.

Also, gamers can make use of magic attacks called ninpos, The Art of the Inferno, The Art of the Wind Blades, The Art of Phoenix Flames and The Art of Piercing Void are the four type of magic attacks. These are also upgradable up to three times, with special items like Jewel of the Demon Seal.

When it comes to holdbacks, the camera gets the first place. Even if the combat is cool and awesome and all that, you can't help but cursing when the camera is stuck behind a wall, or the opposite way from the action. You will get attacked for so many times from invisible enemies, because the camera is in some other place than it should be. This problem will be encountered mostly in closed spaces and it seems that Team Ninja just can't fix this annoying problem that's been persistent from the other titles as well.

As a bonus, the game has some online features, like Ninja Cinema, where you can record your own fighting scenes and share them online with others. It also works the other way around, as you can download other's movies and see how their gaming style is. Another online feature is the Leaderboards. Here you can upload your chapter score and compare it with your friend's.

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Don't forget to download video documentaries from Xbox Live to check the background of the game, along with new costumes for Ryu, enemies and others.

Gameplay: 82

Ninja Gaiden 2 offers an immersive gameplay, very suitable for beginners and veterans alike, with fast-paced combat and a lot of weapons a combos. The fact that the gore level has been raised from the previous titles, it satisfies that "beast" in all of us. With ups and downs, the game will suck you in and keep you seating for a long time, and if you want to complete the game, you'll be needing some a lot more time.

Graphics: 83

Although generally the graphics are very good and polished, there are some levels that are plain ugly.

Sounds: 86

The music is specific for Ninja Gaiden, a music that get's you in the rhythm, and nice sound effects. You'll also get used with the "Aaahhhhh" sound because you will die a lot :D

Multiplayer: N/A

Hardware: 80

With reasonable loading times, Ninja Gaiden's fast action will attract some frame-rate drops. I also encountered one bug that was easily disturbing as enemies go invisible, only their weapons remaining visible.