Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven

"Ninjas,samurai,girls,comedy,dogs,swords, did I mention girls?"

A great sequel to a great series. Tenchu:Wrath of Heaven takes stealth games to another level. Even the first Tenchu game for Playstation is still selling copies and is being checked out in Rental stores. Tenchu is world known for its stealth tactics that many games can't produce, and its with ninjas.(won't find Solid Snake in this game ;))It has good graphics,great fighting,good dialogue, great comedy and excellent re-play value.(What more is here to a soon-to-be Greatest Hits game?

Story:9/10 Your either two ninjas(one female and the other male) or a cool doctor/assassin that uses his iron fists and do mission-to-mission as you unravel the mysterious stories of a ninjas shadow and travel to defeat the almighty Tenrai. You'll want to play as all 3 characters to see what cool things they'll say in the cutscenes and learning each characters specific attributes.

Gameplay:10/10 Although you'll have to do a number of stealth kills(sneaking up on the enemy and silencing them quietly),you will want to get up front in personal and fight them head to use some of your items.Their are many ways to kill your opponents other than stealth kills and close up battling;you can use poison dart,stickybombs, caltrops, grenades, exploding arrows, tiger traps and you can even call a dog to fight an enemy. To add to this gameplay you an earn abilities to help you fight,conceal, or aid you while your sneaking about the levels of Tenchu extending to stabbing yourself to trick opponents to clinging to ceiling to get the perfect kill. You will probably want to do a stealth kill very often jut to see the amazing cutscene of your attacks. The CPU A.I. isn't to hard or too strong if you know what your doing.You can disguise yourself as an ally to get close to your opponents;very fun. The Two-player function is a marvelous tool. Your friend or family member will have hours of fun either kicking your rear-end or aiding your back in battle. There's nothing like paralyzing your little brother and watch his smile turn into a frown as you pummel him wit your thumb,:P.

Replay-Value:10/10 The replay value is absolutely great. You will want to replay the game to unlock very worthy things that will have you laughing for days-on-end.Their are multiple things to unlock that will have this game extending well beyond a five-day rental period. You'll also want to replay the game to see if you can get the Grandmaster level rating. Personally I replay the levels to see if I have gotten any better and to see if I can find new routes to my destination.

Graphics:8/10 The graphics are similar to Onimusha 2 IMO. Their are waterfalls,small bees around a beehive,large realistic environments, gleams off a sword and many other things that will suit your ninja taste. The characters images are top notch and some of the best I've seen for a stealth game. Rikimaru's face looks very cool with the scar.Although it doesn't push the Playsation 2 to its absoulute limits, no other game does either at this point.

OVERALL:10/10
Story:9/10
Gameplay:10/10
Replay Value:10/10
Graphics:8/10

OVERALL EVAULATION:
The Game offers a multitude of things to do to suit anybody,even those who have a game grudge against stealth games. The graphics are superb for the Playsation 2 and will leave you begging for an early release of the next sequel. The two-player function is most fitting for a game of this genre. I had more fun playing this game than any of the Metal Gear series. There's just something about ninjas that are so popular. This game will be selling copies months into the year 2004.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/20/03, Updated 04/20/03