In this review of Tenchu Z I plan to analyze the game in depth, discuss the new features--what works and what doesn’t, a
Tenchu Z is the fifth major game in the series, not counting games that appeared on portable systems nor games comprised of user-created missions. As with the build-up to the release of the past few games in the series, Tenchu fans have waited with bated breath to see if this newest iteration would provide the evolution in gameplay and presentation that might finally fulfill the promise and potential inherent in the Tenchu concept. So what’s the word? Well, Tenchu Z, like the past few games in the series, is a bit of a mixed bag. Now, let’s move on to see why.
Back in 1998 when the original Tenchu: Stealth Assassins first came on the scene, the stealth/action genre was in its infancy. In fact, Stealth Assassins, which released some months before Metal Gear Solid, could be said to have kick started the modern stealth/action genre. It was, in any case, the first of its kind, and in many of our minds, the best game of its time. However, over the years the stealth/action genre has evolved and seen many exciting innovations in titles such as Splinter Cell, Metal Gear Solid, Thief, and The Chronicles of Riddick. Yet the Tenchu franchise has stubbornly refused to sufficiently update itself to keep pace. Indeed, it wouldn’t be stretching the truth too far to say that in terms of core game-play mechanics, Tenchu Z is the very same game we were playing back in 1998 with Tenchu: Stealth Assassins. Sure, the series has seen a few tweaks or additions here and there, but none of them has amounted to anything earth-shattering or anything that significantly improved the core gameplay.
Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins seemed off to a good start, as far as sequels go, when it introduced an all new mission editor mode, a third playable character, a richer storyline, new items, weapons, stealth kill techniques; and new abilities such as dragging bodies, swimming, and sheathing your sword. Although some fans did not appreciate the more cartoon-like visuals, sparser music and poorer character animations as compared to the original, overall the game was well received by fans and critics alike.
Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven, which marked the series’ debut on the more powerful Playstation 2 and was the first title to be handled by Japanese developer K2, took away as many features as it added. Gone were abilities such as dragging and searching bodies, swimming, and sheathing your sword. Gone too was the beloved mission editor mode. In place of those features we received a new third playable character, new unlockable abilities (awarded through the new Kanji stealth kill award system), and a primitive multiplayer mode. This game received notably lower scores from professional game reviewers than its predecessors and marked the beginning of many fans’ disillusionment with the franchise. Many complained the plot was shallow and poorly executed, the levels too linear and the enemies too brain-dead. All in all, people just expected more evolution in gameplay and graphics from the third game in the series, especially since it had made the jump to the next generation of hardware. However, despite these flaws most fans came to embrace and enjoy Wrath of Heaven for what it was, allowing it to eventually establish its place in the canon of Tenchu lore. Fans wanted more though and we weren’t afraid to ask for it. On the Tenchu community forums we worked even more fervently on the new wish-list of what we wanted to see in the next Tenchu game and we waited to see if our wishes would come true. Tenchu: Fatal Shadows, titled Tenchu: Kurenai in Japan, came to market approximately 2 years after Wrath of Heaven and saw the return of abilities such as swimming and concealing bodies. It also introduced the double stealth kill technique and a new scroll reward system that granted new special abilities for cumulative successful stealth kills. Most surprisingly, for the first time since the original game, there were only two playable characters to choose from, and Rikimaru wasn’t one of them. K2 also did away with the multi-player modes. While it wasn’t the game that we were hoping for, it was at least a small improvement over Wrath of Heaven. The unlockable costumes, items, and abilities enhanced the game’s replayability, while the retooled A.I., which ranked as the second hardest enemy A.I. after the original Stealth Assassins, made the game more challenging and fun. And the narrative, which revolved around Ayame and newcomer Rin, had a more dramatic tone and was refreshingly well done. Nevertheless, the game received even lower scores than its predecessor and many reviewers cited the series’ lack of evolution as a major weakness. Looking back we see the basic pattern the developers have followed, in which specific characters, abilities, items and weapons have been variously added and/or removed with each new title in the series. In fact, when it comes to changing up ancillary elements from game to game within a series, K2 has done a much better job with Tenchu than many other developers have with other franchises.
However, while creating new characters, items, weapons and abilities does help to keep a series fresh and add to its longevity, those elements won’t have their maximum impact unless there is similar evolution and innovation applied to the core gameplay mechanics. After all, what use is a new item or ability when I am able to kill every enemy on the map, without using a single item or special ability, simply by waiting for the enemy characters to turn their backs, then running full speed up behind them and sliding my sword across their throats? Put another way, why should I care about an invisibility spell or a special ceiling clinging ability when enemy characters have a hard enough time seeing me as it is? If K2 want players to really get excited about new items and abilities they must create gameplay scenarios and sufficiently sophisticated A.I. that will force players to employ those items or techniques in order to survive. That said, K2 have done a great job in many areas and these strength should be recognized and commended. To begin with, the artists and level designers at K2 have consistently done an amazing job creating an absorbing setting and an entrancing atmosphere which drip with the mysticism of ancient feudal Japanese lore. The high degree of architectural and environmental beauty along with little everyday details of the era, such as paper lanterns, wall scrolls, rakes, etc, really go a long way to help you become lost in Tenchu’s world.
Also noteworthy are the character designs which are stylish and convey the aura and personality of each character. K2's character animations while not as believable or fluid as the motion-captured movements of the first game, are also quite good. Perhaps a little more realism and less anime style would be nice, but overall they have done a wonderful job in these areas. Lastly, K2 have done a very good job of making their games with an eye toward longevity. The Tenchu games developed by K2 have been chock full of unlockable special abilities, items, new costumes, multiple difficulty levels and enemy layouts, selectable English, Japanese, or B-side language tracks, and all new playable characters. Options like these help to make us want to go back and play the games over again.
These are the strengths of the K2 development team, which along with the strength of the original gameplay concept and unique setting, have managed to keep the Tenchu franchise alive, despite fierce competition from stealth/action newcomers. And so now we arrive at the newest chapter in the continuing Tenchu saga: Tenchu Z. Released as Tenchu Senran in Japan, Tenchu Z marks the first appearance of the series on next-gen consoles.
And as with the past few games in the series, the first question on many fan’s minds will likely be: have the developers finally fixed those glaring A.I. deficiencies and evolved the gameplay and presentation to once and for all actualize the potential inherent in the franchise? Well... yes and no. But mostly no. As I said in the beginning of this review, Tenchu Z is a mixed bag. The developers have managed to fix many long-standing problems and to introduce a few truly novel concepts, but many old deficiencies remain and the core gameplay mechanic has not been updated in any significant way.
Perhaps the biggest departure Tenchu Z offers from its predecessors is in the new character creation mode. This feature allows you to create your own character by choosing from among a number of preset faces and then applying different hair, hair color, clothes, masks and other accessories. The choices are somewhat limited in the beginning and it would have been nicer if you could actually shape the face (a la Elder Scrolls 4), but this aspect of the game does end up being quite fun and addictive. The cool thing about it also is that you are able to change everything except your character’s face before each level. So that, if you want to, your character never has to look the same for any two levels. I had a lot of fun designing the look of my ninja to coincide with the design and atmosphere of each level. For example, in dark nighttime missions I would often dress him/her all in black, from head to toe. And in daytime levels with earthy color tones I would often choose lighter colors and a more natural look for my character. However, this character customization mode is impressively more than just skin deep. It also allows you to customize your character’s physical abilities by assigning different moves to the basic button combinations as well as choosing among various secret arts and special skills.
One disappointment I did have about this feature is the fact that although you initially create both a male and a female character, you are only able to play through the missions as one or the other. The second character you create only shows up from time to time in the brief cutscenes after missions. Why not allow us to select between our two characters before taking on a mission? It seems like it would have been an easy feature to add and would have helped to relieve the monotony of playing through 50+ similar missions.
All in all though, this is easily the best new feature to have been added and should definitely be included in the next Tenchu. In fact, a good idea might be to continue with the story of Ayame and Rikimaru as playable characters, which fans have been hungering for, but let the third playable character be an Azuma ninja of the player’s invention. This would provide the best of both worlds: a deep story with characters we know and love along with the creative freedom that a character creation mode offers. But as exciting as designing my own character was, I was almost equally impressed by the improvements I found in the areas of control and camera. Simply put, the camera system is now nearly flawless and the character control has been dramatically improved in all areas. The camera can now move fluidly 360 degrees around your character at any moment, similar to the camera in Splinter Cell, so you won’t find yourself having to reposition your character or use the first person view as often. In the beginning it felt strange pressing in and using the right analog stick for the first person view since I was used to pushing in the left bumper and using the left analog stick to look around, but after a short while I realized that the new arrangement is much easier and more intuitive. I also really like the fact that if you move in a crouch to the edge of a ledge or roof your character will now look over the edge and the camera will move to show you what is immediately below you. Nice touch. In the many hours I have played the game so far I don’t remember getting frustrated with the camera even once, which is a huge accomplishment and the way every camera system ideally should be.
Likewise, control is a huge step up from previous Tenchus. The ease with which you can go from crawling under an outhouse to zipping with your grappling hook to the roof of a castle is exhilarating. Your character now runs at a faster clip and actually seems to possess momentum --as for example, when you perform a sudden crouch in the middle of a sprint and your character slides a short distance before coming to a halt. And when your character is crouched it actually looks like he means to keep out of sight, instead of that silly half-crouch that Rikimaru performed in Wrath of Heaven. Moving in a crouch is, as you would expect, slower than walking or running, but it is not frustratingly so. Another improvement is the fact that your character will now automatically climb over low obstacles, which feels a lot more natural than having to perform a major jump to traverse something so minor. Thankfully, K2 were wise enough to get rid of that annoying double jump from past games, which was so unrealistic. This time you have a very believable normal jump, in addition to a special somersaulting high jump and a half-turning moonsault. You can also do a reverse flip maneuver while hanging from a wall or ledge. I did experienced a few minor control issues, such as my character sometimes failing to climb into crawlspaces despite crouching in front of them and pushing forward (as you are supposed to do) or the fact that I would sometimes seem to get stuck for a moment if I remained crouched as I came around the corner of certain structures. Nevertheless, the sense of freedom of movement you get while playing Tenchu Z has been appreciably amplified above and beyond what was already one of the Tenchu series’ greatest strengths. Few other games give you this degree of control over your character relative to the environment and K2 should definitely work to enhance this aspect even further in the next game. The character animations are, for the most part, quite decent. The basic animations of running, walking, crouching, and hanging are all somewhat improved over the past few games and most of the combat movements look fairly decent as well. However, some of the animations do look a little jerky and a few of the stealth kill animations like the hanging stealth kill and ceiling stealth kill need some work. And enemy characters still sometimes slide around as if they were ice skating, similar to past games. I feel that the original Stealth Assassins still has the best animation of the bunch. Most of the animations for that first game were accomplished through motion capture of real martial artists such as Sho Kosugi and his son Kane Kosugi. This made the character movements very realistic and imbued the game with a certain aura of authenticity and believability which in turn helped to make the game more immersive. I hope that K2 will consider using motion capture of real martial artists for any future Tenchu games. Many people have said that the graphics in Tenchu Z are poor but I think a more accurate description would be “uneven”. The graphics, like the game itself, are inconsistent. On one hand the graphics are clean and run at a fairly solid frame rate but on the other hand many textures are flat and blurry. And some things simply look rushed. For example, the front rectangular edge of many roofs has flat art depicting the ends of the bamboo poles making up the roof instead of being comprised of actual geometry. And in some cases the circles on the front don’t even match up to the lengths of poles above them. Similar examples are, unfortunately, not too rare. Some textures do show off nice detail and bump mapping, but many other textures are devoid of detail. And some of the bump mapping is poorly done, resulting in objects that look like they were made of plastic. There are places in the game that will inspire you to think ‘this looks kind of nice’, yet in other places you will find yourself thinking ‘that just looks horrible’. This inconsistency is sometimes jarring. Also marring the presentation are simple technical issues that you can’t help but feel should have been fixed. For example, when you are crawling under a building you often see the shadows cast by enemy characters inside the building appear on the ground beneath the building when they should have been stopped by the solid wood floor above you. Another example is when you are in a room with a single candle in the center of the room as the sole source of light, yet your shadow fails to angle away from the candle as nature would dictate but instead falls at the same angle it would fall at if you were outside under the light of the full moon. The shadows behave in several other similarly odd ways that I won’t bother to list. Then there is the fact that if you look at the feet of your character while he/she is crouching you will notice that he/she is actually floating a few inches off the ground. Curious... I never knew that levitation was among the abilities of the ninja, or that if it were, they would use it so constantly. And K2 still haven’t managed to match the position of the characters hands to a slanted roof or their feet to a sloped surface. Clipping hasn’t been completely conquered either. For example, while performing a stealth kill through the shoji (rice paper wall/door), the shoji and the enemy come crashing outward and the shoji in many cases will partially pass through you. While these technical issues don’t ruin the game, they do tend to take you out of it for a moment.
The biggest disappointment on the graphical front, at least from my point of view, is the lack of dynamic real-time lighting. I was sure that if stealth/action games like Splinter Cell, Thief, or The Chronicles of Riddick could pull it off last generation then my beloved Tenchu series would surely be able to accomplish it on the new generation of hardware. And when I realized that huge, sprawling RPGs like Elder Scrolls 4 and Mass Effect were now implementing real-time lighting I became even more convinced that a stealth game like Tenchu (whose entire concept is that of “shadow warriors” who use the shadows to conceal themselves) would most definitely be doing it this time. It turns out I was wrong. What were K2 thinking?
Yes, one must admit, the “lighting” in Tenchu Z has been improved. After all, our character now admirably casts a shadow of himself instead of a circle or blob. And the specular lighting on characters and objects near certain light sources is now more subtle and realistic. Light beams also look more natural and diffused. And...oh yeah, we can’t forget...now there are also “shadows” painted on the landscape. But before you get too excited, notice the word painted. That’s right, all the shadows in Tenchu Z (except for character shadows) are merely art drawn onto the textures of each level, they are not dynamic or interactive in any way. For example, when you see the “shadow” of a tree stretching out along the ground and you cross through it, you might expect that the shadow would fall across your character’s body, darkening him. But apparently you’d be expecting too much --the tree’s shadow stays right there on the ground under your character, as if you didn’t exist. And forget trying to extinguish light sources as you are able to do in other stealth/action games, it doesn’t work. In an era when games in nearly every genre have now taken to using real-time lighting, the absence of it in a slow-paced stealth game dealing with ninjas is perplexing. Especially considering that all the other upcoming stealth/action games, like Metal Gear Solid 4, Splinter Cell Conviction, and Assassins Creed have extremely advanced dynamic real-time lighting. A game like Tenchu is an absolute perfect candidate for real-time lighting and few games could benefit more from its implementation. First, and perhaps most importantly, dynamic lighting would enhance and expand the core stealth mechanics in a powerful yet entirely organic and intuitive manner. The light meter introduced in Tenchu Z is a step in the right direction but since the “shadows” are simply art painted onto the game world, the player is never really sure if they are in the “shadows” until their light meter tells them so. Many times, an area that visually looks to be well-shadowed will not result in the expected drop in visibility according to the light meter. This sort of incongruity between the perceived amount of light and your character’s actual degree of concealment makes it difficult to reliably use the “shadows” as a means of staying hidden. As a result most players will likely rely mostly on structural occlusion (i.e. keeping some structure between themself and their enemy’s line of sight) to keep their character concealed. The use of real-time lighting would be the ideal solution to this problem and would at the same time open up many other gameplay possibilities. A few examples might be the ability to dynamically alter the amount of light in an area to your advantage (and your enemies disadvantage) or the ability of an enemy ninja to hide himself in the pitch black of a shadowy recess with the hope of ambushing you. It would also effectively put an end to the jarring shadow glitches I described earlier. Furthermore, real-time lighting would be the perfect way to limit visibility. Yes, you heard that right, limit visibility. Although you might not be aware of its effect on a conscious level, I have always felt that the limited visibility in Stealth Assassins was an important part of why we all enjoyed that first game so much. For a while after the release of Wrath of Heaven I couldn’t put my finger on why its gameplay felt so lifeless and uninspired compared to the gameplay in Stealth Assassins. After all, the gameplay mechanics in the two games are essentially the same. Then it hit me. Wrath of Heaven lacked the sense of tension that its predecessor possessed. It was obvious that the weaker enemy A.I. and more linear level design was partly to blame but I also came to realize that part of the reason for the lack of tension in Wrath of Heaven was due to the fact that I could now see nearly every enemy on the map long before I even had to approach them. The draw-distance had become so long and the levels so well-lit that the tension that comes from possible surprise encounters with hidden enemies had been virtually removed. This was a fatal omission, given that stealth games thrive on their ability to create tension. A palpable fear of the enemy and the adrenaline rush that comes from being forced to use strategy and stealth to overcome what feel like overwhelming odds is what stealth games are all about. The absence of this vital ingredient tends to result in players becoming very bored. So although it might seem like a step backwards to some of you, I sincerely believe that the developers must limit in-game visibility in order to help make the gameplay more intense and exciting. As I said, real-time lighting would be the ideal way to achieve this. But environmental effects such as rain, snow, fog, and foliage could also be used to achieve the same result. Scanning out over an area from a high vantage point it should be possible to see a few enemies in the well-lit areas (even if they are far away) but there should also be some very dark areas on the map into which the player cannot see (at least not from that vantage point). Later, as the ninja protagonist enters into those shadowy recesses his vision could automatically adjust to a sort of “ninja night vision” which would cause the shadows to brighten somewhat, allowing the player to see and maneuver in those darker areas.
As a side-benefit, real-time lighting would add a whole new layer of depth and beauty to the landscape and would supercharge the atmosphere with a sense of palpability and realism. Real-time lighting always makes a game-world feel more believable and alive, and I am convinced that such effects would be especially pronounced in a game like Tenchu. The mystical Japanese setting with its stunning environmental beauty, exotic architecture, and delicate natural lighting, just begs to be illuminated by a dynamic light and shadow system. Moving on, the sound in Tenchu Z is a step backward for the series. Aside from the opening theme song, the music is sparse and mostly uninspired. The in-level music is mostly comprised of short snippets of generic sounding Japanese melodies and drums that repeat at timed intervals over the course of the level. Not horrible by any means, but definitely not anything special. I ‘m not sure who composed the music for Tenchu Z but I am pretty sure it wasn’t Noriyuki Asakura. He might have had something to do with the opening theme song, since that one does have his style, but I am fairly certain he didn’t compose the in-game soundrack. His music has always been a highlight of the Tenchu series and I really felt its absence in this game. We can only pray that it will make a return for the next game. I was also disappointed to find out that the only language option in Tenchu Z is the original Japanese. They didn’t even bother to do an English dub this time, as was traditionally done for past games in the series. And no subtitles are provided for the dialogue during missions, so most non-Japanese will unfortunately not be able to understand the chatter between guards, for example. Despite the fact that I speak quite a bit of Japanese and have always enjoyed the Japanese language tracks in the past games, I missed the option to play through the game in English. I also felt the sound effects in the game could use some improvement. Many of the effects sound chintzy and unrealistic, like they were pulled from a bad anime movie. And I don’t understand why our ninja protagonist sounds like a lead-footed buffoon while running up behind an enemy, instead of a light-footed stealth assassin. Surely, even a one-eared guard could hear somebody running up behind them making so much noise. I hope that the developers will strive for more realism in their sound designs for future Tenchu games. But no matter how much Tenchu Z stumbles in the aforementioned areas, none of it comes close to the mess that is the Gameplay. Yes, yes, a few improvements have been made here and there, but the game inexplicably also takes a few steps backward in some areas. Many of the old deficiencies also remain and the majority of the added abilities only serve to make the gameplay more unbalanced. The over-arching problem affecting the game is that the gameplay has still not evolved in any appreciable way beyond that which was found in previous titles in the series. As noted before, Tenchu Z has fundamentally the same gameplay as the very first Tenchu title, which was released two console-generations ago. Only...its not even as fun as that first game. So essentially, what we have in Tenchu Z is a ten-year-old game mechanic wrapped in a new coat of paint. Most competing franchises, on the other hand, have seen significant evolution over the years. For example, the gameplay sophistication in Metal Gear Solid 4 is light-years beyond what we experienced in the original Metal Gear Solid on PS1. Why can’t we see a similar evolution in the Tenchu franchise?
Let’s start with the enemy A.I., since that has been an area of weakness in all the K2 developed Tenchu games. What’s hard for me to fathom is the fact that not only has the A.I. failed to evolve for Tenchu Z, but it isn’t even as good as the A.I. found in the decade-old Stealth Assassins. And it certainly is nowhere near as good as the A.I. in games like Splinter Cell, Metal Gear Solid or The Chronicles of Riddick. The basic problem with the A.I. in Tenchu Z is that the enemies are a bunch of mindless automatons who follow a set routine in which they pace incessantly in an empty room or stare blankly at a wall. Enemy patrol patterns should not be so predictable or inane. And for supposedly being samurai and ninja the enemies in this game sure aren’t very observant. I can be standing on a roof in plain daylight a mere 10 feet up and enemy sentries will fail to see me. And they don’t seem to be bothered by the shadow I cast down from the roof onto the ground in front of them, since even then they don’t look up onto the roof to see what might be causing the shadow. When they do see something (but haven’t identified you as an intruder) they now go to investigate, as we had been asking for. But they only walk to the spot where they last saw you and kind of glance around while standing in place, then run back to the spot they were at before. This means all I have to do to avoid being detected is to go around a corner or crouch behind some nearby object and I can be sure that the enemy guard will not even bother to check these obvious hiding places. Now contrast that behavior with the enemy behavior in Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, in which guards break out flares to do a search of the entire surrounding area if they think they see something. This latter behavior makes things more exciting since it forces you to work to conceal yourself and gives you an adrenaline rush as you hide there, hoping that you are not discovered. It also gives you more incentive to try not to be seen in the first place.
Once you are spotted and identified as an intruder you are forced to either fight or flee. But neither choice is really all that fun. If I choose to fight, I quickly realize that the fighting mechanics are rather shallow and the enemy guards too easy to defeat. Besides, I won’t get as high a score for killing them in combat as I would if I stealth-killed them. So I run. But I soon discover that the enemy has the habit of giving me a large head-start before taking up the chase and that because of their short attention spans they will quickly give up if I simply slip around a corner or into the next room. Somehow the common sense idea of checking the other side of a wall that they just saw me run behind is too much for these brain-dead foes. So the chase, which could have been one of the most intense and exciting aspects of the game, ends up offering a little fun only because it allow us one more opportunity to laugh at the comical ineptness of the enemy A.I. Contrast this with the A.I. chase mechanics in Assassins Creed where enemy soldiers will climb up onto buildings and pursue you across the rooftops over a large section of the city, only giving up their search when they have completely lost your position. Now, we don’t need the exact same mechanic in Tenchu, but losing pursuing enemies has got to be harder than just stepping around a corner. The use of certain special hiding techniques should be necessary in some situations, for example. At minimum, we need to see enemies that can climb onto roofs, use sensible search tactics, and won’t give up the chase so easily. Once enemies have given up on chasing you they should not go back to whistling and being oblivious, as happens in Tenchu Z. The result of this defect is that you never really feel penalized for being seen. Sure, you lose a little bit of gold each time you are spotted but since you are able to hide so easily and have everything go back to normal so quickly, you almost always have the opportunity to stealth-kill more enemies later on to make up for it. What should happen instead is that once you are spotted the enemies in that section of town should enter into a heightened state of awareness and caution (or at least the particular guard or guards that saw you) and this should result in them becoming more observant and unpredictable. They should now actively search the rooftops with their eyes, point their lanterns into shadows, and be more erratic in their movements and patrols. These behaviors would make it harder for you to move undetected or to accomplish a stealth-kill, and would thus provide a natural penalty for your earlier misstep. New to the Tenchu gameplay mechanic is a sound meter, which is similar to the one in Splinter Cell, and as its name implies, measures the amount of sound you are making. But while interesting in theory, the reality is somewhat less exciting. Unlike the meter in Splinter Cell, this gauge does not measure the amount of ambient noise in an area, it only registers the amount of noise your character is making. This is really not that useful since we hear the sound at the same time we see the gauge go up and never really know how much noise will alert an enemy. We know for example that drawing our sword while close to an enemy will cause an enemy to become alerted, which is a nice feature, but we have to estimate the distance at which that will occur based on our previous trial and error experience. And while it is nice that enemies respond to sound, the feature isn’t nearly as valuable as it could be since the enemies don’t really do anything when they hear something. When you make a sound near an enemy, for example, he will simply slowly turn around, stay aware for a few seconds and then go on about his business. Most of the time this happens you will already be hidden from view and so it doesn’t put you in any danger. The same goes for the enemies’ new olfactory abilities. Yes, they can now smell you after you have fallen in a cesspool or if you are covered in blood but all that means is that the enemy will stop and sniff the air for a few seconds and then continue on his predetermined path. Aside from dogs, who will attempt to sniff you out, this almost never puts you in any added danger. In the case of both sound detection and smell detection, it would have been much better if it had included enemies that would search the immediate area for the cause of the sound or smell. Another aspect of the gameplay that I found to be a disappointment was the near lack of boss fights. I sorely missed the encounters with powerful bosses that we were frequently forced into during missions in past games. Tenchu Z only offers a few boss encounters and even those really aren’t up to the standard of past games. Many levels in Tenchu Z conclude with you assassinating a target. But I was disappointed to find out that if I chose to fight that final enemy head-on he or she turned out to be no more powerful than any other low ranked sentry. What a let-down.
Overall I felt Tenchu Z was way too easy, even on the very hardest difficulty setting. I had no problem consistently getting the Ninja 5 ranking, which really took away a lot of fun and challenge from the game. Past games (especially Stealth Assassins) had me coming back year after year because they kept me constantly trying to improve myself. In the time since I have beaten Tenchu Z I have rarely felt motivated to return to the game. If the levels offered barely any challenge the first time I played through them what challenge could they give me after having honed my skills through dozens of hours of play?
So finally, to sum up this gargantuan review I would have to admit that Tenchu Z has to a large degree been a let-down. The overarching story is sparse and unmoving, the AI laughable, and the gameplay broken and repetitive. The graphics and sound are also nothing to write home about. I can’t fathom the lack of real-time lighting and I miss the inspired music of past Tenchu games. And yet Tenchu Z still somehow offers enough fresh new ideas to keep it from being a complete disappointment. The character creation and customization features are greatly appreciated new additions and I think some fans will get a decent amount of enjoyment from the new 4-player cooperative online mode. For people new to the series, I would recommend this game as a rental first. Seasoned veterans I think should definitely experience Tenchu Z, despite it flaws. I only hope that K2 will listen to our criticisms and make some serious improvements to the next Tenchu game or I fear that Tenchu will not be able to survive much longer as a franchise. That would truly be a great loss for the world, since Tenchu is still the only game in town when it comes to authentic ninja stealth action.