Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (NGS2) is a really fun action game. The gameplay is fast paced, smoothly animated, and the combat feels very satisfying. It’s also a lot easier to tell where you’re supposed to go now. Thank you for that, developers at Tecmo and Team Ninja. These games are about combat, not about finding your way.

My biggest complaint about Ninja Gaiden, the Xbox release, was that there were certain stages that were mazes. The first tunnel stage had me wandering around  for hours in order to trigger some convoluted mechanism that would open some door and let me get on my way. There was even a hidden passage, necessary hidden passage, that could only be seen after you had already accidentally found it. NGS2, so far from what I’ve seen doesn’t have stuff like that. Instead, holding the shoulder button for a bit automatically turns the camera to face in the direction you need to go.

When faced with NGS2 I think the first thing most people probably ask themselves is, "Do I really want to spend time/money on a game which is part of a series of games that are known to be extremely difficult?" While I never found the first Ninja Gaiden or Ninja Gaiden Sigma to be unwinnably hard, I think this exact thought crossed my mind with NGS2. For those of you who bypassed this game for these reasons, you should come back and take another look.

NGS2 is a refined version of Ninja Gaiden 2. Part of that statement means that the game is easier than its original 360 release, and rather than see that as a negative, like most hardcore gamers would, I see it as Tecmo and Team Ninja trying to get more people to play their games. For those of you who like the challenge of a good game, NGS2 still has some pretty difficult Trophies to obtain, but now it’s also a game for people who just like cool ninja imagery but have never had the skill to enjoy Ninja Gaiden. This is a good thing. People shouldn’t be afraid to play games because they’re too difficult. There are already plenty of other reasons they wouldn’t want to play a game.

I’ve already bought Star Trek Online (note to all: Steam’s pre-purchase =/= pre-order from other places) so I’ve spent some time in the Open Beta, and I’ve got to say, even though I have very little interest in MMORPG’s, I can’t think of any other place I can go to play such engaging and true to source starship battles, with other players in tow. If there was no subscription fee, without a doubt, this is the Star Trek game I want to play. With the fee though, it’s still the Star Trek game I want to play but matters are a bit more complicated.

Assuming I don’t care about extra characters or being Borg, if I go with the $15.00 monthly plan, I won’t have to shell out a PSPgo(MSRP:$249.99) up front, day one. Of course with the monthly plan, every month’s subscription deduction from my wallet is going to pressured me to actually play, and possibly play a lot, just to get my money’s worth. Were I to have a lifetime subscription, that wouldn’t be an issue. I would instead only feel pressured to stay with the game for at least 16 months, the length of time it would take to spend $240.00 on the monthly plan. Also, with the lifetime subscription, I would get to see all of the content updates, addition and expansions that would come to Star Trek Online in the future.

But will I really care to?

Although the beta is fun, can I really conclude that the rest of the game will be just as fun? What if I get the lifetime subscription now and three months from now, decide that Star Trek Online isn’t the MMO for me? On the flip side, what if it is the MMO for me and I end up playing for two or three years?

What would you do in my situation?

Check it out at Gametrailers.com or SI.com. If the banner isn’t showing up, this is the second part of the course. You can pick it up from there.

Was the ad cool? Yeah. Does it make me want to buy the game? Ummm… well, we’ll see.

Apparently, some work is required somewhere.

“Because the only time it’s not quiet is when the zombies are already attacking.”

Stolen Pixels at The Escapist. Gotta love it.

Continuing on from the random spawn points for the weapons box in Map Pack 1’s Verrukt, Perks machines on the new map, Shi no Numa, are now randomly spawned. (Great…)

Other new features include a quick escape zip line and a flogger. Flogger, you say? Basically, it looks like a fence that spins on a horizontal axis and sends zombies flying (see below).

The kicker though, is the hellhounds: extremely fast moving beasts that explode upon death and occasionally spawn in place of the zombies.

 

To see all of this in action, head on over too Gametrailers here, and watch the first part of this episode of GTTV.

Seems that there’ll be quite a bit of work to do to get those new zombie map Trophies.