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.

Playing the beta, I think that SOCOM will probably be an interesting diversion from the tons of other games coming out this holiday. It’s a bit slower paced for a shooter, but the real difference is that the people who play it are quite serious which really ups the chances for getting in a truly team orientated experience. So rare in a lot of online shooters.

The real star for me is the headset though. I need a mute button. A lot of games use open chat, instead of push to talk, and I hate to be that guy who’s having a loud conversation with someone else during a game. There’s other stuff too, see below.

When was the last time you ever saw a trailer for a headset. Pretty cool though, huh? Wonder why the trailer is rated M (for Mature).

SOCOM: Confrontation Bundle from Amazon