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Tenchu: Fatal Shadows
Tenchu:
Fatal Shadows follows the same tradition of the previous titles with the
game set in ancient feudal Japan that follows the rich history and
mythology of this eastern culture. Gamers get to play between two
characters, the sexy Ayame (who returns from Tenchu: Wrath of Shadows)
and newcomer Rin who are both highly trained in the arts of ninjitsu. As
with the previous games in the series, Tenchu: Fatal Shadows is all
about stealth and subterfuge. Although the gameplay is similar for both
characters, the storylines are slightly different and when a local
villager is slain in Ayame's village, Ayame must investigate this brutal
murder and bring justice to her lands. Whereas Rin is purely driven by
revenge and although the two paths cross between these two deadly and
sexy assassins, the story is nicely navigated through in-game and
pre-rendered cutscenes.
The
gameplay of Tenchu: Fatal Shadows involves a variety of sneaking around
such as sneaking around
corners, on roofs or through dark tunnels to silently dispatch your
enemies. By successfully killing your enemy with stealth, the player is
awarded for their finesse. The angle at which you approach an enemy
decides the actual stealth kill that is performed, these can be anything
from directly behind the enemy or to falling on them from high above. A
new feature that has been added is the ability to stealth kill two
enemies at once and while this is a really cool idea, you're
unfortunately never really presented with the opportunity to perform it.
Graphically, Tenchu: Fatal Shadows is a little dated on the PlayStation
2 and what would have been an impressive game two or three years ago is
unfortunately showing its age. The game itself appears rather grainy and
washed out at the best of times and it makes you think, is this a
limitation of the PlayStation 2 or the artistic license of the creative
team. The characters in the game, although extremely well animated
appear blocky with medium resolution textures that unfortunately react
unkindly to the gaming environment as sometimes your characters walk
through things that should be solid objects.
The musical score for Tenchu: Fatal Shadows
fits its theme really well which not only helps immerse the player into
the world of feudal Japan but also "almost" gets you hooked from the
first time you play the title. As with the previous instalments, the
character acting of Tenchu: Fatal Shadows is extremely "cheesy" and with
games like Area-51 or Batman Begins, the "cheese" factor in the gaming
world is really only suited for those Sega games of yesterday because
these days, games are almost movie like. With that said, Tenchu: Fatal
Shadows contains all the sounds and screams of characters getting
maimed, killed or caught. Unfortunately nothing too memorable.
In conclusion, Tenchu: Fatal Shadows is
unfortunately an extremely dated game on the PlayStation 2 that suffers
from archaic graphics that would of made this an exciting and enjoyable
game if the graphics were up to today's standards. If you haven't played
the previous games in the title, you might want to check this out,
provided your standards of gaming don't rely on the latest and best
because this game had everything going for it, two sexy ninjas, a story
of murder and revenge, stealth and subterfuge but unfortunately a dated
game engine that should of remained on Tenchu: Wrath of Heavens. Check
out the rentals before you rush into this one!
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