imcrazy
06-18-2007, 06:49 AM
So now that I have had a chance to spend some quality time with this game, I thought I'd share some of my first impressions.
Overall this game is everything I expected, and more. The controls are much improved over other games in the series, and they have added quite a bit of new stuff to this one. Obviously the ability to totally customize your main character is really cool and the fact that there is so much stuff to collect for customization, it really adds to the game's replay value.
As you have no doubt noticed, any abilities, costume pieces or items in the game needs to be bought from the shop with gold. You earn gold from completing missions in game. The better you do in the missions (ie. the less you are spotted and the more stealth kills you preform etc.) the more money you are awarded (also what difficulty setting you are on has an affect on this as well). As mentioned before, this adds a lot of replay value to the game, along with the ranking system.
Now anyone who has ever played tenchu knows that one of the big aspects of the game is the ranking system. The ranking system reviews how well you did in a mission and gives you a rating out of 5 (ninja 1, ninja 2.... with ninja 5 being the best). Now I was a little disappointed that they didn't get creative with the names instead of giving them numerical values, but eh it gets the job done. This is why tenchu is game about replay-ability, you are always replaying levels, at different difficulty settings, to get the highest score possible.
The graphics are obviously not the best you will ever see, but anyone who says, "this is ps2 graphics" has obviously not been playing the same game I am. These graphics are indeed next gen, just the lower rungs as it were. Character models are kind of bland, but the environment (the thing you spend more time looking at) actually looks pretty good. Every level is well populated with foliage, buildings and other such objects, so the levels never feel bare. Also the fog of previous tenchu games is gone and so you are able to see a lot more of the environment this time around (as well as enemy positions from a good distance). While the graphics aren't mind blowing, they are very competent and something not achievable on last gen systems (including the original xbox).
The music in the game is inspired from the classical Japanese style and is well suited for the game. Its simple yet effective at conveying the game's mood. I am also pleased to say that the Japanese voices have remained in the game, and the developers have opted for subtitles rather than English dubbing (which is typically horrendous, especially for low budget games). This really helps make the game's atmosphere feel more authentic. I also noticed that the game made use of my 5.1 setup as I often noticed voices coming from various sides (what an odd almost creepy feeling that is, especially in a stealth game).
I'd also like to mention one of the biggest control improvements I had noticed in the game, and that is to do with rolling. It is perfectly mapped for the control stick. You can roll in any direction with ease, even crafting the roll path as you go. In other words rolls are not confined to straight lines like in most games. In this game you can control every which way the roll is going, even while you are executing it. And this is really handy in the game, as more time is spent rolling than walking/running.
Overall I am highly impressed with the game and I know any fan of the tenchu series will love this game. Even if you are not a fan, give it a try anyway as you may like it. Also don't listen to that BS review on gamespot. It is obvious the author was more interested in making his "How to get 9000 gamer points in 48 hours!!1!111!!!1" article than he was in paying any attention to the game he was supposed to be reviewing.
You can expect a more a full review from me when I have spent more time with the game, but this one is definitely a keeper.
PS - I have been unable to test the online component of the game and thus why I haven't mentioned it. I haven't been near the 360 much, and for the small amount of time I have, my connection hasn't been great. I hope to try this out soon though.
Overall this game is everything I expected, and more. The controls are much improved over other games in the series, and they have added quite a bit of new stuff to this one. Obviously the ability to totally customize your main character is really cool and the fact that there is so much stuff to collect for customization, it really adds to the game's replay value.
As you have no doubt noticed, any abilities, costume pieces or items in the game needs to be bought from the shop with gold. You earn gold from completing missions in game. The better you do in the missions (ie. the less you are spotted and the more stealth kills you preform etc.) the more money you are awarded (also what difficulty setting you are on has an affect on this as well). As mentioned before, this adds a lot of replay value to the game, along with the ranking system.
Now anyone who has ever played tenchu knows that one of the big aspects of the game is the ranking system. The ranking system reviews how well you did in a mission and gives you a rating out of 5 (ninja 1, ninja 2.... with ninja 5 being the best). Now I was a little disappointed that they didn't get creative with the names instead of giving them numerical values, but eh it gets the job done. This is why tenchu is game about replay-ability, you are always replaying levels, at different difficulty settings, to get the highest score possible.
The graphics are obviously not the best you will ever see, but anyone who says, "this is ps2 graphics" has obviously not been playing the same game I am. These graphics are indeed next gen, just the lower rungs as it were. Character models are kind of bland, but the environment (the thing you spend more time looking at) actually looks pretty good. Every level is well populated with foliage, buildings and other such objects, so the levels never feel bare. Also the fog of previous tenchu games is gone and so you are able to see a lot more of the environment this time around (as well as enemy positions from a good distance). While the graphics aren't mind blowing, they are very competent and something not achievable on last gen systems (including the original xbox).
The music in the game is inspired from the classical Japanese style and is well suited for the game. Its simple yet effective at conveying the game's mood. I am also pleased to say that the Japanese voices have remained in the game, and the developers have opted for subtitles rather than English dubbing (which is typically horrendous, especially for low budget games). This really helps make the game's atmosphere feel more authentic. I also noticed that the game made use of my 5.1 setup as I often noticed voices coming from various sides (what an odd almost creepy feeling that is, especially in a stealth game).
I'd also like to mention one of the biggest control improvements I had noticed in the game, and that is to do with rolling. It is perfectly mapped for the control stick. You can roll in any direction with ease, even crafting the roll path as you go. In other words rolls are not confined to straight lines like in most games. In this game you can control every which way the roll is going, even while you are executing it. And this is really handy in the game, as more time is spent rolling than walking/running.
Overall I am highly impressed with the game and I know any fan of the tenchu series will love this game. Even if you are not a fan, give it a try anyway as you may like it. Also don't listen to that BS review on gamespot. It is obvious the author was more interested in making his "How to get 9000 gamer points in 48 hours!!1!111!!!1" article than he was in paying any attention to the game he was supposed to be reviewing.
You can expect a more a full review from me when I have spent more time with the game, but this one is definitely a keeper.
PS - I have been unable to test the online component of the game and thus why I haven't mentioned it. I haven't been near the 360 much, and for the small amount of time I have, my connection hasn't been great. I hope to try this out soon though.