Tenchu: Fatal Shadows

"Take one step foward and two steps back..."

If there were ever a series that had a lot of potential, it would probably be the Tenchu series. Take a rather cliched, yet pretty popular premise, incorporate some solid gameplay, and add plenty of blood and decapitations, and you've got a sure winner, right? We all hoped after Activision handed over the Tenchu license to Sega and From Software, these new developers could make a few improvements over Wrath of Heaven. Unfortunately, Fatal Shadows seems to be going backwards instead of trying new grounds with the series.

For all those new to the Tenchu series, you should know this is a stealth game. This game follows a more realistic approach to the whole ninja thing. Unlike Ninja Gaiden's extremely speedy and powerful hero Ryu Hayabusa, the ninjas in Fatal Shadows are restricted to only stealth tactics. This is not a destroy everything into oblivion type of game. Fatal Shadows is actually more of a side-story instead of a direct continuation of Wrath of Heaven. Like the previous game, this game takes place in feudal Japan. It follows a more mature Ayame, as she investigates a ninja village that has been attacked by an unknown group of assailants. There she meets a young inhabitant of the village named Rin, who believes Ayame is the cause of everyone's death in the village. The story pretty much branches out from that point. Unlike Wrath of Heaven that allowed you to choose which character you want, Fatal Shadows has you alternate between Ayame and Rin. It's not a big deal because they don't exactly play that differently. Bad news for Rikimaru fans though. It seems the main hero of the Tenchu series is missing, and isn't in this one.

Gameplay- 6/10

It's a shame that this series hasn't changed a whole lot since it debut back on the PSX. It was forgivable in Wrath of Heaven, because it was the first Tenchu game that ran on more advanced hardware, and was a big improvement over it's predecessors. But the fact that Fatal Shadows makes no improvements over WoH isn't forgivable. Fatal Shadows plays almost exactly like WoH. Nothing has been changed. The basic mission layout hasn't changes, and neither has any of the in-game discrepancies. There is hardly any variations whatsoever in missions. You're given a set of objective and the mission ends once all these criteria are met. At the end of the mission you're given a rating on how well you did. The rating depends on how stealthy you were, and other factors like how many items you may have used. To the hardcore Tenchu fan, this might not be a problem, but for most the same recycled gameplay gets old.

The combat and character control has hardly changed either. You pretty much tap the square button to unleash a small combo. There are only slight variations to these standard combos. You have you're jump/double jump, guard, crouch, strafe, and the ability to press against wall. The controls were okay a while back, but now they feel extremely outdated. The stealth kills have always looked cool, and they have been the bread and butter of this series. They are easy to perform (just approach an enemy and press the attack button), as well as entertaining to watch. The stealth kill animation varies depending on what angle you approach you're unsuspecting enemy. The problem with this is the stealth kills get repetitive after a while, and the novelty of the idea wears off after you've seen the same kill numerous times. A new aspect with stealth kills is both our heroines have the ability to do a double stealth kill. A small but not exceedingly great addition. You can always duke it out with you're enemies face to face, but stealth is the main aspect of this game. Besides, the enemies aren't particularly bright.

Another problem that plagued WoH as well as Fatal Shadows was the enemy AI. Enemies act ridiculously dumb at times. When they spot you, they get all excited and try to kill you. However, if you walk far away enough, the enemy stops the pursuit and just gives up searching for you. The AI seems extremely lazy at times. They can't seem to see you if you're far away. There is also some sort of radar system that allows you to now the vicinity of a guard. The Ki meter is a sort of detection system for you. If the Ki meter shows a green question it means Ayame or Rin detects an enemy but the enemy is unaware of you're presence. An exclamation point means that you're character has been detected, but the enemy still hasn't found you yet. An exclamation point and a question mark means the enemy is vigilantly looking for you because they are now aware of you're presence. Two exclamation points mean the enemy has spotted you and are going to eliminate you. Before you take on a mission, you are given an opportunity to buy items like health drinks, shurikens, smoke bombs, etc These items will aid you in you're missions as well as taking down baddies. Once again, the layout hasn't changed much since WoH.

There was no denying that the camera angles in WoH were restricting as well as annoying. Whenever you press up against a wall, they angles seem to hinder you're sight at times. The camera pans incorrectly when you approach ledges. It makes it difficult to see you're surrounding as well as enemies. The camera could have been improved, but it looks like no time was spent in trying to fine tune it. You can manipulate the camera to a certain degree, but it gets a tad annoying because of how poorly the camera scheme is implemented. If there is one thing that has slightly been improved, it's the map system. The map system in WoH was horrible and took quite a bit of time to adjust to. Fatal Shadow's map system is a lot more clear than WoH's. A red arrow shows you're current position. A red star indicates the final destination of you're mission. It sure isn't a big thing, but it it provides extremely useful when you find yourself lost in the some of the bland levels. As far as the levels go, they are still as boring and linear as ever. The levels look pretty plain and dull. The only noticeable difference between WoH's levels and Fatal Shadows is that there are some swimming portions. The level layouts are extremely disappointing.

Graphics and Sound- 7/10

When WoH was released in 2003, it's graphics were not the most impressive, but they were pretty respectable graphics. They were a huge improvement after the PSX games, but that would only be stating the obvious. But why in the world would you recycle the exact same graphics engine? Fatal Shadows is on par with WoH in terms of visual appearance. That in itself is a bad thing. The games looks extremely underwhelming now. When stealth games like Metal Gear Solid 3 and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory seem to be pushing the graphical envelope of this generation's consoles, Fatal Shadows extremely out-dated look simply won't do. The visuals can be impressive at some spots, but overall, it's pretty average. Ayame's character model is a tad better than her WoH model though. These minor improvements just aren't enough.

Tenchu has always seemed to have upbeat and catchy music. This game is no different. The music is pretty lively and fitting for it's theme despite it's somewhat dark atmosphere. Unfortunately, the extremely lame dialogue and voice acting really kills the game. Ayame is still the sharp tongued killer she's always been. Rin's voice is actually quite annoying when she gets angry, and the main villains voices are way too casual for you to take them seriously. There are still some small chatter between guards, but for Japanese guards, they seem extremely Americanized. It kind of kills the Japanese aspect of the game. What is particularly annoying is that the guards spout the same hackneyed one liner everytime they spot you or whenever you manage to evade them ("Running away huh?").

Replayability- 6/10

Wrath of Heaven wasn't exactly the kind of game you can play over and over again. Unless of course you were obsessed with getting the best rating possible. At least WoH had a hidden character that could be played through in story mode, unlike Fatal Shadows. Unless you're crazed about getting the highest rating and some alternate costumes for the heroines, there isn't a whole lot to keep you coming back. There is a a Pit fight mode which allows you to battle against several of the in-game bosses. You can unlock costumes this way. Once again, another example of why Fatal Shadows is hardly an improvement over WoH.

Overall

On the whole, Tenchu Fatal Shadows is not a bad game. It's biggest fault is that it's nowhere near a step up from it's predecessor. It seems that the developers put little time and effort into this side story. If it weren't for the brain-dead AI and lack of any significant improvements, this game could have been a bit better. If you were a huge fan of WoH, Fatal Shadows is worth checking out. For those tired of the lack of innovation and any fresh ideas in the series, you won't be to thrilled with this one This game is definitely not worth the $50 asking price unless you're a maniacal Tenchu fan. It's a fairly short game that can be beaten in a rental period and easily forgotten. Let's just hope that the next Tenchu game will do this series right.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/17/05