Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins

"Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins is very disappointing"

As simply as possible Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins is extremely disappointing. If you had the opportunity to play the demo you will be happy to know there were some improvements made before final release. I was a fan of the original but this one was well below the original Tenchu in overall quality. I do call them like I see them.

The Good:

The story… Tenchu 2 actually has a story develop after the first two levels. A decent story was something that was, for the most part, non-existent in the original. Without any spoils the beginning of the story can be summarized as this: This is a prequel to the original Tenchu. At first the only playable characters are Ayame and Rikimaru, the two ninjas from the original. At the beginning of the game they are not yet true ninja and must pass a test at the end of a training level. After the test is passed and their first assignment is completed the game's true story begins. As simple as possible… The man that their clan serves has been betrayed and they must help him. A third ninja of the clan is introduced at this time, and, eventually, becomes a playable character. This occurs after you have completed Ayame and Rikimaru's missions.

The graphics… This is certainly improved from the original. The line of sight has increased. Lighting has been improved and now includes daytime missions.

The Mission Editor… I was hoping that this would be the game's saving grace, but since I am so disgusted with the game I doubt I will give this feature much of a try out.

The Bad:

The controls for this game, although better than the demo, still leave a lot to be desired. It may take a while before you can keep you ninja from slashing a few feet to the right of the intended target.

The sound is not that great. After an hour or two of owls hooting and wolves baying on the second level…. Well, one can get a pretty good idea of what to expect for the rest of the game. The surroundings do, however, settle down on some levels. It is also interesting to note how much the enemies scream and yell while you are performing a STEALTH kill. Does not make a lot of sense.

The Camera is very unpredictable when near borders and large objects. It is quite possible that you will
completely loose sight of you character. This is less than pleasant when you are attempting to assassinate someone that could turn around any second or, even worse, in the middle of a full out fight. It seems to have been improved some since the demo, but still could have used some work.

The Voice Acting is… different. The voice of the mostly child female ninja Ayame sounds more like a modern day ''valley girl''/ ''mall rat'' than a girl living in feudal Japan. As if….

My Major Complaint has to do with the boss fights I have seen up to this point. Going one on one against any of the bosses will quickly end in your ninja's death. This being noted, some of the boss fights occur in rather small areas where invisible walls pop up to prevent you from getting too far away. That is just annoying. Also, since the best strategy seems to be run from the boss until he cannot see you, then sneak up on him and get a few slashes in, then run from the boss until he cannot see you…etc., etc. This can be time consuming and, once again, annoying.

In Conclusion:
I will spend countless hours beating the game and creating levels for friends. But the game could have been better and some of the above problems will keep the game from being even a decent game. It MIGHT be saved some by the fact that the first Tenchu was unique, by the addition of a decent story and by the Mission Editor that is included in the game. The rest might be overcome with time and practice. I give this game a 4 out of 10. I will be trading this crap in as soon as the next decent game shows itself.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 08/13/00, Updated 02/24/01