Tenchu: Stealth Assassins

"Ninja Action in 3D glory!"

I must say that Activision did an excellent job translating Tenchu. From the great voice acting, to the added levels, the game screams quality. Activision has taken their time and released an enhanced version of the Japanese release.

First and foremost, the graphics. While not as awesome as Metal Gear Solid's they are quite nice. There is a lot of clipping but it doesn't affect the game since it all takes place at night. The game runs pretty fast and there is abit of slowdown when using the first-person camera.

While on the topic of the camera, it isn't that great. I know Activision did the best they could to enhance it and make it better, but it still needs work. On a few occasions I have fallen to my death due to the camera. It really doesn't affect the game that much.

The controls are on the borderline of good and bad. They should have really added analog support here. The D-Pad is a bit hard to use for controlling the characters, as you cannot get precise turning. Other than this minor flaw the gameplay is tight.

Replayability goes only so far. The main reason for playing through the game again is to obtain the secret items and see each characters story progression(very few changes). Tenchu, overall is a great game with a good storyline. Its minor flaws don't detract from the game itself which is good.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99