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Great game, but should have been much better.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: March 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Tenchu on the PS1 is one of my all-time favorite games and influenced the mighty Splinter Cell in many ways. When I heard of an xbox version, I was positively thrilled by the possibilities. All they had to do was fix up the bad aspects of the first (I never played the second as I have no PS2): the useless aiming system, bad camera angles, clumsy swordplay, stupid enemies that relax their guard again and start yawning 10 seconds after getting hit in the face with a shuriken, you know what I'm talking about if you've ever played the series before. Unfortunately, none of these problems were addressed. That's not to say that you won't have fun; this is as good as authentic ninja-action gets. Too bad they just ported over the old PS2 version, problems intact, and just added a few more levels, this could have been much better than Splinter Cell. I love the stealth aspect and the items and weapons. Too bad about half of them are useless (colored rice to mark your path; what is this Hansel and Gretel? You have a map, bonehead!). The bows and spears taken from guards are an awesome idea, but are both so unwieldy that you're more likely to die trying to utilize them then if you just passed them by. I also wish for more main weapons then just what's given to you. Imagine choosing between a whole armamnet of ninja weapons like tonfa, chain weapons, spears, sai, sickles, etc. each with their own killing moves instead of just the same old swords every level. Speaking of killing moves, they are awesome, easily the high point of the game; the first time I executed a mid-air fatality with Ayame by landing with the guard's head between her knees and snapping his neck I actually shouted "YES!". Many of the new items are cool and some are even useful, but the best addition to this one is the ability to gain new move on each level by performing a certain number of stealth kills/fatalities/killing moves/whatever. You can cling to the ceiling, fake suicide and kill the guard when he comes to check if you're alive, camouflage against a wall by using a reflectory tarp, and all kinds of totally awesome and useful attacks and tricks. All in all, the new features help balance out the old mistakes and I recommend this game. Despite it's age-old flaws, Tenchu remains a must play series for wanna-be ninjas everywhere.

A good game but not a great port

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: March 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Tenchu is a great series, but they like to be confusing. Tenchu Return From Darkness on the XBox is really just a port of Tenchu 3 Wrath of Heaven on the PS2.

The game is very much like the PS2 Version - Wrath of Heaven with the addition of 2 new levels. You can play a male or female ninja. You go sneaking around levels doing your utmost to not be seen. If you are spotted, you have to kill your opponent quickly with one of your ninja weapons so they can't raise the alarm.

The graphics are reasonably nice, although not up to other XBox standards. The moths flickering around a torch, the falling petals from the well detailed trees, and the body movements are quite well done. But there are various clipping issues, causing bodies to merge with walls and ceilings. And again, as in the PS2 version, the water and floor/wall textures are pretty low quality.

Note for those who don't like blood - the game involves a guy with a ninja sword slashing at enemies. Blood does flow, and heads do go flying. Be warned.

I really would have expected something better from an XBox version. If they went through the trouble of giving it a new name and making it a new release, it should be a fresher game. But beyond those 2 new levels, it really shows its age now.

The background sound is inoffensive and Japanese-ey but the actual in-game sounds are again not up to Xbox standards. The bad guys all yell "NINJA!" and grunt occasionally. Other sounds are not very realistic.

If you've already got Tenchu 3, I wouldn't get this one unless you are a true Tenchu fan who absolutely must have each version of the series. If you haven't played Tenchu 3 yet, this is worth getting in the sense that Tenchu 3 was fun ninja swordplay. It's sort of like Splinter Cell in its stealthy aspect, just with poorer graphics and less smooth controls. The plot (saving young girls from forced prostitution, etc) does give you a sense that what you're doing is worthwhile.

Expect a fun game, but not a groundbreaking one as far as the XBox goes!

Having played it...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

For those familiar with Tenchu 3 for PS2:

The game comes with 2 extra missions. The 2 extra missions are pretty good (ie still gets your adrenaline pumping) but very short compared to the regular missions. AI seem to be better in the extra missions and about the same in the regular missions. I think the better AI in the extra missions is more due to the fact that they have a higher concentration of patroling NPCs than the fact that they are "smarter."

The cutscene in the beginning that tries to explain the story better is only going to make sense to diehard TEnchu fans who remember what happened at the end of Tenchu 1.

Graphics are better but not up to the quality that the Xbox is capable and not significantly better than PS2 where you would say: "Wow! now that's an Xbox game!"

I have not tried xbox live, nor multiplayer so I can't comment on that.

If you are a devoted fan and want to support the franchise, then buy it (I own every version of Tenchu). If you've never played Tenchu before, buy the PS2 version (it's half the price now). The PS2 version gives you most of the same good Ninja action. If you end up liking this game, go buy yourself a copy of Tenchu 1. It is well worth it.

If I were to rate this game on its own I'd give it a 5/5. By itself it is still an excellent game.

If I were to rate this game as an update of the PS2 version I'd give it a 4/5. The extras are not groundbreakingly better than the PS2. If the developers had ported the Tenchu 1 missions into this game, fans will worship them forever :)

Tenchu coming to the XBOX!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: January 30, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Well, technically this is a preview not a review since the game will not be released until the beginning of March. However, being a long-time Tenchu fan and having gathered all the available info I would just like to give people a little idea of what we can expect from 'Return From Darkness'. At its core is the same game that we all loved on the PS2. However, RFD has so much to distinguish itself from Wrath of Heaven that it would be wrong to consider it a simple port. First of all, the xbox version gets two new levels which according to the developers equate to approximately 22% more game. Judging by the comments of those who have seen these levels being played as well as by the available screenshots these two new levels look to be the nicest in the game with vivid colors, hi res. textures, beautiful lighting and exceptional art and level design. The fact that these two new levels are the best looking levels in the game is due in part to the fact that they were created from the ground up on the xbox hardware which we all know is significantly more powerful than the ps2 hardware. The rest of the levels have also received a major graphic overhaul with superior anti-aliasing (smooths out the jaggies), crisper colors, much higher polygon counts for the characters, improved shadowing, and very nice specular lighting (creates realistic light highlights on objects which gives greater depth and realism). In addition to all of these graphical improvements the developers have also worked in some significant gameplay enhancements. One significant enhancement is the ability to drag bodies. This ability was present in Tenchu II but was missing in 'Wrath of Heaven' and its return is one of the things I am most excited about since it has the potential of altering the gameplay dynamic quite a bit. There are also new special abilities which you can earn such as the ability to cloak yourself by holding up a cloak which is the same color as the wall or environment behind you thus allowing your character to blend into the surroundings making you invisible to your enemies. This is another addition which has the potential of changing the gameplay quite a lot. Some of the other gameplay enhancements include new combat techniques, new items, improved AI, as well as restart and continue functions. The xbox version also offers new enemies, a new boss and all new enemy and item placement making it a fresher experience for those of us who have already played through 'Wrath of Heaven'. Probably the biggest change for 'Return From Darkness' is the ability to play co-op or deathmatch on Xbox Live, making it the first stealth game to go online. This one feature by itself makes buying this game extremely enticing. But when you include everything else that this game has to offer it becomes a definite must-buy for Tenchu fans or anybody looking for a first rate gaming experience. March can't come soon enough!

GREAT GAME

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: May 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Tenchu: Return From Darkness is a great game. I love to play it with my friends online and at home. I especially like all of the sneaking around. LISTEN, IF YOU DON'T LIKE STEALTH GAMES, DON'T WRITE A FREAKING REVIEW AND GIVE IT A 1 STAR, YOU IDIOTS! Anyway, buy this game. It's only $40.

Completely out-classed by Ninja Gaiden

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 15
Date: April 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Average port of a PS2 game, this one was dead before it hit the shelf. Just like True Crime: Streets of LA came out at the same time as the vastly superior Grand Theft Auto made the jump to Xbox, Tenchu shows up practically the same day as Ninja Gaiden. NG has better controls, more addictive game-play, and graphics that make Tenchu look like a Playstation One game.

Tenchu's been out less than a month and already they're discounting the price, but don't waste your money. It's like kissing your sister. Spend the extra money and get one of the best games ever seen on Xbox - and this isn't it.

(No I don't work for Team Ninja!)

Rip Off!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: March 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Lets not sugar coat this. Right now this version is a greatest hit on PS2 selling for $19.99. How can you just change the name, add a few "extras", change the name and turn around and sell it for $49.99. Its a rip off, a con, or even a flim flam. This is the last time I buy a game based on the name alone. The gameplay is still slow. The graphics are not XBox quality. The sound effects are horrible. This is a huge waste of money. In closing, if I could give this game negative stars I would.

A Cult Classic Designed Only For Devoted Gamers

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: July 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I am an old school gamer that uses the word "paddle" instead of "controller". So after reading reviews that lead only to console bashes between the Xbox and PS2, and comparisons to Ninja Gaiden without any mention of Onimusha and Shinobi, let's start with the fact that... NOBODY CARES! WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THIS GAME ONLY!
And as we are reviewing "Return From Darkness", you have to realize that the Tenchu franchise has been exclusive to Playstation since 1998, and I have played all of them. Like Metal Gear, Tenchu's originality defined the medievel stealth game.

The problem for Xbox is that even with the direct port of PS2's "Wrath of Heaven", a lot of the original PS1 drama is lost, and some Xbox gamers don't understand what is going on, and that really kills the game for anyone who is not familiar with the franchise. Suddenly, this game sucks.
But I don't blame Xbox gamers, I blame Microsoft for not including an introduction to get players involved into Tenchu's 6 years of videogame history, and get them hyped to play. They could have included a minigame with the extra levels, or at least a long cutscene when Rikimaru discovers Tatsu's "Return From Darkness".

For me, Tenchu embodies an almost pure devotion to loving the worst Japanese martial arts movies as if they were written by Akira Kirosawa. Like a Jackie Chan stunt cast and Sam Raimi studio, every stage is set for the bloodiest, goriest encounter. Just wait, then finish the bad guy off. Then imagine him as the guy that cut you off in traffic and you will really love this game.

Pretty good game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: August 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

First off,If you already have tenchu wrath of heaven your not going to get that much here(DieHard fans wont care but i like the game either way).Tenchu Return From Darkness is kind of like an expansion pack but with the a few things different:First off,there's a couple of new characters to choose from.(mifuyu and ninja dog and another rikimaru-like dog).Also ther is the edition of Xbox live which is always fun to assasinate someone on the world (or is that just me??)Also 2 extra levels.But other than that few has changed with Tenchu RFD and by that i mean the graphics.While not completely horrible graphics,there just not up to Xbox standards,even if they are decent.But the heart of the game is stealth.Each time you sneak up to an enemy and hit the x button without getting spotted to a stealth kill (one of them is where you can get on top of them (Rikimaru's feet are on the guards shoulders) and then plunges the sword into the unfortunate guard's head) While this sounds very intense and grizzly its more stylish than grizzly (if you've seen the kills on previous tenchu games you'll know what i mean).Each time you get 9 beautiful stealth kills you get to learn a new ability for to keep after each level.Multiplayer is very fun as well when doing deathmatches/co-op,as each charachter has a cool/damaging attack and also there is a pretty big variety of characters to choose from.All in all if you like stealth games this one will satisfy you.this also is a pretty lengthy game since there are 3 characters to choose from.The AI is is another thing that this game slightly fails in as guards will only search for a couple of seconds after you're seen (the AI is mediocre)Buy this game if you like stealth games but beware:If you don't enjoy someone shoving a sword in someones back this may not be for you.

+this is a fun ninja stealth game

+Their is lots of powers you can learn lots of powers!

+Xbox live and regular multiplayer is very enjoyable

+Lots of authentic ninja weapons items and traps

+Sound is pretty good too

+Stealth kills! (So beautiful...)

-Some AI problems

-Graphics are really not up to Xbox standards

-not for impatient gamers who dont like stealth

(...)out of $50 dollars!!!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 9
Date: April 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

RETURN FROM DARKNESS on X-Box is nothing but a Playstation 2 version of WRATH OF HEAVEN. As far as I am concerned, Activision deceptively left out information about the game and changed the name to make Tenchu followers believe that it was something different. WRATH OF HEAVEN was cool, but you dont need to have a On-Line Multiplayer mode to enjoy the game. After I completed WRATH OF HEAVEN, I could'nt wait for the next Tenchu game. After being tricked into buying RETURN FROM DARKNESS, I dont care what comes out next, I will never buy another Tenchu game again.

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