Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins

"Tenchu combines matal gear solid stealth with shinobi action"

First off let me explain that the Tenchu series is one of my favorite series. I’ve always liked shinobi and this is the closest I’ll ever get to another ninja game that is quality. So when Tenchu 2 was release (after countless hours beating the first one) I thrilled. And then to here a rumor of a mission editor confirmed, well I became hysterical. So any way,
Lets’ proceed shall we.

Gameplay: (8) Tenchu’s game play has always been innovated. The control is all most dead on. Turning around while staying still is pretty hard even for the experienced. The originality of the game comes with the stealth. Hiding in the shadows or hanging right underneath the guard you’re about to kill is very exciting. What’s more is when popping out from the shadows or climbing in the guard tower when his back is turn brings real tension. My favorite part of this is that there are two ways to kill. You can either fight normally or perform a motion blurred stealth kill. Those are the best. The range from slitting the throat to total decapitation. The learning curve is very easy with the beginning
Level teaching you how to move around and the what nots. The only truly hard part about the game is the all stealth levels, where if you are seen you lose. I found these a little difficult because one slip up and it’s over. Luckily there are only 2-3 of these in the game. One other aspect is all the ninja Items you get to use. There are many different items to be found. The range from grappling hook to poison rice to a disappearing act.
This keeps the game fresh and alive. These also help out in the boss battles.

Story: (9) This is where the game shines. And boy does it shine. You take the role as either Rikimaru or Ayame and are training as an Azuma ninja. You protect your land along with its people. You serve the emperor and fight for and to protect him. With out getting too much into detail, there is a third ninja called Tatsumare that plays an important part in the story. As the two ninja’s you fight night and day missions, some different some the same. There are many FMV’s but only a handful of CGI’s. There are many different missions through out the game ranging from rescues to assassinations. Each level has a FMV to get you briefed on your new mission, and a FMV at the boss fights, which happens at the end of every level. To help you through the story the other ninja you didn’t chose helps you out. Say in one of the missions you have to rescue someone AND kill someone else, the other ninja comes and goes off to rescue that certain person. It’s all about teamwork! The story will take you to the very end. And you won’t be disappointed.

Graphics/sound: (7) This is were the game lacks. Since the levels are not pre-rendered the graphics take a beating. The levels are huge. And I mean HUGE. The graphics are not bad. It’s just they need some anti-aliasing. The FMV’s are the same. Not bad not good. The CGI’s are very good. Almost final fantasy quality. The sound is better than the graphics. There are the surprised sounds of the guards when they hear you and the chirping of the birds. The FMV’s have pretty good voiceovers. You don’t really pay attention to the lips and all. There is no pausing between sentences or anything of that sort. The graphics look better on the PS2 but not by a lot. If graphics is your thing you wont be able to fully enjoy the experience. You have to look past it in this case

Recap: the over all experience of Tenchu 2 is simply amazing. The mission editor is by far the best feature for replay ability. If you have a friend that plays Tenchu 2 you can swap each other’s levels. I have been able to get some game quality levels out of it. This is definitely a game to by. There is no way to enjoy the full experience of the game by renting it, even if you do beat it. Tenchu 2 does have its major flaws like graphics and sometimes the control. The camera is good because you can rotate it to your liking. The over all experience is something you will never forget.

Over all score: (9)

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/21/01, Updated 04/21/01