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TENCHU
SLPS-01272
Copyright (C) 1997 Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Playstation, 1 Player
Action
¥5,800
Dual Shock Analog Support, 1 Memory Block
Released 2-26-98
—by Geir Friestad
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TENCHU, or DIMENSIONAL NINJA ACTION MOVIE: TENCHU
to give it its full name, is one of the many new action games
requiring you to rely on stealth rather than all-out carnage
and mindless killing. Playing like a cross between
TOMB RAIDER, BUSHIDO BLADE,
and (presumably) Konami's upcoming METAL GEAR SOLID,
TENCHU puts you in the tabi of a ninja in
medieval Japan. Playing the part of either Rikimaru (the tough
male ninja probably chiseled from pure granite) or Ayame (the
young tomboy ninja), you set out on your first mission: to
make sure that the local evil shogun joins his ancestors a
little sooner than he had expected. Returning from your
mission, you find your home village infested with ninja from a
rival clan—on the lookout for you. Employing the majority
of the hide-in-the-shadows tricks you were taught in Ninja
High, you eventually make your way up to your mentor house,
where you learn that your ninja counterpart (that would be
either Rikimaru or Ayame, depending on which character you
play) has been kidnapped, along with your mentor's daughter.
Wasting no time on even a cool pose for the audience, you set
off to rescue them both...
As mentioned above, TENCHU looks
very much like a sinister incarnation of TOMB RAIDER;
the view is third-person from behind and the controls are
fairly similar as well. Where it differs from its more benign
cousin is in gameplay. While TOMB RAIDER
feels very much like an INDIANA JONES
movie with breasts, TENCHU is obviously inspired by the
plethora of ninja movies and myths. This is all the more
evident by the fact that the motion capture acting in TENCHU
was performed by Kosugi Kane - the son of Kosugi Sho, whose
business card during the mid-eighties probably read
"Professional Hollywood Ninja: Spectacular kills guaranteed,
or your money back!" No high scores in the realism department,
but this merely adds to the game's cool, stylish, and
(obviously) dark atmosphere.
And this is where the stealth aspect of the game
comes into play. Although it is—perhaps—possible to
go through the game like a medieval Japanese Schwarzenegger,
it is not recommended. The whole point of the game is to avoid
killing as much as possible, as well as to not be spotted by
the enemy. Killing innocent people is a big no-no, too, and
both this and being spotted will severely reduce your final
score (and high scores are rewarded with secret weapons, so
it's a good idea not to lose your sense of professionalism
during a mission). If you really have to kill someone, it's
preferably done in true ninja-fashion; sneak up on the poor
sucker and slit his throat, stick a sword in his stomach, or
break his neck. Any of these actions will result in
spectacular deaths and sprays of blood reminiscent of those
seen in classic movies like the KOZURE OOKAMI-series.
Stress levels and blood pressure must have been inordinately
high in Japan back in those days!
On the technical side, the game has its ups and
downs. It starts with a very nice black-and-white CG-rendered
intro (OK, there is some color in it—a spray of red blood)
set to some very nice music, which is fortunately indicative
of the quality of the in-game music, too. Great stuff. The
graphics, on the other hand, are a mixed bag. Some of them,
like your character, look and move really nicely, while others
are very blocky and severely lacking in the polygon-count.
The actual environment is mostly pretty good—much better
than BUSHIDO BLADE's. However, it can be
a little bit difficult to orient oneself occasionally, simply
because everything is really dark and the camera programming
is, to be honest, sloppy. The latter is, in fact, this
reviewer's main complaint about the game; the camera
programming is really very poor, and at times it picks some
very "unique" angles—especially when you are fighting for
your life with an opponent. This can be very frustrating and
ought to have been fixed before the game was released.
Apart from the aforementioned problems, there really
isn't much to complain about. The game is perhaps a little
bit too short and easy, with only eight missions to complete,
but this is easily forgiven since the game is so good anyway.
TENCHU will surely keep you occupied for a while, at least
until METAL GEAR SOLID comes out.
Rating: ***1/2 out of 4
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