On top of that, if they don't see you for 15 seconds, they forget about you and go back to whatever they were doing. If you're caught, you just have to run around a corner, and they'll lose you. It's not as if it really matters, since the enemy AI is so brainless. You know a guy is below you, but you can't see him or what direction he's facing, which means there are a lot of instances where you jump right in front of people and blow your cover. Since this is a stealth title, you'd think that the camera would be there to help you, but most of the time, you can't move or rotate it enough to see your surroundings. The first thing you notice about actually playing Tenchu Z is the horrible camera. Could it be that it's the exact same restaurant you were in six missions ago? Maybe. The game tells you that you're in another part of the country, but this restaurant looks remarkably familiar. While the game tries to shake it up with the occasional missions involving disarming bombs or finding objects, the bulk of your time is spent finding a particular building, walking in and killing the occupant of said building.Īll of the locations are the same, too. While this may seem like a lot, don't get your hopes up too high because almost all of them are exactly the same: find your target and kill them. Tenchu Z is the largest game in the franchise yet, boasting 50 missions.
After that, you meet up with Rikimaru, the male star of the previous Tenchu games, who guides you to the screen where you can choose your mission. Once you create your ninja, you're dropped in a village, where you can buy items, clothing and skills. While the character creation may seem decent, the only big choice you have to make here is gender, because everything else can be changed in-game. You begin the game by creating your own stealthy, justice-dealing ninja and his sidekick, who only shows up for a few cut scenes, leaving you to wonder what he's doing while you're trying to disarm 10 bombs before they blow up the city.
Eventually, you stop caring and just figure that anyone with a sword is a bad guy and should be killed. It's told through 10-second cut scenes at the beginning and end of each level, but they don't really explain much beyond telling you what your objective is and why you're getting ready to do it. If the story seems a bit confusing, that's because it is. You take on the role of a nameless ninja who must protect the country from the outside invaders, while stealthily striking them where it counts: the trade of an illegal drug. The story opens with your homeland, Goda, feeling pressure from a nearby country that is looking to expand its dominance. There are some shining moments, but only fans of the series are going to play it long enough to see them everyone else will probably give up after a few missions. It should have been a formula for success, so what the heck happened here?Īt its very core, Tenchu Z is flawed, with horrible AI, repetitive missions and clunky stealth.
When a game like Tenchu Z comes along, ninja fans get excited because it's got all the makings of a great game: ninjas galore, stealth kills, grappling hooks, shurikens and blowguns. If you realize that a ninja is right next to you, it probably means that it's too late, as he or she is about to kill you. I think that we can all agree that ninjas are stealthy, quick, deadly, wear masks, and kill from the shadows.