How would you like to run on the rooftops, hide underwater, and wait for the enemies to turn their backs so you can slash their throat?  Activision’s latest ninja stealth game, Tenchu 2: The Birth of the Stealth Assassins, will fulfill your dreams of being the Stealth Assassin.  This latest installment to the Tenchu series brings you as close as you can get to the life of the ninja, plus all the new weapons, techniques, missions and stealth kills.  The fact that made the series so successful depended on the realism.  Unlike the slash ‘em up type ninja games such as Ninja Gaiden or Shinobi, Tenchu series understood the facts that the ninjas are all about the stealth and assassination.  Patience and observation takes over the player rather than “let’s go slash him until he dies” attitude.  Ability to peek at the corner, to climb up the rooftops to avoid the sight of the unfriendly eyes, or to sneak upon the enemies to perform the stealth kill gave players the intensity and joy that matches up to the slash ‘em up game.

One of the biggest changes over its predecessor is that now the game has a story which will be told by a huge amount of cut scenes and FMVs on a single CD.  Tenchu 2 takes place in Japan, 4 years before the events of the original Tenchu.  The old regime has fallen and the lords of the Japan are fighting over the territories, granting anything to fulfill their selfish goals.  Only Lord Gohda Matsunoshin places the welfare of his subjects over his own ambitious and forsakes the brutal power struggle.  His just and compassionate rule earns him the love and respect of his people and the hatred of his rivals.  Lord Gohda’s own uncle attacks the castle with his newly made armies to betray Lord Gohda and to become the Lord himself.  Knowing these facts, Gohda’s assistant calls for the Azuma Ninjas, a group that consists 3 ninjas, Rikimaru, Ayame, and Tatsumaru, for the aid of the castle.  People might think that the game might be repetitive because the characters will have the same stories, but surprise surprise, in Tenchu 2, each character will have their own story lines.  One for Rikimaru, one for Ayame, and one for Tatsumaru (he can be unlocked after Rikimaru and Ayame’s scenarios are complete).  One example would be when the party was at the Gohda’s castle.  Tatsumaru orders Ayame to find the princess and the queen and protect them, while Rikimaru and Tatsumaru himself goes to find Lord Gohda.  On the way, Tatsumaru senses something and departs off, leaving Rikimaru to rescue Gohda himself.  What Tatsumaru does remains secret (at least for the readers, I’m done with the game ^_^).  The game will remain fresh after you beat the game once or even when you beat the game completely thanks to an awesome Mission Editor which will be discussed later on this review.

Another make over from the predecessor is the gameplay.  It didn’t change much, so the players who have enjoyed the predecessor will have no problems at all, since the controls are the same.  Plus there are a lot of add-ons.  Such example can be taken out of the ability to drag the dead enemies to hide the corpse, the ability to sheath the sword in order to move faster, or the ability to swim.  Some of those are annoying in some way (example: going in the water takes everyone’s attention), but it’s a welcome addition to the gameplay.  Bosses are impossible to beat in the first place, and they use every trick they know to kill the player (smoke bomb, exploding bomb, etc.)  Now with the new AI, enemies are also harder.  Some of the normal enemies are as hard as the bosses from Tenchu 1, and now they somehow managed to learn how to block when they need to.  They also learned how to locate their dead comrades and to chases after the player.  In addition to the AI, there are far more stealth kills than before to help out the player.  Unlike before, you can now perform 7 different stealth kills for each character, depending on the side you’re standing next to the enemy.  While these changes don’t sound like much, it raises the entertainment and realism meter up.

As far as the graphics go, they haven’t improved much.  Some objects are blocky and edged.  Now that Tenchu 2 mostly takes place outside, PlayStation just couldn’t handle the backgrounds.  The predecessor could manage this because the game took place in the night, which limited the sight naturally.  But in the sequel (or prequel), the game mostly takes place in daylight, and the levels are incredibly large, making the PlayStation reach its limitations.  When you go near something, it kind of blurs away.  You can see farther than before but you can’t see much.  As for the character graphics, they are quite good.  One of the parts that I’m having problems with is on the camera angle.  When you fight, you really should be in the middle of nowhere, the camera angle shifts to the part where it’s almost impossible to see your enemies when cornered.  Rather than that, I have no problems with the angle.  Graphics are something that makes Tenchu 2’s quality down.

The sound in Tenchu 2 is quite “awkward”.  There is no BGM and they are played when some events are occurring.  For example, a suspenseful tone plays when the enemies detected the player, or when they swing their weapons.  It’s great to raise the intensity part of the game, but the overall world without music is quite awkward and bad.  The voice acting came straight out of Tenchu 1 with same casts, which makes the sound department of the game so-so.

When I heard that this game will come with a Mission Editor, I though Activision was being cheap to keep the game alive.  Well, guess what, they succeeded.  Tenchu 2’s Mission Editor’s easy, fun and well worth to be it’s own game with little add-ons.  Yes, it’s that good.  The Mission Editor comes with 10 already created missions and several setting, such as dojo, town, or castle.  One draw back would be that you can place limited amount of objects and enemies/people and that you can’t select day, or night time setting.  Other than that, it truly makes Tenchu 2 a game with an excellent replay value. 

Tenchu 2 is one of the best games I’ve ever played even with its flaws.  The game covers its own mistakes and hides it with an excellent gameplay.  You will experience and feel the real world of ninja and if you loved the first one, I definitely recommend it to you.  All the elements from the predecessor combined with the new ones, plus the Mission Editor will keep you busy for months. If you have any money left on you, go get this game.  If you don’t, then beg somebody to buy it for you.  It’ll be worth it.  Tenchu 2 delivers the player an intense and an entertaining experience while it remains true to the Ninja Stealth series.