Ninja Gaiden Sigma is the latest instalment in a line of previous games in the Ninja Gaiden series. The series has been released on a number of consoles and actually started off in Arcades as a two-player beat-em-up, but now has made its way onto the PlayStation 3. Ryu Hayabusa is back, once again hunting down the evil that has stolen the Dark Dragon Blade from the Hayabusa village.

The Ways of the Ninja!

Can you be a ninja? Quite simply, yes you can. The feel of this game puts you in the driving seat of Ryu, a descendant of the Dragon Lineage. Although he is a young member of the Hayabusa clan, he is a ninja and a very good one at that. With the controls being so easy to learn and no big combinations needing to be pressed to do anything, you’ll be controlling a master ninja in no time at all.

You start off without knowing any of the controls and are already being attacked by an enemy, so you have to basically find the attack button to start with. After defeating this opponent, you will be faced with a tutorial of sorts. Although the tutorial is very easy to follow, it could have been made a bit simpler. Players have to actually interact with a flower/shuriken, that may be found on the wall and appears from nowhere. This flower will bring up a note that will give you a hint of what to do without actually telling you the buttons you might need to use. That said, it really doesn’t take long before you know all of the controls. You’ll be running up walls or even along walls, performing multiple jumps around corners, jumping off the heads of enemies, rolling around in the mud and doing the sort of things that anybody would love to do in no time at all .

Throughout the game you’ll be mastering Ryu’s techniques, acquiring new weapons and ‘magic’ Ninpo attacks (which are very good in difficult situations). However, you will also get to use a new character named Rachel. Rachel is a Fiend Hunter, fiends being the race of monsters you attack through the game. Rachel isn’t as agile as Ryu, which is due to the fact of her huge...erm, hammer. Yes that’s right, she uses a giant War Hammer which is very powerful, but much slower than Ryu’s swords.

There are now some extras that you can purchase on the PlayStation Store, which create 15 new survival modes to test your skill with. The three extras include Rachel Master, Speed Master and Weapon Master. With the Rachel Master, you must control Rachel and you will be put to the test of 5 survival modes with her. You will get ranked in these survival modes based on how well you complete them. The Speed Master has 5 modes of survival where your time and power are limited, so you must use the skills you have learned wisely in order to get a top rank. Weapon Master has 5 survival modes where you will only be able to use certain weapons, so be prepared to hone your skills with all the different weapons in order to get a good ranking.

The Graphics

The graphics of this game are astonishing. They have put a lot of work into the finer details. For example, you see leaves falling from tree’s, the character's clothing moves realistically with the movement of the body, shadows representing their alternative fantastically and water flowing almost life-like. You also get a sense of satisfaction from just looking at the various environments; they truly are a work of art.

There is nothing bad to say about the graphics, they are worthy of being on a next-gen console. I would go so far as to say that they are above the standard of games in the same genre.

What’s the sound like?

Sigma's soundtrack is superb. You get great upbeat music throughout the game, even on the menus and while installing the game to the HDD. Every now and then you will get a piece of music playing that will give you a sense of danger or a sense of urgency. This helps give the player a sense of urgency or danger that makes the game that much more fun to play.

The characters' voices fit very well in the game as well. You don’t sit there and think that that character should have a lower pitched voice or that this character’s voice is just totally wrong, you can just sit back and let it all flow like it does.

Where’s the fun?

I had fun playing the game, all the way through. There wasn’t one bit of the game where you don’t have fun. The best thing about it all is getting to jump around a few walls, off an enemy and then slicing down an enemy to finish him off. However, all of the different techniques you can perform with both Ryu and Rachel are very fun to use. I think that in itself gives gamers a reason to play through it more than once.

Overall

In the end then, this game is one outstanding piece of work. Anyone that plays this game will just love it from the start. Playing this game was an absolute joy and it is one of the greatest games to come out in its genre for a long time.

Whether you’re a fan of the series, or if this will be the first Ninja Gaiden game you play, you will be astonished at how well the game plays. The story-line keeps you on your toes and it has all been so brilliantly put together to give you a great game in the form of Ninja Gaiden Sigma.