A comparison between the recently announced Ninja Gaiden 2 Black and the 2008 original title shows major graphical improvements.
The launch trailer and accompanied gameplay footage for Ninja Gaiden 2 Black has presented the opportunity to perform a graphical comparison between it and the original. The results are quite impressive, as the latest versions packs plenty of graphical enhancements.
For starters, Ninja Gaiden 2 Black features completely reworked assets, including character models, foliage, textures, and environmental objects like buildings and rocks. Other graphical improvements include much higher quality lighting, shadows, visual effects, materials and shaders, added reflections, and more detailed gore.
As opposed to the original game, the Ninja Gaiden 2 remake runs in Unreal Engine 5. While it reuses animations and sequences from the 2008 game, everything else has been significantly overhauled. The most notable improvements come with the increased amount of detail, texturing and lighting. The remake also removes some changes that were made to the Sigma version of Ninja Gaiden 2, such as the censorship in the blood caused by amputations. As such, fans can expect much of the original gameplay experience to be preserved.
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black is now available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Those who are subscribed to Xbox Game Pass can get day one access to the game on Windows and Microsoft’s consoles. Players will once again take on the role of Ryu Hayabusa, as he battles his way through enemies with the Dragon Sword. The remaster features dismemberment, allowing the protagonist to severe limbs and tear bodies apart in a display of graphic violence and gore. This results in blood splattering on his weapon and the surrounding environment, making it much more visceral than the first game. Dismemberment adds a strategic layer to combat, as severing an enemy’s arm or leg will weaken or slow them down but does not guarantee their death.
