Kills are satisfying, as you can pull someone under water to drown them, pop up out of the bushes to stab them with their own sword, snap necks by hanging down from the rafters above, and plenty of other ways. The variety of kills helps to keep things interesting, and since you need to complete the QTE in order to pull off the kill, you stay engaged even when you aren’t worrying about being discovered.
If you are discovered, and you are equipped with a sword, you will be given a chance to take out the guard. The perspective switches to a first-person view, and you will be forced to defend against incoming sword swipes while launching your own attacks. Simply tilt the Wii Remote at an angle to defend against where the attack is coming from. The controls work well, you just need to be fast in order to pull it off, especially since your sword will eventually break from taking too many hits.
As for avoiding discovery, it’s a bit random and arbitrary at times. The controls can be imprecise, which means you can be discovered without meaning to because you can’t make your tank of a character go where you want it to. There are also times when you should be discovered-such as when you throw a shuriken at a lamp in order to put it out, yet the guard next to it doesn’t notice the billowing smoke coming from the place fire used to be-but are not. These detract from the realistic parts of the game and help remind you that you are indeed playing a video game, a big no-no in titles that strive for realism. Then again, we are talking about‚ a game where cats are an item to be used in order to distract your enemies, so maybe I should back down from that stance a bit.
Thankfully, in order to help deal with some of the control issues, you have an easily accessed viewpoint that allows you to see what your enemies see. Press and hold the Z button on the Nunchuk, and you will be given a 360 degree view of the surrounding area. Use this to see the line of sight for your enemies, or to peer around corners to see if the coast is clear or if a guard is on their way. This makes up for many of the control deficiencies, but does not erase them completely since you can still be discovered thanks to their imprecision.
If you enjoy this game, there are plenty of reasons for you to come back to it. As you progress, you will unlock side missions, of which there are 50 total in the game. In addition to the regular single-player mode, there is also a “Shadow Mode”, which has more enemies and different paths than the regular mode, making for a more difficult experience. The game is fun, and certainly has its moments, so a more difficult mode is welcome.
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins has its merits, but is not without its own set of problems. If the rest of the game held up as well as the presentation, we would be talking about a must-buy title for the Wii. Instead, what we have is a game that should satiate the appetite of stealth fans, but may leave others looking for a bit more action and speed out of their titles feeling unsatisfied. Still, it’s more than worth a look and even a purchase, as the problems are not so extensive that this game should be ignored, even with the busy Wii release schedule of this month and next.
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