Title: Ninja Gaiden IIPrice: $59.99System(s): Xbox 360Release Date: June, 3, 2008Publisher (Developer): Microsoft (Team Ninja)Rating: “Mature” for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Suggestive ThemesPros: Will please fans, great weapons, plenty of upgrades, intense game play, inane difficulties.Cons: Way to hard for casual gamers, terrible story, repetitive game play, so-so graphics, lack of online features, not to different than the first game.Overall Score: One thumb up, one thumb down; 75/100; C; * * 1/2 out of five

If you like blistered thumbs, splinting headaches or yelling at the top of your lungs out of frustration, then you’ll probably like Ninja Gaiden II.

Click through for the full review…

A free Ninja Gaiden 2 magazine written by the journalists who put out the monthly 360Zine magazine, is now available at GamerZines.com. The special edition issue contains a guide to Ninja Gaiden 2, a detailed history of the Ninja Gaiden games and a contest to win an Xbox 360.

The online magazine can either be viewed online, or downloaded as a .pdf file. You also do not need to register for the site to view or download the file. You do need to have Adobe Reader v.6 or higher and be using a Mac or Windows computer. Since there is a complete game guide included, I’d suggest downloading it. Besides, it’s only 6.65MB.

Microsoft has had a forgettable start to the year with the Xbox 360 finishing third for the first time on US sales charts in January 2008. The news of Blu-ray triumphing in the HD format war has only aggravated its woes, although it is putting up a brave pretense. But at the Game Developers Conference, Microsoft gave itself a few reasons to cheer by announcing a stellar games lineup, which includes the much awaited Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Ninja Gaiden 2 and Too Human.

Cliff Bleszinski, the lead designer at Epic Games, took center stage just as…