Tenchu: Shadow Assassins Review
Is this a great return or epic fail?
System- Nintendo Wii and PSP
Style: 1-Player Stealth
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Acquire
Release Date: February 5, 2009
ESRB Rating: Mature
Story- Tenchu: Shadow Assassins story is about someone wanting to start a war with Lord Gohda. His right hand man Sekiya, arraigned for a fortune teller to predict the future for Gohda’s kingdom. Unforntanly, the fortune teller is really a kunoichi(female ninja) named Rinshi, who kidnaps Princess Kiku, Lord Gohda’s daughter. Rikimaru wants to rescue Princess Kiku, but Lord Gohda has him help him eliminate threats to his kingdom. While Ayame goes to rescue Princess Kiku. You’ll later learn that there is a traitor is in the Asuma clan. After the first part playing as Rikimaru you play as Ayame to make the story come full circle.
Graphics- Tenchu: Shadow Assassins looks great with richly detailed environments and excellent use of lighting and shadow effects. The lightning looks fantastic and can eliminate darkness for a short time like and real life.
Sound- The voice acting in English is good, but I wish you can have the option to switch to the original Japanese voices to fit well with the setting. The music and sound effects are great, but generic later in the game.
Gameplay- The game is about stealth so you sneak around unnoticed to eliminate guards by using a hissatsu or quick kills to get to the next part of the stage marking by blue flames. They are fun to pull off and work well with the Wiimote and Nunchuk. Rikimaru and Ayame have slightly different hissatsu techniques. I wish there was a little more differences between the two to feel that you really are playing as two different ninjas. The stealth is now ground only meaning you can’t use a grappling hook to get up top a building. The inventory contains three items to use. Your ninja arsenal contains: shurikens, bamboo tube, smoke bombs, poison, etc. The main problem with the stealth is if you seen by an enemy you’ll go back to the beginning of that section of a stage. If you carry a katana in you inventory you will fight one of the guards in a one-on-one sword fight in a first person perceptive. The problem is the fights are not balanced out when fighting regular enemies because you’ll lose by not reacting to the fast enemy attacks on time so you’ll also go back to the beginning section of that stage. Boss Battles are a little more balanced out so the player has a chance to win.
Controls- The Wii controls for Tenchu: Shadow Assassins are simple. The A button is for interacting with objects and performing hissatsus. Movement controls feel like the Resident Evil controls with the holding of the B button to run. The C Button is the jump button. A flick of the Nunchuk moves your character in a 180 degree turn. The Z Button is your Mind’s Eye or ninja vision which helps you find enemies and revealing places to hide and at some points you can perform hayates. Hayates are great from going bush to bush undetected, but sometimes they can lead you into seeing an enemy and having to restart that part of the stage from the beginning. You can switch items in your inventory with the left and right of the D-Pad. The FPS style sword fights want to defend or attack with the Wiimote in an Attack or Defend phase.
Value- The graphical effects, sound, music, good cutscenes, balanced FPS style sword fights while fighting bosses, and hissatsus.
Cons- Stealth mechanics when enemies see you and irritating FPS style sword fights with standard enemies
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