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Tenchu: Stealth Assassins video
Retro Game of the Week - Tenchu: Stealth Assassins (PSX)
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This week we're playing Tenchu: Stealth Assassins on the original Playstation. This game from 1998 continued the stealth craze set by Metal Gear Solid. But instead of a gun wielding spy you played a ninja in Feudal Japan. The lack of a gun didn't make you any less deadly though...
At the start of Tenchu you had to choose between the strong Rikimaru, or the quick and short Ayame. The game started with you doing a series of unrelated missions for your clan. After a while a story began to develop as a demonic sorcerer kidnapped a princess. It soon became apparent that he too needed to die in a terrible way.
The story was ... pretty bad and the terrible voice-acting only made it worse. Except for Rikimaru, he actually sounded convincing.
But you didn't play Tenchu for its story, you played it to get the highest possible score on each level. In order to get a good rating you had to be as ninja-like as possible. Stealth kills, and moving undetected were the preferred methods of play. Both characters controlled well, making it a breeze to silently kill enemies.
You had all sorts of ninja gear at your disposal like throwing stars and bombs. The grappling hook was the neatest item as it allowed you to quickly dart up to roof tops and stay out of sight. Stealth gameplay was still very innovative in 1998 and it made playing Tenchu a whole lot of fun at the time.
The other side of Tenchu's combat revealed itself when you were spotted by an enemy. Just like Metal Gear Solid enemies would go into an alert mode that would cool down over time. While it was easier to escape you could also face your enemies head on. This resulted in an exciting sword fight were a single slash could kill you. Mastering combat was essential as you needed the skills in whole bunch of different boss fights.
Tenchu's unique style was big part of what made this game cool. The jazzy Japanese soundtrack worked really well .... And the dramatic sound effects came straight out of vintage Kung Fu movies... The designers were also really smart to let all the mission take place at night. The darkness was a great way to hide the short draw distance caused by the Playstation's limited graphical power. This was also one of the first games with motion captured animations. And it made the executions that much more awesome to look at.
Conclusion
Overall Tenchu was an incredibly impressive title. Many games about ninja's approach it the wrong way. Ninja's aren't action heroes but assassins that silently kill in the dark. If you're looking for a game that demands you to be stealthy be sure to check out Tenchu. If you stick by the ninja code there is nothing quite like it.
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At the start of Tenchu you had to choose between the strong Rikimaru, or the quick and short Ayame. The game started with you doing a series of unrelated missions for your clan. After a while a story began to develop as a demonic sorcerer kidnapped a princess. It soon became apparent that he too needed to die in a terrible way.
The story was ... pretty bad and the terrible voice-acting only made it worse. Except for Rikimaru, he actually sounded convincing.
But you didn't play Tenchu for its story, you played it to get the highest possible score on each level. In order to get a good rating you had to be as ninja-like as possible. Stealth kills, and moving undetected were the preferred methods of play. Both characters controlled well, making it a breeze to silently kill enemies.
You had all sorts of ninja gear at your disposal like throwing stars and bombs. The grappling hook was the neatest item as it allowed you to quickly dart up to roof tops and stay out of sight. Stealth gameplay was still very innovative in 1998 and it made playing Tenchu a whole lot of fun at the time.
The other side of Tenchu's combat revealed itself when you were spotted by an enemy. Just like Metal Gear Solid enemies would go into an alert mode that would cool down over time. While it was easier to escape you could also face your enemies head on. This resulted in an exciting sword fight were a single slash could kill you. Mastering combat was essential as you needed the skills in whole bunch of different boss fights.
Tenchu's unique style was big part of what made this game cool. The jazzy Japanese soundtrack worked really well .... And the dramatic sound effects came straight out of vintage Kung Fu movies... The designers were also really smart to let all the mission take place at night. The darkness was a great way to hide the short draw distance caused by the Playstation's limited graphical power. This was also one of the first games with motion captured animations. And it made the executions that much more awesome to look at.
Conclusion
Overall Tenchu was an incredibly impressive title. Many games about ninja's approach it the wrong way. Ninja's aren't action heroes but assassins that silently kill in the dark. If you're looking for a game that demands you to be stealthy be sure to check out Tenchu. If you stick by the ninja code there is nothing quite like it.
Follow us on Twitter - www.twitter.com/zoomingames
Or like us on Facebook - www.facebook.com/zoomingames
Have a look at our channel - www.youtube.com/zoomingames
Zoomin.TV Games is your number one source for tips, top 5 videos, funny videos, reviews, interviews and more about your favorite video games! On Zoomin.TV Games we love the latest and biggest games, like Assassin's Creed 3, Far Cry 3 and The Walking Dead, but also hot upcoming titles like Bioshock Infinite, Grand Theft Auto 5, Dead Space 3, The Last of Us and many more. You like what you see? Subscribe for more videos about your favorite Playstation 3, Xbox 360, WiiU, 3DS, Vita and pc games!