Ninja Gaiden 2 will ship for Xbox 360 on June 6, Microsoft has announced, a date that applies to North America and Europe.
In addition, a playable Ninja Gaiden 2 demo will be available on Xbox Live Marketplace sometime in May.
If you’re wondering why Microsoft is announcing this rather than Tecmo, Tecmo’s Team Ninja has been involved in development alone. Microsoft is publishing Ninja Gaiden 2, presumably to make sure the game appears exclusively on Xbox 360 and avoid the “risk” of Tecmo publishing the game on PlayStation 3 as well, as was the case with Ninja Gaiden Sigma.
In Ninja Gaiden 2, Ryu Hayabusa returns to avenge his clan and prevent the destruction of the human race. The action will unfold on levels from Tokyo to New York and even to the netherworld.
Ninja Gaiden 2 will include brutal new primary weapons and enhanced versions of old favorites, as well as “Obliteration Techniques” that allow players to perform gory finishing moves against opponents. Other updates to the game include an auto-healing system featuring semi-permanent damage restored at save points, as well as a re-tooled difficulty system to make the sequel a bit more approachable to mainstream gamers.
