Well, this makes a refreshing change. As PS3 owners, we’re so used to receiving inadequate conversions of Xbox 360 games; however, Tecmo’s Team Ninja is one of the few studios staying faithful to PlayStation 3. Its upcoming port of Ninja Gaiden 2 looks leaps and bounds ahead of the original game.

Working with last year’s 360 title as the base, Team Ninja has added so many new features that it believes Sigma 2 to be the ultimate Ninja Gaiden game. Two new playable characters ­(Dead Or Alive’s Ayane, and Momiji – the co-star of DS’s Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword) will now join the slash-happy Ryu Hayabusa. The former will wield dual katanas and magic attacks, while the latter appears to favour long weapons that keep the enemy at arm’s length. Both will be just as athletic as Hayabusa and will be seamlessly incorporated into the pre-existing story.

The best addition, though, aside from tweaks to the camera and the ironing of difficulty spikes, is the new online co-op mode, which enables two players to fight their way through 30 challenge stages distinct from the main story. Such a feature is long overdue in the 3D combat genre and we look forward to seeing how it stands up to scrutiny later this year.

As with the original Ninja Gaiden 2, the combat’s emphasis will be on the removal of limbs in order to slow the enemy’s advance and lessen their ability. But Sigma 2 will sadly no longer feature the fountains of blood that showered forth from every dismemberment, preferring instead to punctuate each amputation with a flourish of magical blue haze and a comparatively tiny splash of blood. The change is a result of a media backlash against the series, following a series of stabbings that the Japanese press linked to a deranged Ninja Gaiden fan. Team Ninja has therefore toned down the blood and stated that the series should be admired for its tactical combat rather than its violence.

Such changes have no effect on gameplay. Though gore fans may be dismayed Sigma 2, on the whole it looks to be an awesome brawler taken to greater, genre-defining, heights.