You might recall that amongst the many offerings of this year's E3 was a neat little fact sheet regarding Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, the latest entry in the notoriously difficult hack-and-slash-happy series. One of the most interesting pieces of information revealed therein was the existence of both local and online cooperative multiplayer modes, and the presence of three new characters to break up the solid wall of palette-swapped Ryu Hayabusas that multiplayer would otherwise entail. My joy in this knowledge was tempered by the phrase, ahem, "sexy new playable characters" in relation to these additions, and a small batch of new multiplayer screenshots has done very little but confirm my fears...


A lifetime of ninja movies and games has left me with the conviction that flashing a bit of cleavage must be a secret kunoichi technique to baffle and distract enemies, but even so: will anyone be able to concentrate?! Well, given that one of the featured "sexy new playable characters" is one Ayane from fellow Tecmo franchise Dead & Alive (a series I am certain needs no introduction) I can't say I expected any less from our jump-suited beauties. The other two lovely lasses available are Momoji and Rachel, both characters featured in previous entries in the series.


If you'd care to further admire the, uhh, quality of the grpahics, there's quite a large collection of eye candy available on the mirror to keep you amused until Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 arrives for Playstation 3, hopefully sometimes in Spring this year.