Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins (PS) (2000)
Developer: Sony Music Entertainment Japan (Acquire)

Review by Faididi and Co.

Abort this crap heap

Story: Average

This game being a prequel, its story takes place five years before that of the first one, when Ayame didn't look as much of a skank and when Rikimaru, well, was about the same as he's always been. As fresh ninja graduates, the heroes formally begin their service to the Gohda clan, committing selective murder to maintain the peace. For those who've played through the first installment, the only reason to pay attention here is to see more of the heroes' not-too-shocking backstories, like the special bond between Ayame and Kiku.

Gameplay: Poor

Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Tenchu 2 plays virtually the same as its 3D stealth action predecessor. With you still choosing between Ayame and Rikimaru (and, later, a bonus third character), the heroes go through another 10 levels, excluding the now-compulsory training scene. It also brings back the simplistic mission creator mode from certain versions of the original game.

Tenchu 2 likes to boast of its improvements. The level variations here take the form of each hero's own perspective in the story. For example, in one level, Ayame and Rikimaru head together to the same castle, but they enter different areas to rescue different allies. Thus, you must play through the game with all the characters to see the whole story. Another upgrade is the greater emphasis on outdoor environments, so the heroes get to work in more wide open areas, and they can now swim underwater to evade guards. Adding to the complexity of the environments, there are new environmental hazards, like dart-shooting mechanisms, concealed deathpits, rolling boulders, and noise traps.

However, at a time when there are infinitely superior stealth action adventures available like Looking Glass' Thief: The Dark Project and Konami's Metal Gear Solid, there's no reason to bother with the painfully outdated Tenchu 2, which retains all the major flaws of its predecessor. The combat is the same clunky, barely controllable garbage, with the same retarded targeting system that constantly interferes with up-close striking and blocking. Unbelievably, the item system remains unchanged, again losing the heroes' potions and other limited supplies upon the restarting of a level. The short draw distance becomes even more apparent in the broad daylight scenes and the open environments, adding immensely to the object pop-up.

As though Tenchu 2 wants you to absolutely despise it, the game forces additional sources of frustration down your throat. The grappling hook no longer allows the heroes to latch onto any surface, now being restricted only to ledges. The new no-alert objectives are annoying as hell, given that the enemies can still see the heroes despite standing beyond the shitty draw distance. Furthermore, simply completing a level without being detected by bad guys is no longer sufficient for earning the top rating; the heroes must go out of their way to kill guards in order to earn maximum points. This is a sad attempt to compensate for the sloppy level design, like the island shore mission where one of the heroes can simply stay in the water and swim straight to the end point without encountering any guards.

Controls: Sucks All Ass

Like the gameplay, the controls manage to suck more than before. In addition to the loss of freedom with the grappling hook, the soft reset command doesn't work properly anymore. The automatic targeting sees zero improvement, while getting backed up against a wall will cause inexplicable, unwanted turning.

The new moves are completely useless. Sheathing the weapons won't help the heroes avoid detection or move more quickly. Dragging around dead bodies is equally pointless, because the regular enemies are still generally spaced far apart from each other.

Graphics: Below Average

The draw distance continues to be lousy, and the framerate is no smoother. More cutscenes (both real-time and prerendered) are interspersed within the levels, but with no option to automatically skip them, they just add to the lengthy loading times.

Audio: Average

This game suffers even in terms of music. Except for the single tune for the mission creator mode, there is no music at all during the levels, because the background tunes are replaced by quiet environmental ambience effects. The original voice acting is still okay, but the dubbing in the English versions eschews the native Japanese speakers, dropping down to a generic quality.

Overall: Poor

Tenchu 2 is a horribly outdated stealth action prequel. Not only does it fail to correct its unforgivable problems in the controls and other aspects, but it further degrades itself by reducing the versatility of the grappling hook and by pushing the heroes to aggressively kill guards instead of quietly sneaking past them. Make no doubt about it; Tenchu 2 is a total pile of shit compared to the far superior and more cleverly designed stealth action classics released before it.