Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven

"Best ninja game ever made, period,"

It's been a long time since I have been so pleased with a purchase as I have been with Tenchu:Wrath of Heaven. Being a big fan of the series I honestly expected far less from this game as Tenchu games were known for bad graphics, but excellent gameplay. This game destroys those stereotypes and truly sets a new standard for ninja games and the PS2.
GAME STRUCTURE: You play one of three selectable ninja. Decisions allong the game affect the ending and what items you aquire. The main story is about a band of ninja trying to resurect Lord Meio, you try and stop them.
GRAPHICS: 10/10 These graphics are amazing. Everything looks wonderfull with atmosphere effects that rival X-Box's Splinter cell. The eye strain of past Tenchu games from bad graphics is history. These graphics are some of the best on PS2. The character design is also very impressive. Getting caught can no longer be blamed on bad graphics.
SOUND & MUSIC: The music is a mix of classic japanese instruments with new age tempo. It basically is like the music from the first tenchu with a faster beat. In my opinion, the music is excellent and really stands out in a good stereosystem. The enemies can also now be heard distincly from the direction they are located. The voices are really good with three language selections possible. However, for some reason, the japanese track has not been translated completely. The subtitles give the general idea of the dialog but are not translated literally. This does not deter from the game but will make you ask why. The atmospheric sounds are also quite creepy, on par with resident evil games and will suck you in.
GAMEPLAY: TENCHU 3 has some of the best gameplay ever. The controls have been re-worked to make your ninja more manuverable. The result is a gamesystem that can be pushed far beyond most 3rd person titles. There are a lot of button combinations, this is only difficult at first but makes this game a joy to play. Everything moves with grace and power. Things, not only look fantastic, they are animated well. There are a few glitches here. Some stealth skills will freeze the game momentarily. Slowdown does occur but not very often and does not deter from the game. Finally, there is also a glitch that lets you walk beneath the level, of course you are stuck and have to reset. However, these giltches are few and far between. Over all, this game is easy to play and very well designed.
REPLAY: Once you beat the game. a new character is unlocked with his own storyline. The secret Rikkimaru level is also unlocked, and more characters are selectable for the two player mode. This in addition to 3 layouts of enemies for each level, hidden items depending on the choices you make allong the game, and getting the highest score possible in every level add weeks to this game's replay. Then you have deathmatch mode and co-op mode for the two player mode. And yes, double stealth kills. Truly this game is one for much replay.
STORYLINE: The storyline is really good, not the best I've ever seen but they did a lot of great scenes and character interaction. It will keep you glued with plenty of surprise appearences and plot twists that don't turn it into a soap opera like in MGS2. Check it out.
OVERALL: This is a must buy if you own a PS2. When X-box owners say DOA beach Volleyball, you can watch them hang their head in shame when you say tenchu 3. Truly this game is amazing and I can't recomend it enough. If you played the demo, the actuall game is MUCH better in all aspects. If you hate stealth games, then rent it to see it because there is plenty of action here too and depending on how good you are, you can kill people every ten seconds on this game. The glitches of this game are really miniscule and I only mentioned them to show that I'm not a fangirl of this game. I HATED TENCHU 2! However, this game fully makes up for that horrible and pathetic attempt at the Tenchu franchise. GO AND GET THIS GAME NOW. It is one of the best games ever made.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/08/03, Updated 03/08/03