Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 – “Team Missions” Co-op (with video!) and More

174 0

Hi readers, this is Hayashi from Team NINJA checking in again. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is coming along very well and I hope our Challenge in our previous post kept you busy while you wait for additional information on the game. Just in case you weren’t able to spot the differences, they are:

Ayane

    1. The dagger with the iris is stuck on the bridge
    2. Team NINJA logo on the side of the flying vehicle (the left one)
    3. One less bump on the Buddha’s head

Rachel

    1. A scar on the Buddha’s cheek (hammer attack by Rachel)
    2. Bullet cases on the bridge (instead of flower petals)
    3. Bullet holes on the handrail of the bridge

Momiji

    1. A good luck charm on the handrail of the bridge
    2. Maple leaves (instead of flower petals)
    3. Ryu’s image (looks like a billboard advertisement) on the lower level of the red tower

In the previous post (and ever since we announced Sigma 2 back in March), there were many comments about the violence/gore level in this game compared to NGII, which we released over a year ago on the 360. As in our response, our goal is to create one of most challenging action games and we believe that can be achieved without all of attention going to the amount of blood that is used throughout the game. (Not to mention the fact that ESRB advertising guidelines do NOT allow decapitation in trailers even if the game is rated “M” for Mature, so we haven’t been able to include any footage of that in our trailers…dismemberment is allowed, but no decapitation.)

Going back to the playable characters in Sigma 2, we’re going to give them some flavor by throwing in some costumes! Ryu and Rachel will each have four unlockable costumes, while Ayane and Momiji will have two.

A sample of the costumes are:

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 - Ryu costume Falcon

Ryu: “Falcon” (from Ninja Gaiden II), clear the “Path of the Ninja” or “Path of the Warrior” once

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 - Ayane costume

Ayane: “Ninja Gaiden Sigma” (from Ninja Gaiden Sigma), clear the “Path of the Ninja” or “Path of the Warrior” once

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 - Momiji costume

Momiji: “Training” (from Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword), clear the “Path of the Ninja” or “Path of the Warrior” once

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 - Rachel costume

Rachel: “Long Flowing” (from Ninja Gaiden Sigma), clear the “Path of the Ninja” or “Path of the Warrior” once

Speaking of unlockables, there will be over 50 trophies to earn in Sigma 2: 38 bronze, 10 silver, 2 gold and 1 platinum. And for those who played NGII, yes, there are new trophies in Sigma 2 which involve the new playable characters as well as the co-op mode.

Now, onto the all-new “Team Missions” co-op mode. We introduced “Mission Mode” in the original Sigma where the goal was to simply destroy all enemies in sight…but that was you playing alone. In TEAM Missions (no “I” in TEAM!), it’s all about teamwork (2 players; Online 1P+1P or Offline 1P+CPU) and how well you perform with another partner. There are more than 30 missions, categorized by difficulty level. Once you select your mission, you then select your character’s weapon, ninpo and costume. In Team Missions, you are prohibited from using items and may not change weapons. You will encounter situations that do not occur in Story Mode, such as facing multiple bosses at once!

The rule is simple: if one of the two players dies, it’s game over. Team up with your partner to execute an Ultimate Ninpo attack, where players, if timed right, can combine their Ninpo attacks for superior destructible power against the enemies. A warning will go off when your partner is low on health, so get closer and rescue them using the Critical Save command.

If you decide not to team up with another fellow Sigma 2 player, you can play alone, using an AI-controlled character. Partner up with a friend or other super ninjas around the world and take on the toughest challenges. Here’s a look at Team Missions in action:

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 - Co-op screenshot Mission Select

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 - Co-op screenshot 1

In Team Missions, you and your partner can select the same character, so it will be possible to play missions with two Ryus, two Ayanes and so on. Since there are different difficulty levels, I encourage everybody to beat them all for ultimate ninja bragging rights! To prove those bragging rights, you can view your playthrough in Ninja Cinema (available for Team Missions) and share it online. To view, you will be prompted to save the record at the end of each mission. Your Karma points and rankings will also be available to view online.

So, when will all of this be available, you ask? September 29. Not only that, but we also have a GameStop-exclusive pre-order costume that will be available to download via PSN at the time of launch, as well as a special Collector’s Edition package! The Collector’s Edition package will include an 80-page book featuring a “Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Prologue” comic, a mini-strategy guide and an art gallery. The comic, written and designed by Team NINJA’s artist, is actually a printed form of the digital comic that has been integrated into the game. Here’s a peek:

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 - Prologue Comic tease

We’ll be sharing details on a few more new features next time, so stay tuned!

Comments are closed.

174 Comments

  • Sweet I can’t wait for this Game!

  • Ahem, SOLD!!! :D

  • Awesome and very informative post!

    Although I already have Ninja Gaiden II, I believe the amount of extra features added into Sigma 2 fully justify it being purchased. Heck…I might even spoil myself with the collectors edition!

  • Awesome post, thank for all of the information. Looking forward to thi game.

    Can’t wait to see the trophies either

    Gold: Complete the game on hardest setting whilst breaking less than 5 controllers.

  • Sept 29 won’t get here fast enuff!!!!!!!! Oh well aug 14 I’d just around the corner.

  • Thanks Master Hayashi!

    Every detail you keep bringing up about this game just keeps getting better, better and BETTER!

    I can’t believe the Sigma 1 costume for Ayane will be in Sigma 2!

    We just have to count down for 2 more months since July is nearly ending.

  • Awesome! First day buy for me. Thank you for bringing exclusively!

  • I can’t wait to try out Momiji. Looks like an awesome game.

  • Thank you Hayashi-san for the great information about the game that I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

    I have question if you don’t mind:
    In story mode are we promoted to choose the character that we want to play with or we are forced to play with all the 4 characters in similar way of Ninja Gaiden Sigma when we were forced to play with Rachel in specific locations?!

    I would appreciate if you answered my question.

    Keep up with this awesome work, Team Ninja ROCKS. :D

    • The game is mainly played with Ryu, while Rachel, Momiji and Ayane can be played in their own respective chapters as the story unveils.

  • it looks very fun, coop mode is always a plus the loading seems very long tho

  • will the game ever have Home support, such as game launching, avatar clothes, and a dedicated homespace?

  • the co-op mode screams for game launching BTW.

  • Just curious. Can I play with a partner (no CPU) in the offline co-op mode? Thanks.

  • @Hayashi What about Off-line Co-op?
    aka.Couch Co-Op

  • I will be getting that Collector’s Edition! First day purchase for me :) Please support HOME Game launching!!

  • im gonna be soooo broke this fall!

    Gotta love Sony and the Playstation 3 =].

  • Why isn’t Sonia playable? Also not a big fan of Rachel not sure why she’s back since she has nothing to do with the second game.

  • @ sxpacks: His post said there is no offline co-op, you get an AI teammate.

    My question is, is there story co-op or just mission mode co-op?

    • Co-op will only be mission mode, but as Hayashi-san said, you may encounter bosses in some levels, making it similar to story mode at some parts.

  • @17 Me too! lol

    Can’t wait for this game!

  • @15..sorry it looks like its gonna be another RE5..without the zombies i mean infected people..i mean monsters..or watever :p this game is hot though and with these other features its definitely worth getting! in the words of #2 “Ahem, SOLD!!! :D”

  • Lol @21, I’m here all week!!! :P :D I can’t wait to play this baby!!! :D

  • loooks good

  • really impressed with the work on this game, tempted to pick this up! September 29th as a release date…….nice prelude to Uncharted 2

  • Those are some nice looking costumes.

  • Co-Op will be very fun..

  • Wow 30 seconds for a loading screen. That’s like half a minute…

    But still Epic on so many other levels.

  • Awesome! Thank you Hayashi-san for this info. Team mission looks fantastic and so are the extras. I pre-ordered The GS collectors edition so i’m ready to go! bring it on!

  • is Ninja Cinema only for CO-OP?

    • Yes, Ninja Cinema is only for co-op. You will be able to record your Team Missions playthrough in all difficulty levels and post them online.

  • Ayane is so moe :3

  • Not sure if Hayashi san gets the questions eventually but here it goes:

    – What the are difficulty levels? There wasn’t a Path of the Ninja in the original so what’s the equivalent of?

    – Acolyte was balanced to be easy as intended with less enemies on screen. Is that applicable to all levels? I for one hope that the chaos of fighting 8 or so enemies at once remains on higher difficulties.

    – The Japanese and Euro sites had recent vids of Ryu that were plagued with slowdown, yet the co-op vids are perfectly smooth. That’s not a question, but just hoping that the main issues of the original doesn’t show its ugly head that early in the game or at all.

    The game looks noticeably better than the original but I’m still concerned about the frame rate consistency.

    • I will relay the questions to Hayashi-san for him to answer in the next post. To answer your framerate question though, the framerate is not consistent in some parts of the build the videos were taken from and will be resolved in the final version of the game.

      Thank you!

  • Thanks for the vid :) Gonna have to pick this up but got to see how my Fall is going to work out first. So many awesome games :(

  • Co-Op missions seem pretty cool and wow sept 29th? right around the corner! Thanks for the preview.

  • any trophies?! it’s been historically a difficult game. i dont like difficult games – difficult to enjoy. pffft!

  • Glad to see those costumes, it’s looking good.

    Hopefully one of Ryu’s 4 costumes is the old NES Ryukenden costume too, Ninja Gaiden was one of my first games on NES when I was a kid, and having the blue NES costume in Black/Sigma brought back memories.

    As for the blood, I don’t think it’s a problem, for me it’s the purple mist, but in the trailer I don’t see any purple mist, giving it a more mature and less cartoon feel, good job. I also noticed ninpo is restored after being revived, from a gameplay perspective, don’t you think that’s abusable, like dying just so you can double ninpo, over and over?

    Anyway, good luck.

  • I Have a question:

    Will there be any way of Switching between CPU AND P1 Selected Characters While in OFFLINE CO-OP?

    Like Press [R1] + [R3] = Switch Characters.

    Since the other one is CPU controlled.

    ?

  • Not only did I learn something new from this post (no decapitations in trailers), but I just got an eye-full of awesome from those new costumes! Shame that there’s no one-console, two-player co-op, but I don’t really no anyone that would play this with me anyway. Nice work guys! Suddenly I’m quite happy- think I’m going to use this energy and jog around the block seven or eight times.

    Thanks! :D

  • thank you Hayashi san, thank you so much (crying tears of joy) T_T

  • I love the costumes, Ihope Rachel gets a school outfit lol j/k but as for the blood, keep doing what your doing because the purple mist looks beautiful DAY 1 BUY!!!!!

  • I loved Ninja Gaiden Sigma and it looks as if Team Ninja is delivering the goods again. This is a day one purchase! Thank you Yosuke Hayashi and Team Ninja for giving PS3 owners a chance to play this great title. Cannot wait!

  • I might get ninja gaiden sigma 2, and Ninja gaiden sigma, I tried the demo for the original and it was a really good game

  • please have a demo. please have a demo. please have a demo

  • Holy ****!

    Eventhough I bought it on 360, I will be buying this version as well. Looks fantastic and online co-op is an amazing addition.

    Day one buy from me. Ninja Gaiden FTW!

  • I don’t care what the ESRB said I want to see alot of blood and gore like in 360 version of NG 2, if the ESRB didn’t say anything about 360’s NG 2 game why would they say anything about are game Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 with alot of blood/gore. Team Ninja need to step up there A game on Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 like they did with 360’s Ninja Gaiden 2.

  • I love Ayane’s Sigma costume, Momiji’s head looks small in her training costume but maybe it’s just that pose. Looking forward to the demo!

  • camera angle has improve a lot but there is still some problems I saw watching the video. Hope you guys improve the camera a little more. I am getting this game btw

  • Awesome. Day one purchase. This seems like a REAL next gen Ninja Gaiden game, much better the NG2 on 360.

  • ThreeLeggedFreak

    Why is offline co op only with the CPU? This is crap man, why is it so many PS3 games do not have split screen? Killzone 2, Uncharted 2, now NGS2….

  • Will the extra playable characters be integrated into the main storyline with their own chapters like in NGS or will you be able to go through the whole game as someone other than Ryu?

    • Yes, the extra playable characters will be integrated into the main storyline with their own chapters meaning that the storyline is followed mainly through Ryu.

  • Wow this is really cool, I played the first one and it was really fun.. hopefully I’ll buy this one as well.. but PS3 is coming out with too many good games

Please enter your date of birth.

Date of birth fields