Even Naruto can teach these ninjas a thing or two.
Tenchu veterans don't have a whole lot to look forward to in the Wii build. The presentation takes a PS2 back-seat. While some of the character models including Rikimaru, Ayame, and a few other NPCs are slickly rendered, most of the characters appear flat and the overall animation feels extremely dated. Whether it may be with the stiff and deliberate motion capture, or the Power Ranger like choreographed cut scenes. The game's plot is delivered through very eastern generic pre-rendered cinematics, and terrible voice acting. Taking the role of Rikimaru and Ayame, Lord Goda has issued orders to retrieve his kidnapped daughter. As a reader, you're probably rolling your eyes, and getting the urge to skim through a plot over-view and having no interest what so ever. So it isn't my intention to bombard you with details. All that needs to be noted is that the games storyline sparks no more interest than one told by a 5th grader.
Tenchu may not suffer from the often problematic frame rate and other technical issues (and why should it. This game runs at a very slow pace) but there are still a few bugs in the game. In some areas, there are some odd collision detection issues especially with the Hissatsu. Hissatsu are instant kills players perform as they approach their enemies from behind, from the shadows, or up above. One in particular is the fast and easy kill where you just simply shake the Wiimote and your character will kill the enemy by pulling their own sword from the sheath and driving it through their torso. However, at times it may not even be their torso. The sword will either be suspended in mid-air next to their side, or driven completely through where the entire sword will appear floating behind their back. These are mere eye soars, but none the less add to the last gen feel of the game. Shadow Assassins also uses a physics engine that doesn't quite work well either. Bodies will flop and fumble on the ground after their death, and boxes which can be used to gain access to high places will act the same making it more difficult to position yourself on top of them.
If you haven't followed up on this game and picked up for the first time, it would be hard for anyone to believe that this game was developed from the ground up for the Wii. Credit should be given to the development team in implementing tight stealth controls that rarely, if ever, get in the way of the gameplay. So any worries of the stealth mechanics not responding to the way you'd like should be thrown out the window. However, this may be due to the fact that the entire game makes very poor use of the Wii's controls. Hissatsu, after being triggered by the A button, is purely gesture based and offers little satisfaction. The game wouldn't have felt any different if gestures were replaced by button controls. The developers didn't even bother to include IR with aiming your projectiles; instead it is mapped with the analog stick. Make sense? Absolutely not. Characters movements make you feel as if you're playing a title from the 64 bit era. There's no gradual increase of speed as you walk; you can walk, or run while holding down the B trigger, there's no variation in between. These so called "ninja" move far too slow, and the camera is always fixed behind them. The only way players can look around is via Mind's Eye at the expense of standing still. But what is undoubtedly the worse part of the game are the sword fighting sequences. If your ninja has a sword equipped and you happen to get spotted by an enemy, the game will throw you into an anal probing experience. These sequences are turn-based and most encounters will put players on the defense first where you will have to block the enemies' strikes with your sword. The only way this could have been any worse is if the controls just didn't work at all. Images of the Wiimote will appear on screen indicating to the player how they should position it: horizontally, vertically, diagonal left or right. Horizontal and vertical positions work… for the most part; and when I say "most part" I mean that vertical positions work about 90% of the time and the horozontals are roughly 70%. Not good ratios, we gamers like our controls working 100% of the time. For example, an enemy swung at me with a horizontal strike and I blocked it successfully. He repeated the same move, thus I didn't move the Wiimote at all, but this time the block was unsuccessful. As for the diagonal controls, forget it. You have just as much luck fending off the enemies' strikes with these as rolling dice and scoring a 6. Either the duel system is far too sensitive where the slightest tilt of the Wiimote will determine the difference between a diagonal and a horizontal/ vertical block, or it's just plain broken. Either way, this is a punishing experience that is neither accurate nor fun. To add fuel to the fire, unsuccessful blocking will deal damage to you and your sword. Sustain enough damage, and the game will bring you right back to the beginning, and even return you back without your sword. This may be a blessing in disguise as you wouldn't have to experience those poor battle sequences again unless you re-equip a sword. Anyway, if you get lucky enough to endure the enemies' offence, it'll then become your turn to deal the damage. Follow the direction of the blue arrows to deliver critical hits to your enemies. My personal advice, don't equip the sword, at least then the game will feel slightly better.
As mentioned before, the game's stealth controls do work, and the mechanics are present. The game encourages you to stick to the shadows, hence the title Shadow Assassins. There's a Moon indicator at the bottom left corner of the screen that will display you status, whether it may be concealed in the shadows, out in the open or noting that an enemy is aware of your presence. Players can blow out candles with a simple tap of the A button, extinguish torches with an equipped Bamboo Tube, completely submerge themselves under water with the tube, there's a fair amount of standard stealth options players can take, though none of them are ground braking or innovative . Aside from the shadows, roof tops and rafters are accessible as well as under walkways, both which players can take out enemies. One Wii gesture that I haven't mentioned before which works surprisingly well is Hayate. Depending on which direction you swing the remote, your ninja will dash accordingly. This is primarily used to dash between bushes. The aforementioned Mind's Eye allows players to see exactly where enemies are and which direction they're looking in, useful for planning your next move. If players happen to position themselves inches out of the enemy's line of sight, you're practically invisible to them. This may be a notch above profound retardation, but with these claustrophobic environments, it's helpful that the enemy at times won't notice you, even if you're in plain sight. There are a variety items at your disposal: Kuni, fishing rods, swords, and smoke bombs to name a few. Perhaps the coolest item players will come across is the Shinobi Cat. These cats can roam throughout the entire level (its worth mentioning that not every level can be traversed in its entirety by the Shinobi Cats) discovering hidden ninjas and are able to bring back one item. However, despite these functioning mechanics, this game is a bore. There's little variety to the gameplay's progression. Sneak up on an enemy, kill them; grab a key to unlock a door, kill more enemies. Engage in the occasional sodomizing battle sequences, kill more enemies. And this is all done in the redundant dark alleys of Feudal Japan.
Wii owners, don't hold your breath, or your money for this one. Tenchu: Shadow Assassins is nothing more than a last gen quality stealth game. Many of the design choices feel extremely dated. The controls are implemented poorly with the Wiimote especially during battle, and the overall premise thanks to the terrible voice acting and annoying over exaggerated choreography, is everything less than interesting. The game is able to sustain itself with some functioning controls and decent mechanics (some might be interested in the unlock able missions) but Shadow Assassins does nothing for the franchise, the genre, and ultimately, the player.