Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven
- March 04, 2003 00:00 AM PST
Now you too can don the mask of a highly trained assassin, specializing in bladed weapons, sprays of blood and the occasional bout of animal cruelty.
Activision's ninja-sim franchise makes its return with Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven. You play three campaigns as Azuma clan ninjas Rikimaru, Ayame, and an all-new character, Tesshu. You'll embark on missions requiring deft use of stealth, brutal kill techniques, and loads of wicked-cool weapons, gadgets, and mystical spells; most of the gameplay consists of sticking to the shadows until you have an opportunity to knock off enemies from behind. This formula worked in the past and works still, even if the gameplay overhaul K2 touted earlier in the game's production falls short of expectations.
Masters of Death
If you've played the previous Tenchu games, think of Wrath of Heaven as more of a big budget remake than a sequel. Some compelling new gameplay elements have been added, a couple taken away, and K2 has tightened up some of the control and camera issues that riddled the prequels. You can now swipe and use weapons from fallen enemies, and acquire new abilities by performing a certain number of stealth kills, but inexplicably you can no longer drag bodies out of guards' view as in the second game.
The most welcome and most needed improvements have been applied to the fighting system. A lock-on feature now enables you to stay facing your opponent, while evasive maneuvers such as flips, sidesteps, and rolls, are easier to execute. Performing stealth kills will unlock new offensive and defensive techniques, combos, and special abilities, creating the deepest fighting system of the series.
Revenge of the Ninja
Unfortunately, K2 didn't go far enough in improving the archaic A.I. scripting of the PlayStation precursors. Although guards give better chase, they still give up too easily before returning to predictable scouting patterns, run in circles while you dangle directly above or below them, never call for backup, and run right off of cliffs and ledges to reach you across chasms. Games like Metal Gear Solid 2 and Splinter Cell have raised the benchmark for console A.I., and unfortunately, Wrath of Heaven's level of challenge suffers in comparison.
Nine Deaths of the Ninja
Wrath of Heaven's other problem is that you'll play through the same environments in each campaign, and despite multiple enemy layouts, that lack of level variety lessens the replay value. If you know the series and don't mind more of the same, then by all means give it a spin. If, however, you're used to more challenging, stealth-orientated fare, you may want to rent it before investing the coin.
