I've got what you might call a love and hate relationship with Ninja Gaiden. You see, I love the games in general, ranging from the story to the sword wielding ninja action, but I hate with an absolute passion the extreme difficulties of the game. Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox was a patience tester, as I found my blood boiling hot with that game, but the fact I endured and beat the game eventually is still one of my greatest gaming feats. However, Tecmo is looking to push me to the limits again, as they are bringing a director cut like version of the game to the PS3 this time, in the form of Ninja Gaiden Sigma. Will my blood pressure and nerves be able to handle it?

Though it took a bit to get readjusted and to see what buttons controlled what actions, I soon found myself settling in with an old friend as I hacked, slashed, and dove around like crazy. The controls mimic everything that they did when on the Xbox, but of course they are more balanced to fit the buttons and layout of the PS3 controller. No matter, because soon enough I was just as skillful as ever (though admittedly I was never the star ninja of the game). You still play as Ryu, you are still a ninja, and it seems the story and the game is pretty much the same as it has always been.

The thing that always divided players about the game was the difficulty, which bordered on the insane sometimes even when on the normal difficulty setting. In Ninja Gaiden you have a variety of weapons in the form of both handheld and throwing ones, as you fight hordes of ninjas, soldiers, and demonic beasts. Unlike many hack and slash action adventure games though, you can't just barge into a room, slice away with your sword, and expect to make it through without even once blocking. Ninja Gaiden Sigma is much more a thinking player's game, as you need to defend, blocking every move thrown your way, then be able to parry and attack at the most opportune moment.

The preview we played was pretty much the exact same as the original game, despite the fact that it was the director's cut of the game. Now, that doesn't mean there wasn't some stuff changed, it just means not a lot of it, and certainly not enough to where the unfamiliar would know what is new or not. As for stuff that was new, there was an extended bit of area at the very, very beginning of the game; a few more item boxes scattered here and there around corners that weren't there in the original release; and then a couple more ninja enemy placements throughout the level, including one a bit surprising, where the ninja bursts through a wall instead of the ceiling like they used to do. However, for fans who've played the heck out of the game before, most of the placements of enemies and puzzles are the exact same as before.

The game did include a few new weapons that I don't recall being in the original, including a staff like pole and Ryu double-wielding some samurai swords. It's cool to see Ryu take up his double sword stance, and the animation and flair for some of the moves was really quite beautiful in their destruction and choreography. However, it was the staff weapon that I enjoyed the most, as it controlled silky smooth, and caused massive amounts of damage, including plenty of enemy beheadings and tons of gushing blood. Unless some other weapon came along, I do believe the staff would be my defacto weapon of choice.

One thing new that no player has ever played before in any of the past games, is the fact that now you can play as Rachel in some special missions. Rachel was the (to put it frankly) big breasted dominatrix with a pony tail who wielded a giant axe as her weapon, as well as that of a harpoon wrist shot as well. During the original game, Rachel wasn't anything more than a character you interacted with, but here she is fully playable. Rachel controls much like Ryu, though she has a few special moves and abilities that Ryu doesn't have. For instance, Rachel seems to be much more about finesse, as she liked to dodge by spinning, and doing lovely leaps over attacking enemies. Rachel had some pretty nice combos as well, including one where she launches an enemy into the air, and snags him on her axe to deliver a final blow. Rachel's harpoon wrist weapon also comes into play, as you can use it to shoot at enemies, pushing them back with its force, or you can jump into the air, latch onto a chandelier hanging up above, and swing deftly like Indiana Jones.

The graphics appeared to be slightly improved, but for the most part the graphics and sound work was easily able to match that of the first iteration. Much like the like-minded graphics and sound, the game is pretty much the same love/hate game that it was before, though with some included new weapons, potentially some new enemies (though not shown off in the preview), and a handful of new missions with the lovely Rachel. It isn't proving to be too different as of this moment, but when a game was so good to begin with, it's almost hard to improve on, but Tecmo is certainly on its way to changing it up a bit, but not so much as it loses what fans loved about it to begin with.