Tenchu: Return From Darkness

"Very dated arcade stealth"

Introduction:
Tenchu was fun on the PS1 so I was always waiting for this to come round. But the stealth league has greatly progressed from the first release, can Tenchu keep up with modern day titles like Splinter Cell 2 and Metal Gear Solid 2.

Graphics: 14/25
This game is not graphically pleasing, it looks like a shoddy PS2 port which it shouldn't be. The character models are average and most movements jerky. There are also many graphical glitches in the game, quite a let down here.

Sound: 18/25
The music is... odd but good. There are some annoying soundtracks, Gohda castle comes to mind. But the sound quality is generally good. Rikimaru sounds very threatening and other characters also sound good. The only slight problem is that there is no change in music from alert status to stealth.

Gameplay: 14/25
The controls for this game are very average and jerky. It can be extremely annoying. What seems to be a stealth actually becomes a complete waste of time, the level design is very average and the AI is pathetic. Sometimes you can jump down right in front of them and not be seen. They seem to think you are invisible and although you do get into fights it's usually unnecessary and annoying. Some of the levels are ridiculously hard to do stealthily. You find yourself way too dependent on items and not skills. The Co-op mode is reasonable and will provide entertainment if you are very bored, I expect that Xbox Live is also average. This is a shame because a Co-op stealth game is a good idea, shame it didn't implement it as well as splinter cell 2 did. This game should have been updated alot more to be ported to Xbox, I really can't stress how average and dated this game is.

Long Term: 18/25
This game has alot of things to do if you can be bothered. There are 3 characters to play as and you can always attempt to beat your own score but to be honest I think most people would find other games like splinter Cell or Metal gear Solid much more rewarding gaming experience.

Overall: 64/100 (6/10)
Pros -
+ An arcade feel
+ Co-op mode can be fun occasionally
+ Good time filler
Cons -
- Terrible AI
- Average graphics and level design
- Very annoying gameplay

This is the worse stealth game that I have seen. Rent it if you must but otherwise don't bother trying this disappointing game.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/05/04