Forum Overview :: Gamerasutra :: I never played it.

[quote name="curst"][quote name="FABIO"]What did you think of the first Tenchu game? I thought its heart was in the right place, but execution was poor. How does this one compare?[/quote] Since I have no idea what Tenchu 1 was like, I am not qualified to make a comparison. But I *can* say that a lot of people on our mutual favorite source for user comments about games, GameFAQs, claim to enjoy this game FAR more. The most bitter complaints I've heard about the original were about the controls. Since I'm playing this on a PS2, I can't for the life of me imagine how hard a game like this would be to play on a standard PSX controller, since camera control plays a big role in how easily you can scout out areas for enemies. I'm sure that would be a bitch without the analog sticks and four shoulder buttons. One big plus, even though it's a stealth game first and foremost, there is only one sequence where you're not allowed to kill enemies and basically have to avoid detection at all costs, and it's very brief. I only had to reload once before I figured it out. As far as complaints go: - The only major one I can come up with is that the game would play so much better with a keyboard/mouse combo, since controlling the camera angle plays such an important role in the game. For instance, you use the right analog stick to rotate the camera, and it works, uh, well enough, but I really miss the combo of precision and speed that you can get with a mouse. - Early on, I had to go on a mission that takes place in a cavern, and guess what's in there? Bottomless pits! And not only am I certain that I'll have to navigate the occasional stupid jumping puzzle, but battling near pits is a real bitch, since almost all your combos involve your character taking steps directly forward. Blah. - The plot is stupid. Not that it matters. - I'm playing on the easy level so I guess I should file this complaint under "no shit": it's too easy. You can take on most enemies 1-on-1 without any problems. The one time I was surrounded was in a boss battle, and it was still quite easy. The only time I had any difficulty surviving was against another boss, and that was when I still only had a very basic grasp of the controls - I didn't do any fancy shit like somersaulting to the enemy's left then unleashing an attack on them. When I fought that boss with the second character, it was a piece of cake. - Continuing on the "it's too easy" theme: enemies are fairly stupid. If you played NOLF1 and thought the game was too unforgiving when you were detected and the alarms started going off, well, this game is the exact opposite, in which I've had guards spot me, actually switch to "hostile" mode (you can tell what mode a guard is in via your ki gauge, which tells you how close the nearest enemy is and whether they're oblivious to your presence, investigating something suspicious, spotted you and are searching for you, or are outright hostile). So I'd run away without even dropping caltrops or a smoke bomb, go around a corner, flatten against the wall, and wait. After a few seconds, I can hear the enemy sheathe his weapon while the ki gauge drops down from "hostile" to "nothing to see here". Then the dipshit turns his back to me and resumes his patrol. Even when you leave corpses out in the open, a guard may switch to "who's there?" mode for a few seconds, wander around a bit, then give up. Maybe that aspect of the game is a result of the fact that you can't move bodies around. Finally, unless you're in water, you can run around without making any noise. Thus far it's been surprisingly easy. - Multiplayer 'duel' mode is a pointless diversion. It'd be like two-player dueling in Dynasty Warriors - who'll be the first to, uh, I guess let go of the block button and stupidly attack only to be countered? At least that's the impression I get - I haven't tried. I'm sure the 'co-op' mode will be much more fun, since if nothing else you can double-team enemies in your stealth kills. Otherwise, it's easily as good as Hitman 2 if not better in every way.[/quote]