Ninja Gaiden is a franchise that's been with us through generations on many platforms. Starting on arcade machines, released on home consoles (NES, SNES, Sega Master System, etc.) and handhelds (Atari Lynx, Sega Game Gear, Game Boy, soon on Dual Screen) as well as mobiles. In 2004 Team Ninja developed a Ninja Gaiden game exclusively on Xbox console, creating the very first 3D Ninja Gaiden, followed soon after by the Hurricane Pack and Ninja Gaiden Black edition.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma is, to put it simple a remake of Xbox's game. It follows the same storyline and puts you in Ryu Hayabusa's shoes. Let's look at all of the aspects of the game and compare them to their Xbox counterparts.
System tested on: Sony Playstation 3 PAL FW 1.82, HDMI output 720p, 2.1 sound system
Graphic: 8.5/10
Some of you may object that NGS has a superb graphic and it simply kicks ass, but unfortunately that's only partially true. While the enviroments are mostly decent and the character models are very good I cannot accept that crappy water animation as well as blood stains that stick out of corners (which is ridiculous on a 7th generation console and it never happened on Xbox). The animation is superb on the other hand, you can almost feel the strength of those blows and slashes. There also are nice details added, like falling leaves, etc. Very good, but could be better.
Sound: 9/10
The sound is very good and I didn't find anything in particular to niggle. Music is also good, however not excellent and you won't be able to remember any tunes when you have finished playing. But it's quite climatic and doesn't disturb us in slashing opponents. I only tested it on 2.1 speakers, so perhaps it sounds better with 5.1 or other sound system.
Gameplay: 9/10
The game looks and feels awesome in motion. Ryu Hayabusa is a very skillful ninja and any object in his hands turns into a deadly weapon. You start initially with a Dragon Sword, but then you'll be finding other weapons throughout the game: Lunar, Virgorian Flails, Debilaro, etc. There also is a new weapon exclusively for PS3, which are Dual Katanas. Aside from melee weapons Ryu has also some Shurikens, Smoke Bombs and other throwing stuff at his disposal.
Exclusively to PS3 version we get to be able to controll Rachel in several episodes. She's much slower than Ryu, but she also is much stronger. That's a nice addition to the game and now we can learn what was Rachel doing when Ryu was following his own path.
For those new to the game it may seem pretty tough at first. You all must learn that NG doesn't forgive you mistakes, you must be patient, become familiar with each enemy type and find the best was to dispose of them. If you die three times in a row you're given a choice of leaving the way of the ninja. If you do this, you'll be playing on Ninja Dog Mode, which is the easiest one. But honesty, I find NGS slightly easier than NG/NGB so there should be no problems with finishing the game on normal. All the fun starts on hard after all
There are some issues with the game, too. In my opinion it is highly unoptimized and could run more smoothly. It gives you a choice to install on PS3's hard disk drive (takes about 3.3GB) but even if you do so there still will be loading times in mid-battle in Turion (other areas are fine) which is inexcusable. Moreover the PAL version has been censored, so we have less gore and no decapitations...
The game contains all the content from Ninja Gaiden Black (missions, etc.), however for some reason they've taken out the introduction movie.
Overall: 8.5/10
Ninja Gaiden Sigma is a very good game, despite some issues it has. I recommend it to everyone who likes hack'n'slash games, die hard fans will buy it for sure, those who played NG/NGB on Xbox may want to see the demo/rent the game first (it costs €70 after all). In a drying PS3 game market this is a must have
At the end, some hi-res pics to build up your appetite (I didn't take them myself as I have no way to do it on my PS3. Sony SHOULD include such option in upcoming firmwares IMO).