Ninja Gaiden 2: You Can't Handle the Camera!
But really, you're meant to be trying to, and that's where I disconnect from the imminent deluge of reviewers about to penalize director Tomonobu Itagaki's Ninja Gaiden 2 for daring to up its own ante. I'm talking about a media myth that assumes the freeform camera in this series is fatally compromised, that it ought to be intelligent or clever or quick enough to anticipate then get in front of your every gymnastic maneuver on a finite 2D screen you can practically teleport across against dozens of enemies capable of doing the same. Telepathy and clairvoyance rolled into one, in other words.
Put another way, there's technically no way to perfectly track continuous, uncut action unfolding this fast. The world's best filmmakers couldn't do it without breaking up the shots. The conventional way to work around this in contemporary videogames involves sticking the camera somewhere high up with a wide-angle "lens" -- often some distance from the action -- then introducing exploitable compromises, like AI that won't wander outside the camera's field of view, or spots in ostensibly "open" 3D environments blocked by invisible barriers.
A freeform camera works around this problem by putting gamers in the director's seat, but introduces others, most contentious of all: directorial responsibility. Tradition stipulates that the camera should be the design team's responsibility, not the player's. I've always had a problem with that view. I see it as just one more place gaming consciously (or unconsciously) borrows too liberally from film. After all, in a movie, what's presented to you on a fixed swathe of wall space at 24 frames per second is 100% the director's responsibility.
Not so in games, and I submit to you that the camera in Ninja Gaiden 2 is in fact an improvement over the perched-in-place version found in its original Xbox predecessor. That's right, I said it, probably in contravention of everything you're about to read from every other critic who's going to tell you it's a spasmodic mess, that it gets lost behind walls or trapped in tight corners, and that it fixates on being precisely where you least need it in desperately frenetic situations.
I respectfully disagree. I think it's right where it's meant to be nearly all of the time. Why? Because that's exactly where I managed to keep it, and while I can't speak for anyone but myself, my theory's that the freely rotatable camera in Ninja Gaiden 2 is simply part of the overarching control mechanic you're intended to master. When you're in a plaza-sized area circled by enemies, you're meant to be working double-time to finesse the right thumbstick into place or keep it moving in sync with what your other thumb's up to sending Ryu twirling like the blade in a Cuisinart. Likewise, when you're in tight corridors, you have to set up Ryu's attacks (or manage his defense tactics) by fighting up or down the corridor (and using the right-trigger to instantly 180 the view) -- fighting "into the sides of the corridor" or leaping into corners is simply the wrong way to play things out.
Your job is to control both the layout and flow, in other words, not wait for the design team to lay things out for you like road stripes down some invisible highway. No Z-trigger gimmicks with easy lock-on cameras, no cheaply hamstrung AI that won't attack from any angle. Ninja Gaiden 2 isn't just about chaining buttons and timing countermoves and learning to read each enemy's telltale combo signs, it's also about directing yourself in a way that best suits your own unique play style.
Does that sound like a chore? Then you don't get what Team Ninja's up to, or maybe you do and you reject it, which is totally cool. But don't mistakenly assume Ninja Gaiden 2 works the way it works because of some wonky design accident, or that the requirement that you babysit the camera to manage the blizzard of activity you're unleashing onscreen at any given moment isn't unapologetically intentional.
Some games are exceptionally challenging, and I don't just mean the electronic kind. Anyone out there who can't ski? Can't snowboard? Can't pull a gazelle flip on a skateboard? Welcome to my world. But I can keep the camera in the right place in Ninja Gaiden 2, and I take full responsibility for all the hours spent practicing to keep it satisfyingly on the money every time.
Happy day-away-from-work-day, and I'll be back with plenty more to say about Team Ninja's in my opinion pretty darned fantastic slash-em-up when it hits stores tomorrow tomorrow (my bad mixing up the embargo and release dates -- Ninja Gaiden 2 actually ships next Tuesday, June 3).
Re-Play
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I'm with you 100%. Case in point, the Harry Potter series of video games. They're nowhere near as challenging as some other titles, but quite fun nonetheless (in most cases). Also, I'll only speak of the PC versions, as I have played those.
Potter 1, 2, 3 & Quidditch World Cup have a free-form, mouse-controlled camera. This allows a "true 3D" view of the world. Also allows "pointless exploration".
Potter 4 & 5 go to the automatic-camera system. This limits field-of-view, defines paths & reduces the zoom range. 4 in particular pushes a very restrictive story-line. 5 makes two improvements:
a. Uses mouse gestures for spell-casting (no more button mashing or context-sensitivity making it too easy.
b. goes back somewhat to game 2's brilliantly open world.
These issues have occured because EA now ports the PC versions from the console. (1 through 3 PC were completely different from the console versions).
Camera control is difficult on consoles. PC has the (now underutilized) mouse. More time devoted to flashier graphics in later games.
4 had cooperative play with all three characters. 3 made you switch characters for particular levels. 1 & 2 had immersive, large and free worlds & non-linear story.
5 has mouse-gestures & partially non-linear story.
This & the different camera-systems mean that practically every game plays different. What we want is a combination of the best of all worlds. Also, PSP version had multi-player. and QWC is a different game altogether.
You are given you full control over the camera, I don't understand if that means that there is no default camera whatsoever? the camera stays where ever it was left no matter what?