GDC '08: Ninja Gaiden II Impressions

SAN FRANCISCO--Earlier today, during Microsoft's GDC '08 keynote, Team Ninja's Tomonobu Itagaki took to the stage to prove to conference attendees that game development in Japan is as vibrant as ever. We were treated to a quite lengthy demo of Ninja Gaiden II that took place in a previously unseen level titled The Temple of Sacrifice.

The titular temple is located inside a gigantic cavern with dragons flying around inside of it. To say that the scale of the cavern looks impressive as Ryu stands on a ledge overlooking it would be an understatement, and the place feels even bigger when the game's hero jumps down to its floor. The temple that you'll need to reach in this level can clearly be seen off in the distance and, of course, there are plenty of obstacles and enemies for you to overcome en route.

With Ryu armed with a huge two-handed sword, the Team Ninja representative playing the demo made short work of the first wave of enemies as he ran across a bridge. The enemies were more or less humanoid in appearance, but were at least twice the height of Ryu and ran toward him on all fours before getting up on their hind legs for combat. Limbs could clearly be seen getting hacked off during the battle, and the enemies' green blood made a real mess of the bridge.

After switching out the sword for a polearm, Ryu continued across the bridge and quickly found himself surrounded by another group of large enemies. These guys were far more dangerous-looking than the ones dispatched earlier, largely because their arms took the forms of chainsaws and cannons from the elbows down. Ryu ended up on his back on the floor at one point, and one of the enemies was quick to thrust its chainsaw into his chest. The blood making a mess of the level was red on that occasion. Leaping back to his feet, Ryu went on to kill the group using moves that--typically for the series--are as flamboyant as they are effective. The camera did a great job of keeping the action framed nicely even when Ryu was jumping around, though the action was occasionally very briefly obscured by over-the-top explosions and clouds of smoke.

Next up were a handful of enemies that were somewhat snakelike in appearance, though without any flesh. These writhing spinal columns with torsos had the ability to come up out of the ground, and appeared to be carrying swords in both hands. They were all dead before we could get a really good look at them, but it seems reasonable to assume that Ninja Gaiden II won't be nearly as easy when it's released as the demo was made to look on this occasion.

What happened next was arguably the most interesting part of the presentation. Ryu arrived at a save point where, in addition to getting healed, the guy playing was able to activate a "record" feature that automatically saves a replay of the action to the Xbox 360's hard drive so that players feeling particularly pleased with themselves can upload their clips for other players to check out. The specifics of this feature weren't discussed any further on this occasion, but it's certainly a neat addition to the game, and one that appears to work in the background and require very little attention from you as you play.

The next group of enemies that Ryu faced--now armed with a pair of tonfa batons--was undoubtedly our favorite: ninjas wearing red-and-black outfits adorned with spiderweb motifs, who were armed with lengthy, clawlike fist weapons. These guys appeared to be every bit as quick and as acrobatic as Ryu, which made the onscreen action difficult to keep up with--at least as a spectator.

Fireball-hurling gargoyles were the last to try their luck against Ryu, and the combination of their projectiles and their large wings occasionally proved too much for the camera to cope with. The action was obscured on a couple of occasions, though we doubt it was nearly as noticeable for the player as it was for those of us who sat in the audience.

Upon reaching the Temple of Sacrifice, Ryu was greeted by a huge, demonic-looking creature who referred to humanity as both "impudent apes" and "monkeys" before giving an ultimatum that would mark the end of the demo: "Submit, or die."

Ninja Gaiden II is currently scheduled for release in June, and before leaving the stage, Itagaki confirmed a North American release date of June 3. We look forward to bringing you more information on this one as soon as it becomes available.