The Wrath of Heaven

Tenchu is one of those series that started out great and later on went straight into the crapper. Originally released by Acquire in 1998, Dimensional Ninja Action Movie Tenchu (title subsequently being reduced for international release) became a quick cult hit and spawned a strong following. After several titles in the series however control of the franchise was handed off to K2. This action resulted in what many consider the beginning of the downhill trend for the series, with sub par gameplay not meeting fans' expectations for one of the most well known titles in the stealth action genre. Thankfully, the rights made a return to Acquire and thus we have Tenchu 4: Shadow Assassins.

Like most of the games in the series (contrary to the most recent title Tenchu Z) the game revolves around main characters Rikimaru and Ayame, members of the Azuma ninja clan and servants of Lord Gohda and Princess Kiku. After having dealt with a local corrupt merchant and discovering his stash of weapons, Rikimaru becomes convinced that someone is attempting to launch a war against the Gohda house. Shortly thereafter, Princess Kiku is kidnapped by a crafty (and well endowed) kunoichi, thus forcing our two heroes on separate paths as Rikimaru searches for the source of the threat while Ayame seeks to rescue her childhood friend.

When all is said and done the game's storyline is pretty much par for the course. The game is separated into two parts, each following one of the heroes' depictions of what happened after the kidnapping and eventually rejoining at the end. The game unfortunately does not build on the backstory nearly as much as it should and thus does not answer most of the questions players have about what has happened to the characters in the previous games.

Out of the Shadows

When people think of stealth action they immediately realize that the game's goal, which usually contradicts the player's, is to sneak through a level without being caught up in a firefight. Games like Metal Gear and Splinter Cell are completely based around such a concept. Tenchu however is not. While the series does incorporate the standard hide-and-seek mechanic the game all but forces you to kill every enemy in sight, including the kill count into the overall score for the level. This is immediately different and somewhat alienating to the average stealth player but in the end becomes second nature to them once they get used to the game.

The Tenchu series is also all about playing like a cinematic ninja that we all imagine must have existed back in feudal Japan (Itagaki standards aside). Players bound from rooftop to rooftop, stalking their prey until just the right moment comes along. Shadow Assassins however feels like a detriment to the series in this regard. Unfortunately it seems that Acquire has procured the same fate as almost 80% of all titles on the Wii: minigame syndrome. While previous Tenchus have been about roaming freely through open levels and accomplishing objectives at your leisure, Shadow Assassins takes three steps back. The basic gameplay consists of getting from point A to point B while killing everyone in your way and not being seen. While this may sound like a good idea in the beginning it is actually far removed from traditional Tenchu gameplay.

Time of the Assassins

It seems like Acquire made some very poor design decisions when regaining the rights to the franchise. For one the controls are clumsy and will have you thinking which buttons to press even after several hours of play. The game also limits you to three items at any given time, limiting your options and making several of them all but useless under many circumstances. Like all Tenchu games, Shadow Assassins encourages you to not lunge head on into combat, but unlike the others, this title actually prevents you from doing so most of the time. Players can only engage in combat during boss fights and against regular enemies when they have a sword on them. The game switches to the first person perspective and plays like a poor man's version of a boss fight in Red Steel, usually ending in the player losing due to the irritating difficulty and the Wiimote's lackluster accuracy.