Overview- Critic & User
Reviews - Videos &
Screenshots
News- Codes
& FAQs - Gameplay
Controls - Similar
Games
Bundles
Critic & User Reviews
Sort by
Stealth action for dummies
posted by JCDenton (FREEDOM, NH) May 28, 2009
Member since Mar 2006
1 out of 1 gamers (100%) found this review helpful
Splinter Cell, Thief, Metal Gear, Deus Ex, Hitman. These are just some of the names you may think of when considering great stealth action gaming. Tenchu: Shadow Assassins is not like these games.
Tenchu casts you as Rikimaru, a ninja with spiky white hair who flees at the sight of a sword and likes to hide in barrels. He goes through a bunch of missions that don't appear to have a logical relationship with each other, but are simply there so you have missions to play.
So what makes Tenchu so sub-par? The gameplay. The controls are pretty rigid and awkward. Your controls over the camera is minimal, which is bad because it gives you bad angles to begin with. The quicktime motion sequences for finishing opponents are unnecessary.
But the big thing is how the game works in absolutes. At any one time, you are either completely exposed or completely hidden. Move a little toward the light and suddenly you're lit up like Time Square. And unlike other, more dynamic games, if the enemy sees you, you'll suddenly poof out of the field and back to the starting point. Sure, your progress is saved, but you have to retread your steps all over again. And to make a kill, the enemy cannot be aware of you at all. Again, too many absolutes for a good stealth game.
The presentation leaves plenty to be desired. Graphics are alright, but not great. Lighting effects are misleading, because seemingly dark areas are actually registered as light. The music is just ridiculous, because techno-rock has no place in a stealth game. And the story... don't even bother trying to comprehend it.
It can be fun to hide in shadows to kill a passing guard with his own sword or drown him in a pond. It can be fun to throw stars at enemy ninjas, blind enemies with smoke bombs or poison a warlord's sake. But these are fleeting moments in an otherwise lackluster game. With so many better options available, you can skip this one.
Tenchu casts you as Rikimaru, a ninja with spiky white hair who flees at the sight of a sword and likes to hide in barrels. He goes through a bunch of missions that don't appear to have a logical relationship with each other, but are simply there so you have missions to play.
So what makes Tenchu so sub-par? The gameplay. The controls are pretty rigid and awkward. Your controls over the camera is minimal, which is bad because it gives you bad angles to begin with. The quicktime motion sequences for finishing opponents are unnecessary.
But the big thing is how the game works in absolutes. At any one time, you are either completely exposed or completely hidden. Move a little toward the light and suddenly you're lit up like Time Square. And unlike other, more dynamic games, if the enemy sees you, you'll suddenly poof out of the field and back to the starting point. Sure, your progress is saved, but you have to retread your steps all over again. And to make a kill, the enemy cannot be aware of you at all. Again, too many absolutes for a good stealth game.
The presentation leaves plenty to be desired. Graphics are alright, but not great. Lighting effects are misleading, because seemingly dark areas are actually registered as light. The music is just ridiculous, because techno-rock has no place in a stealth game. And the story... don't even bother trying to comprehend it.
It can be fun to hide in shadows to kill a passing guard with his own sword or drown him in a pond. It can be fun to throw stars at enemy ninjas, blind enemies with smoke bombs or poison a warlord's sake. But these are fleeting moments in an otherwise lackluster game. With so many better options available, you can skip this one.
Sort by