Tenchu: Return From Darkness

"Stealth kills. The only way to travel."

To begin this review I must first point out that I have never played Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven. However I was a big fan of the previous Tenchu games, and so I absolutely had to pick up Tenchu when it made its Xbox debut.

The game concept is simple: run around completing ninja-like goals in a ninja-like way. Many of the goals appear to be snatched straight from the pages of Ninja Scroll and other Japanese anime comics (also known as manga, if you were going to flame me).

Graphics- 6
The overall graphics are dated, and in some areas there are clipping issues. However, the character models look respectable. I find that the dogs tend to look like wolves, and that I have yet to discern what the floating-disembodied head is supposed to be (unless it is indeed a floating disembodied head, then I was smack on target). Every metal weapon shines, however its delay on shine is only a half-second, so even while remaining motionless, it appears as if a swinging lamp were right above your character. It almost makes you question how guards are unable to see you even in pitch black darkness as you can spot the other player in multiplayer from a mile away by looking for glimmering sword(s).

Sound- 8
Personally I have a special place in my heart for the voice acting in this game. Ayane is top notch, although she does come off a little poorly localized in many situations. Rikimaru also suffers, although his voice-overs are not quite as well done, but tend to fit better to the situation. Once the B-side is enabled, the audio gains momentum, as the localization problems are peeled off as literally everything sounds out of place; thus making everything fit in a strange, yet fitting way.

Controls/Gameplay- 5
I had some technical difficulties with the controls, especially the camera and the L trigger. In combination these two things make sneaking around a pain, and you will frequently find yourself using the manual camera button just to obtain a practical view. The L trigger is used for crouching, and also wall-hugging. You may find yourself unable to sneak up on someone because you duck-walked too close to a wall and then clung to it, unable to remove yourself from the wall without alerting the guard.
Another minor problem is that the artificial intelligence is horrible, and relies on cheap tactics to gain the upper hand. A majority of the AI is unable to track you after having spotted you if you change platforms (going above or below the one which they're standing on). If a guard is attacked by you (the ninja) and you run farther into the area he is supposed to be protecting, he will stop following you and go back to patrolling as if nothing had ever happened. If he falls off a ledge while chasing you, he will be unable to jump back up onto the ledge. I derived a bit of amusement walking up to a few guards as they jumped repeatedly into a wall, as they were unable to hurdle it and resume patrolling. However, the AI can occasionally spot you from several miles away, and anything you can walk through provides no cover from visibility. You'll soon learn that crawling through 4 foot bushes in complete darkness is one of the easiest ways to be spotted.

Replay- 10
There are three characters, each with three layouts for each map. There are also a plethora of extras to unlock/use. A majority of my time spent in the game was replaying missions to achieve a higher score and unlock extras.

Multiplayer- 3
Multiplayer is poorly coded. During versus matches the host is at a distinct advantage over the other player because the other player will suffer from black screen, chopping framerate due to lag, 90 degree turning rate while trying to rotate to face the host, and/or several other issues. The co-op is much more forgiving, as there is no ranking for it, and as such there isn't any competition. There is no way to adjust the difficulty of multiplayer, so you will find that you can be spotted as many times as you'd like. Stealth kills are not recorded, rewarded, or even announced for that matter. A majority of the times I played co-op it was simply a race to obtain the required objects without engaging a single enemy yet being spotted by every one you passed by while running in a direct line to the next objective.

Value- 7
The single player is good stuff, and I recommend a purchase if you don't already own Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven on the PS2. If you do, there isn't enough 'extra' to warrant a second purchase.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/11/04