From Team Xbox

"Basically the builds we got (as well as the same builds other sites got) were early builds that arrived a couple weeks back. Typically we don't get builds for review that early. I'm guessing this time around, they wanted us to have ample time to really play through the game. Knowing the higher level of difficulty involved with the Ninja Gaiden series, a little extra time to play is a good idea...however this meant that the builds we got were a little earlier than what's supposed to show up on the retail builds.

In the note we got with the review builds, this was mentioned, and recently (Friday) we also got note that the framerate/load times were most notably a result of the builds not being final.

so the final, retail version should be more optimized and so forth...

In most cases, we get a review build a week or so before the game's release, so the code is usually identical to retail code. This time, it came almost a month before the game's release, which meant they were made with not so final code...

The problem is, there are sites out there now basing their score on this...and some are pointing out these issues that should hopefully be addressed.

The dilemma for us was to either hit the embargo, and cash in on all the page views and attention we'd get for getting the review up ASAP, or get it up later, after many other sites post theirs...we choose the later in order to ensure a more accurate review."

According to IGN the game has got easier? And the second difficulty is unlocked to start with. Those are disappointments to the core fanbase and give me a little less reason to envy 360 owners. I would have appreciated it if the review had detailed (in vague terms of course) what additions are made in the later difficulties (e.g. new enemies and bosses not found in the easier difficulties) but my guess is no news is good news, as it were.

I'm often reassured by reviews that make it clear that the game is solidly more of the same. If I loved the previous game, as with here, then it's a plus for me. It seems that the game has kept to the formula (dependent on how much easier it actually is) and so I don't think 360 owners have much to worry about with these reviews.

Here's to NGS2 releasing on PS3 one day :P.

It is strange that they sent out the review builds knowing that there were nagging framerate issues and mid combat loading times. Besides the camera issues, it's pretty much the biggest negative in NG2 and it seems like just about every reviewer find it bad enough to mention as a con. I'm sure they could tweak some of the framerate hitches away, I'm just hoping the camera isn't as bad as how the reviewers make it out to be.

I've noticed in several of those reviews, they say that the camera, though bad, is still better than it was in the first game, which scored AAA all over the place. So I feel if I review the game below 9/10, it won't be strictly because of the camera.

If Team Xbox is to be believed, then apparently these problems could be fixed, and in all likelyhood the framerate could be locked in the final build.

Just look at Lost Odyssey though. Go to the gamespot review and read the editors note at the end about the review build causing the score to be unfairly low. or check out this FAQ here that says:

"11. Why did this game receive such average/below average scores?

-Well, first off, most of the reviews were based on a copy of the game that was not complete. Now this is not the reviewer's fault, as they were told that this was the retail version. The load times discussed in the reviews were significantly fixed, and many of the technical issues as well."

This seems to be confirmed when checking gamespots review, at the end it reads:

Editor's note 02/19/08: After posting this review GameSpot found that load times in the review version of Lost Odyssey were significantly longer than those in the retail game. We have amended the review accordingly and regret the original error.

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/lostodyssey/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary%3Breview&page=2

Companies need to stop sending out early builds of these games, if its causing the reviews to be based off beta versions, and when reviewers know they don't have the final build they should simply not review the game until they get it.

@Zenfoldor: Yeah, some of the reviewers have said that the camera issues won't be as frustrating to NG vets as compared to newcomers. Being that I've beaten NG,black, and sigma, I'm sure i'll just have to resort to jumping around until the screen is centered. The thing I'm afraid of is when the camera gets stuck, or when it happens during platforming.

And I disagree with the statement that reviewers shouldn't review something unless it's the final or retail build. If the devs/ publishers send the press, "review" builds, then they'd better understand that the reviewers are going to do their jobs and review those "review" builds. Otherwise, they wouldn't be called "review" builds.

Yeah, camera problems do seem to plague the action genre in general though. I'm playing through DMC 4 right now and oft find myself with the issue of fixed camera changes to directional changes, where I'll be running on way and the camera will change to a fixed position where the direction I pressed is now backwards.

This is combated by allowing the direction you were pressing to remain as "forward" for a brief period following camera changes, but with the extra sensative analog sticks on the 360 controller, it doesn't work as well as last gen.

In close corridors is when the camera tends to be an issue in Ninja Gaiden Black and Devil May Cry for that matter, and I have a feeling that we're gonna get a very similar or identical camera in this game. I can't really think of one DMC-genre action game that got the camera just right.

All in all, I'm still very excited, and I'm convinced that this game is probably gonna be even better than the original Ninja Gaiden, despite its similar flaws. I'm very excited that the difficulty wasn't dumbed down. Then again, I absolutely love the DMCesque action genre, and Itagaki is my hero, so I might be a Ninja Gaiden fanboy, lol.

...except I love the RE series even more, and I can imagine some of the reviews giving RE5 a 7/10 and citing a "hamfisted story," I'd be rather hesitant to believe them. I mean, RE4 had a hamfisted story as well, but I'd say it actually added to the experience, lol.

CVG claims their review is based of the boxed PAL retail NG2, and the slowdowns are the same.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=68225
Thank god, I live in the U.S.

The camera pissed me off so much in the first one, I am shocked it was not fixed.

So there is still slowdown on the retail disc?

Looks like Team XBOX was caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

Not a big improvement over NGS ...ant it could even be said NGS as a whole is better(better story ,bosses).

So much for Itagaki trying to humiliate his subordinate for NGS ...

Good game but its clear a lot less work has been put into this compared to the original NG/NGB/NGS .