Tenchu: Shadow Assassins

Tenchu: Shadow Assassins

Developer(s) Acquire (Wii)
From Software (PSP)
Publisher(s)
Composer(s) Noriyuki Asakura
Series Tenchu
Engine Gamebryo
Platform(s) Wii, PlayStation Portable
Release date(s) Wii
  • JP October 23, 2008
  • NA February 5, 2009
  • PAL March 12, 2009
PlayStation Portable
  • JP February 12, 2009
  • NA March 24, 2009
  • EU April 3, 2009
  • AUS April 9, 2009
Genre(s) Action-adventure, stealth
Mode(s) Single-player
Distribution Nintendo optical disc, UMD

Tenchu: Shadow Assassins (known in Japan as Tenchu 4) is a stealth game developed by Acquire for the Wii and From Software for the PlayStation Portable and published by From Software in Japan and Ubisoft worldwide for Wii in 2008 and the PlayStation Portable in 2009.

Gameplay

Shadow Assassins allows players to take control of both Rikimaru and Ayame. The camera is an over-the-shoulder point of view. All of the 10 missions are ground-based. Players will play the first five stages and the last one using Rikimaru and stages six to nine as Ayame. There are also 50 side missions called "Assignments".

Ayame is faster but weaker, making it harder for her to hide bodies. According to From Software, their stages are also completely different; Rikimaru's are more straightforward, while Ayame's are "a little trickier, she can use the environment more." There are about 10 multi-purpose items in the game; for example, a cat can be used as distraction as well as a scout.[1]

On Wii, players use the analog stick on the Wii Remote's Nunchuck accessory to move, A button for actions, holding B button while moving forward to run or while moving sideways to strafe, and the C button for jumping (a long jump can be performed while running). The Wii Remote is also used for first-person perspective sword fighting.

The gameplay of the PlayStation Portable version is generally the same. However, its controls have been altered to fit the handheld's functionality, thus removing the motion controls; however, some similar controls have been retained, such as moving the analog stick to move forward, and pressing the D-pad to choose between the player's items. The controls for doing a stealth kill has been slightly changed; the player now has to press the face buttons of the PSP console to trigger it and moving the analog stick.[2]

Plot

In the land of Lord Gohda, peace has not been fully restored and rumors of betrayal have been swirling around the lord and his subjects. As a result, Lord Gohda calls upon the Azuma Ninja, Rikimaru and Ayame, to investigate. Rikimaru soon discovers that someone is planning to start a war. Meanwhile, Counselor Sekiya, Gohda's right-hand man, arranges for a fortune-teller to predict the future of Gohda's kingdom. Unfortunately, the fortune-teller turns out to be an imposter and kidnaps Princess Kiku, Lord Gohda's daughter.

Ayame chases after her without hesitation, while Rikimaru goes on another mission for Lord Gohda instead: resume the investigation on the nuisances that have been troubling the land. He then discovers that Daimyo Tado is the one behind all this. Gohda then decides to declare war on Tado and travels to his land with Rikimaru. After Rikimaru succeeds in taking Daimyo Tado's life, the woman who posed as the fortune-teller, a Kunoichi named Rinshi, appears and tries to kill Rikimaru, but fails thanks to the intervention of Tachibana Hyakubei, who was hired by Gohda. After Lord Gohda's order, Rikimaru heads back to the castle. When he arrives however, he is attacked by the guards, who were ordered to consider him a traitor by Sekiya. Ayame had actually succeeded in rescuing the princess but had been attacked by someone who seemed to be Rikimaru, who was actually Rinshi in disguise. Ayame and Kiku then flee the castle as the real Rikimaru arrives, and the two women head for a secret hideout suggested by Sekiya. The Princess then reveals to be Rinshi in disguise and wounds Ayame, but Rikimaru arrives just in time to save her and kills Rinshi.

Gohda, noticing his castle in flames, realizes that it was all Sekiya's doing and orders Rikimaru to get back there and eliminate him. After he seemingly takes Sekiya's life and saves Kiku, Sekiya rises again and reveals himself to be Onikage, who then challenges Rikimaru to a duel. Rikimaru ultimately gains the upper hand but Onikage uses the princess as a shield, forcing Rikimaru to drive his sword through her to get to Onikage and kill him. Ayame, who had followed Rikimaru, cries upon Kiku's death. The extended ending (attained by collecting all of the map pieces in normal mode) shows Ayame speaking in Onikage's voice, suggesting his hatred survived in her since Rikimaru murdered her best friend.

Characters

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings(Wii) 70.16%[3]
(PSP) 65.18%[4]
Metacritic(Wii) 70/100[5]
(PSP) 68/100[6]
Review scores
PublicationScore
1UP.comB−[7]
Edge6/10[8]
Game Informer6.5/10[9]
GamePro[10]
GameSpot5/10[11]
GameTrailers7.4/10[12]
GameZone(Wii) 8/10[13]
(PSP) 7.5/10[14]
IGN(Wii) 8/10[15]
(PSP) 7/10[16]
NintendoLife[17]
Nintendo Power7/10[18]

Tenchu: Shadow Assassins received mixed reviews from critics. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Wii version 70.16% and 70/100[3][5] and the PlayStation Portable version 65.18% and 68/100.[4][6]

References

  1. ↑ Tenchu 4: Art of the Ninja Interview, IGN, October 17, 2008
  2. ↑ Tenchu: Shadow Assassins: The Stealthily Released PSP Version. Siliconer. Retrieved on 2009-05-29
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins for Wii". GameRankings. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins for PlayStation Portable". GameRankings. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins for Wii Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins for PlayStation Portable Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  7. ↑ Mielke, James (February 5, 2009). "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins Review (Wii)". 1UP.com. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins (Wii)". Edge: 93. March 2009.
  9. ↑ Reeves, Ben (April 2009). "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins (Wii)". Game Informer (192): 86. Archived from the original on March 16, 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  10. ↑ Bartron, Heather (March 25, 2009). "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins (PSP)". GamePro. Archived from the original on March 28, 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  11. ↑ Watters, Chris (February 19, 2009). "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins Review (Wii)". GameSpot. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins, Review". GameTrailers. February 20, 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  13. ↑ Bedigian, Louis (February 22, 2009). "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins - WII - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on February 25, 2009. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  14. ↑ Romano, Natalie (April 5, 2009). "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins - PSP - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on April 11, 2009. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  15. ↑ Casamassina, Matt (February 3, 2009). "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins Review (Wii)". IGN. Archived from the original on February 5, 2009. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  16. ↑ Casamassina, Matt (April 8, 2009). "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins Review (PSP)". IGN. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  17. ↑ Aaron, Sean (July 30, 2009). "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins (Wii) Review". NintendoLife. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Tenchu: Shadow Assassins". Nintendo Power 237: 88. February 2009.

External links