Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven

"Tenchu 3: A step back?"

With the previous games in the series absolutely blowing my mind, I simply had to get Tenchu 3 the day it came out. The game I got was lots of fun, but just didn't quite compare with the previous installments of the series. Let's break it down.

Graphics:9.0

The graphics themselves most surely weren't the area in which the game had problems. The graphics were clear, and didn't employ the ''fog'' to hide distant areas that couldn't be processed. However the character design seemed uneven. Some characters looked excellent, such as Rikimaru and Ayame, but other characters were deformed, such as Sekiya and Echigoya. Particularly Sekiya.

Gameplay:9.0

Another excellent area...for the most part. The combat was no longer ''block, attack, block again, attack again''. Now sidestepping, combos and special moves were added to the mix to make an excellent combat system. However sometimes the PS2 couldn't handle the processes fast enough and the game went into slow motion. While this is kind of cool when there's an explosion or something, other times it lagged as you were picking up items or simply getting hit. This really detracted from the gameplay which otherwise was nearly perfect. Another thing, is it just my imagination or did Tenchu 2 have two (yes, two) more stealth kills per character?

Plot:6.0

I'm sorry but the plot was terrible, particularly given Tenchu 2's incredible plot. Thankfully Mei-Oh wasn't the final boss, yet the whole ''revive Mei-Oh'' scheme seemed a little too unoriginal. Let's not forget the inconsistencies in the plot, like when a certain character dies in Ayame's storyline only to appear in Rikimaru's ending.

Extras: An emphatic 10.0!

Through the portal was a great idea, and multiplayer mode will keep me and my friends playing this game for several weeks yet. Versus and Co-op? Absolutely brilliant. I still would have liked to have been able to upload my Tenchu 2 levels and play on the in multiplayer mode, but I can't take off points for that.

Average 8.5

Points taken for:

Lack of Effort: 26 missions does not equal 10 levels. Nor is there any reasonable excuse for using the same bosses for every character. Remember Tenchu 2 where we had nearly 20 levels and original bosses? Next time let's mix it up a little. -1.

Sekiya's face: I have nightmares about that. -0.5

Overall: 7. Activision, We know you can do better, we've seen it before. And I hope we'll see it again. A great game but I'd buy Tenchu 2 first.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/16/03, Updated 03/16/03