Official Website

Platform: Playstation 2

Genre: Action

Number of Players: 1 - 2

Back in 1998, Activision introduced us to a new concept in the art of ninja gaming. As a matter of fact, they made things the way they should be. Tenchu brought one of the most important aspects of the ninja that everyone else had forgotten: stealth. Games like Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden series certainly have been popular, but it was never the way things should have been. Stealth wasn’t the focus, but instead just outright combat. Tenchu was successful enough to saw a sequel two years later, the last that would appear on the Playstation. That’s not to say that it was going away, and in fact it never intended to. Tenchu has come to a new home, the Playstation 2.

Just like in the previous two titles, Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven places you in feudal Japan circa the end of the 16th century. You are a member of the Azuma ninja clan who are in service of Lord Gohda. Although it appears that the vile Lord Meloh has met his defeat, things are not always as they seem. Once again, Lord Gohda has need of your services. You will work in stealth, operate in shadow, and do what you can to ensure the safety of Lord Gohda’s people once again.

Wrath of Heaven brings back the same ninja pair as the previous game. Rikimura, who was believed to have met his end, returns once again as does Ayame, everyone’s favorite female ninja. Although these are the two main characters that you have to choose from, there is in fact a third playable character, Tesshu. However, in order to play him, you will need to of course, unlock him, which will require you to complete the game once as both of the main characters. This is much easier said that done however.

Also like the previous two games, stealth is of the highest priority. You are, after all, a ninja, and you don’t’ want your enemies or innocent bystanders knowing of your existence. Yet again, this isn’t going to essentially be a simple task. In the bottom left hand of your screen, you’ll see an icon that gives you an indication on how aware your enemy is of you. Patience is the real key to success with this game just as much as stealth. If you take your time, and check your surroundings, enemies won’t have the slightest clue that you’re around, allowing you to go in for the kill.

A successful stealth kill will reward you with a kanji and once you have gained enough of these in a level, you will be given a new move to help you on your quest. So, how exactly can you manage to stay hidden and kill someone? It’s simple most of the time, and there’s one simple answer: stay hidden. You can crouch behind objects or even take the high road, hiding on rooftops or even fences to avoid detection. Much like any other game that relies on stealth instead of outright combat, like Metal Gear Solid for instance, you can use walls to your advantage. Get close enough and you can stand flush against it, giving you the chance to peak around corners and even use a bomb or two. Be warned however, there are some things that will give you away and an alerted enemy will more than likely call in for more help.

Some levels have dogs, which obviously have a more acute sense of smell and hearing, and they easily detect you, attacking and barking in the process. Water is another bad thing, and enemies will quickly hear any splashing and come to investigate. Yet another bad encounter is with guardian animals. These cats cannot be killed by any means, and if they sense your presence, they will immediately hiss and make as much racket as possible. And people always say that cats are good luck. Maybe, but that’s definitely not the case for you. Also, a body left out in the open is a pretty good indication for anyone that something isn’t right, and guards will come immediately upon seeing something like this to investigate.

Stealth isn’t the only way to take care of your foes however. You’re a ninja remember? Since this is your chosen profession, you have access to a wide array of weapons and helpful items to make life a little easier. Although not a weapon, you automatically have a grappling hook and therefore never need to select this like you would other items before a mission. It does just what you’d expect it to as well, it will help you get to some of those more out of the way places. Selectable items include blowguns, shrunken, smoke bombs for increased stealth, poison rice, and even healing potions. However, you only have so much space to use, and each item takes up one slot, so it’s wise to be choosey and select only the items you feel will help you best.

Initially you start with a handful of weapons and items to choose from, and these will vary dependant upon which character you have selected. During the course of each level though, you will run across more items that will be added to the item selection menu. You do have access to these immediately in a level once you find them however. You also have a variety of weapons that are exclusive to each character that will become available as you make it farther in the game.

Each of the three characters has a certain mission path to follow, and each of these in turn have multiple paths you can take. You have to complete the paths in order to access the next ones, and they get progressively more difficult as the amount of enemies and the tactics they use improve. Although stealth is the main focus, you can go in for an outright fight as well and utilize a variety of combos. Of course, the more skills you learn though, the easier things will become. The end of each stage also will give you a rating which depends on if you’ve been spotted, your stealth kills, and if you accidentally killed any innocents. Achieving a Grand Master rating is perhaps the best goal, as this will unlock even more options for the game.

If you don’t feel like taking on the story aspect of the game though, you can always bring in a friend for a little friendly competition, or cooperation. The cooperative missions allow for not only some nice friendly stealth action, there are some combo stealth kills that you’re only going to find in this option. That’s all well and good, but the death match mode, or Hunter-Hunted, is by far the more entertaining option. Computer AI can only think so much, but your friends have a better chance of giving you a real challenge.

Tenchu offers quite a bit in the graphics department as well. Many of the levels offer quite a bit of interactivity, making the game play that much more fun. Much like what gamers who have played either of the Onimusha titles have seen, you can chop down bamboo that obstructs your path. But what’s more entertaining is the use of beehives that pop up in various levels. Using one of your weapons, like a well placed shrunken for instance, you can anger the bees enough so that they will attack a nearby patrolling guard, stinging him to death and making your job that much easier.

The game is also very successful in capturing the look and feel of feudal Japan, much to the extent of other games, again Onimusha comes to mind, that are placed in the same era. There are plenty of interesting items to look at, if you have the time of course. Buildings and rooms are complete with shouji (sliding doors) that come in a variety of patterns, including a few that have elaborate paintings on them, and kimono’s are also displayed as they should be. Fatal Frame gave us all a good idea of how it should be. The lighting is very well done on top of the great graphics. It’s not too bright, but never too dim, and gives rooms and areas the illusion of being lit ether by torch or campfire. One last note on lighting though: fire is not your friend. Don’t step carelessly into a campfire because unlike some games, fire hurts, and you’ll immediately go into that “stop, drop, and roll” technique that you were taught in school.

The stealth kills may be the best thing of all though, and they are brutal. You’re going to see plenty of snapped necks, slit throats, and any of means of quickly killing your opponent with a bladed weapon that you can image. However, Tesshu may be the one that takes the award on this one. Equipped with a surgical needle, there are scenes of him thrusting the deadly point into the back of his victims necks, complete with an e-ray image to illustrate just how brutal the attack truly is. While cool to watch the first few time, they do get rather repetitive. Fortunately, a quick side-trip to the options menu will give you the opportunity to turn these off.

Lastly, to keep with the Japanese theme and flavor, Tenchu has the option to change the audio. The default is English, no real big surprise there. However, you can change the audio to Japanese. The only disadvantage to this is that despite the fact that there are subtitles, the game played in Japanese doesn’t provide an accurate translation. In fact, the subtitles only follow the English script.

While many aspects of Tenchu are spectacular, it isn’t without it’s bad points. The controls definitely take some getting used to. Quite a few times I found that I had accidentally changed to a new weapon without realizing it. Which brings up another point, and that is that finding new weapons in a level becomes more or less a guessing game. While some are obvious on their function, like a box for instance, others don’t give much indication of their function unless you experiment, or wait until the next item select screen.

The story is a little weak as well, and many of the stages are similar in theme to the previous games. During Ayame’s second stage, which is also the first stage of Tesshu and Rikimura, I found myself wondering if I hadn’t done this before in the first game. While I had, the only real change is a slight variation on the theme and the layout. The music also doesn’t really have a Japanese feel to it so much as it feels like an attempt to modernize an Edo period style. While it’s not bad, it definitely isn’t anything spectacular either, and certainly not something that would be worthy of doing an original soundtrack for.

The multi-player mode also could have had a little more variation to it. With only two options, it felt like there should have been more. Perhaps something similar to TimeSplitters 2 where various characters could be unlocked for play would have been a nice touch. I imagine the problem with that comes with having to come up with new stealth kills. Or, maybe a “create-a-ninja” mode would have been better, allowing you to select what skills you had. Something like this would have opened the doors to online play, but again it would have certainly needed a greater variety of games. Also, the tutorial mode is horrible, and anyone who has never played any of the Tenchu games is not going to be learning how to play the game anytime soon if they choose this option.

In case you’re wondering just where Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven comes in the grand scheme of the series, let me better explain it. The first game is in fact the first, while Tenchu 2 actually isn’t a sequel at all. It is a prequel while Tenchu Wrath of Heaven is the direct sequel to the original game. Fans of the series already know this I’m sure, but if you’ve never played Tenchu, this should clear up any questions. And don’t worry, you don’t need to play the previous games to enjoy this one, although I‘m sure Activision isn’t going to hold anything against those that want to purchase the first two games.

What Tenchu Wrath of Heaven shows is what the series is truly capable of becoming. I’ve been a long time fan of the original game, and admittedly I never had the chance to play the second. Now though, the series has managed to undergo drastic improvements, and not just as a pretty sequel. The game play is drastically improved, making the game that much more fun, and that much more challenging. If you are the type of gamer that enjoys action titles that require more though that mindless slaughter, this is a game that you will simply fall in love with. Think of elements of SOCOM, minus the team action and replaced with ninjas. Although it isn’t a perfect title, it also doesn’t have that much farther to go in order to reach that point.

 -mike-