Ok guys I’m sure all of you who have had or played on the legendary first Playstation have tried at least one game out of the Tenchu series. These games where original, compelling filled with secrets and special items and of course… ridiculously hard to complete. You will be happy to hear that Activision’s latest stealth ninja game, Tenchu 3, is no let down to the series. This time with more special items, a secret character and a total of 78 levels to complete the game will have you playing for hours and hours trying to get past level 4 ( trust me, I know ).
The three characters in this game patient, strong and wise ninja known as Rikimaru ( I think that’s spelt right ) the cunning, agile and quick ninja, Ayame. Last and definitely least is the hidden character, a doctor by day an assassin at night who is dedicated to killing only those who do wrong in the world, at the right price of course, Tesshu.
The two main characters each have 10 levels. These can all be played 3 times as they have different layouts providing a new challenge each time. Or you can be awkward and try to get a Grand Master rating for each level, which will take a lot more than 3 times believe me. Tesshu has only 6 levels, but still you can challenged a number of times by the multi layouts. These levels are fairly long and will keep u challenged, or if you’re like me you’ll give up after about 2.
These characters each have a huge selection of ninja items at their disposal. Ayame and Rikimaru both have the same selection of 30 items they can use. These include exploding arrows, poison arrows, blow guns, tiger traps.. and the list goes on. Tesshu has fewer items but also has advantages. He has access to items such as cloak, causing him to look like the enemy and a surgical pin.
Activison have stayed true to the game by adding what we all are very fond of… the bloody, cruel and violent, ninja stealth kills. Only this time they have been greatly improved. Now with the power of the Playstation 2 the blood looks real and when heads fall off the bodies of your victims it is believable. When performing these ninja kills you gain an extra piece of “Ki”. When you have 9 of these you will unlock a new special move / combo for that character. Each character has 10 of these one is unlocked per level.
The AI in this game has also been improved. It is true that you can still stand right next to an enemy and possibly kick him in the chin and he wouldn’t see you but they have got some level of intelligence. Should u be careless enough to get into a fight with a guard then you are in for some tough times. They can fight just as well as you and my advice is to run. It is however very easy to escape these guards, just jump up onto a roof and they will soon say “Ah, forget it.”, it doesn’t matter if they’re fellow guard is lying dead on the floor decapitated so don’t worry about it. Be careful in certain parts though because when guards are suspicious of you they have a tendency to scan the roof tops.
All in all this is a very great game and should be owned by everyone with a PS2. This may be only because of the enormous fun you get from dropping down off a roof and putting your fist into somebody’s spine ( one of Tesshu’s stealth kills, trust me it’s freaking cool ). This is the first must own game for the PS2 in 2003 wehter you’re a fan violence or not.
Now for the rating:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Game play: 9 - Outstanding, with just one or two noticeable flaws.
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Graphics: 7 – Ok, so its not the greatest graphics ever and at times may look a bit glitchy, but I soon forgot about that.
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A.I - 7 – Again not the greatest ever, but it still provides a very hard challenge.
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Sound: 9 – Ahh, theres nothing like the beautiful sound of a head hitting the floor as blood gushes from your worthless enemy’s neck.
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Lifespan 10 – This game will keep you playing for months. Loads of level and moves to master, you will no doubt do them over and over again.
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Overall 9 – A remarkable game. I order everyone with a Playstation
2 to get this game… now GO!!!