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Tenchu II, Is it better than it's predecessor?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 15
Date: December 27, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I recently purchased Tenchu II and before I played it I went online to get codes for it because the first one, if you didn't have codes, would be very challenging. After difficulty getting the codes, I tried the game. When I was going to use the codes, I tried several times to restore health, increase items, etc... Every attempt I made did not do anything. And I am certain that I made sure I did exactly what they said because they were right in front of me. And the training, I feel if you never played the first, in my case i own it and enjoyed playing it, you would have serious difficulty in the final test of training. Also, in the first level, when you reach the end you have to battle the leader of thieves. He appears to be a wimp and an easy kill but he is almost if not impossible to outrun or to kill at least without the codes. I could continue but I feel I said enough. Renting this game would be a much, much better, smarter and cheaper way to play, if you want to even bother.

Disappointing sequel to one of the best PSX games ever.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: September 02, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Tenchu2 itself isn't an utterly terrible game--I know I've put in a good 10 hours or more on it, but what's frustrating is how there is so much promise and so much failure both in the same package. The feel of the game is that Activision rushed this one out the door, and throughout the game you'll find bugs, glitches and all sorts of annoying problems that would lead one to believe that the game wasn't even beta tested. Here's my list of gripes:

-The controls are worse than Tenchu 1: Of course, Tenchu 1 is clunky but they are even worse here. A lot of would-be perfect kills will get ruined because what should have landed you right on top of your enemy has you rolling out in front of them or some other stupid stunt.

-Ridiculous AI: Tenchu 1 did not have the best AI but it was far superior to this. I've walked in front of guards and had them not see me. On the other hand, some guards are capable of seeing me through the back of their head. Also, guards quickly forget your presence and seem completely uninterested in pursuing you once you are out of sight. Yup, you can be one foot away from them but under water, and neither can they see through the water nor are they patient enough to wait even a minute to see if you'll resurface (nor wonder why a bamboo air-pipe is suddenly sticking out of the water.) This is really a let down given that there were reports that the AI would be vastly improved, guards noting blood running along a stream or looking for fallen bodies (blood doesn't run down stream in the game anyway.) Other guards can see you without even being present. This is a neat trick when your KI meter is in the teens or lower and you can't see anyone but they can see you.

-Graphic interface or whatever you want to call it: Graphics are just plain sloppy--my ninja is often teleported up four feet instead of actually having to climb or jump over fences anymore . In the same manner, when dragging bodies I've been able to leave them hanging in mid air, as though supported by an invisible floor of glass.

-Graphics in general: Sometimes the backgrounds go through objects (IE you can see the sun and clouds THROUGH a wall of mountains. Also, sometimes you can see guards out of your perriphrial vision but not straight ahead.

-Inconsistancy with stealth kills: Again, not only can guards see you out of the back of their head, but some -cannot- be stealth killed. PERIOD. This wasn't evident until playing Tatsumaru's 'labor shortage' level where certain guards could not be knocked unconscious even with 20 tries or so. Incidentally, this level seems nearly unbeatable and I think gives even more evidence that this was a rushed job. With 20 tries on this level, I could not beat it, and I can't say I really want to anymore.

-Difficulty level: A good friend of mine nearly sold this within the first week until we dug up the cheat code. The game is nearly unplayable without the armor, but it is almost impossible to get a grand master, so you can't get the armor. This would be different if I could start looting guards for blow darts on level 1, but even then, those are useless against bosses, and between the combination of worsened controls, bad camera angles and 'two hits and your dead' boss damage, Activision has managed to take all the fun out of Tenchu and turned it into a tedious and frustrating derision of the first game.

-Voice assignment: This is thefunniest glitch. Sometimes the voices of the guards are the wrong gender, and probably the glitch that had me laughing the hardest was when the shark started talking. C'mon folks! The shark should not talk. Please test your game before releasing it.

-Mission editor is a joke: Ok, this isn't really a glitch, but really, I can't even make roofs in this thing. The saving grace would have been being able to make an island full of cats or something, but all you get are boring people (maybe you can make a bunch of godha's samurai and evil samurai line up like some insane football game?)

My overall take on this game is that while Activision certainly added a lot of new things to make Tenchu the 5/5 it should have been, they lost it where it really counted--the outstanding game play that made Tenchu 1. Sure, Tenchu 2 has a lot of improvements, but none of this makes up for the lack of AI, a soundtrack, good controls, and an environment that reacts in a realistic way instead of one that has so many bugs in it I never know how it will react.

I sincerely hope Tenchu 3 will be the game this should have been. There are a lot of great ideas here, but they just seem so poorly executed that it makes one long for the game this should have been. It's still somewhat enjoyable (especially with the cheat codes), and its glitchyness is sometimes amusing, but all and all it isn't worth the $40 price tag--maybe you should look around your local vendors...my used copy will be showing up soon :)

OH MY GAWD!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: February 19, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is bad. I loved the first Tenchu game, and the PS2 version rocks. The entertainment factor here can best be described as standing on a packed bus on an 95 degree day, with no air-conditioning....someone crapped thier pants...you don't know who, the bus stinks, you just missed your stop, and the next stop is not for another 20 minutes....yeah it's that much fun! The game play is rough, the landscapes are not interesting, and it lacks all of the fine tuned quality of the first game. You are constantly fighting the camera angles.

Not As Good As The Others But Still Good.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: May 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This may sound a bit silly but the fact that the first boss said "What? Who're you!" just like the boss on the first game absolutely delighted me. You pick up a new character in this game, which is pretty cool, but unfortunately this game can't begin to keep up with the first Tenchu. The only thing Tenchu 2 really has that's better than Tenchu is a less confusing map and bigger stages. Oh and you it's also easier to get different stealth kills. In the first Tenchu you basically saw the same stealth kill over and over again even though you could initiate more, Tenchu 2 it's easier to perform different ones. The bigger stages aren't always a good thing though, it's easy to get lost and confused in this game. The all important and essential grappling hook is harder to use in this game and will leave the gamer frustrated many times. The game features less blood but the same dialogue still giving it the "old king fu movie minus the kung fu" feel. The creators also didn't bother to improve camera angles. Aside from the actual game you get to create your own stage, get to set the conditions for victory, set traps and place enemies. This game is a Tenchu fan only game, I do not thing other gamers will enjoy this title.

Bad Controls/Bad Visuals mar good game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 09, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The original Tenchu game was fantastically fun and I had high expectations for the sequel. While basically a good game, the sequel is badly marred by a couple of flaws.

First, there a great deal of "break through" in the 3D graphics. Buildings don't fade in and out of the fog, they disappear and re appear suddenly(unrealistic and distracting) despite an absolute clear backdrop. In addition, seams between supposedly solid objects open and close as your view shifts.

Secondly, the controls scheme is not as responsive as the first game. This makes sneaking up on opponents frustrating and fighting bad guys outright fatal.

Unfortunately, these two flaws make a potentially great game only good.

Inferior sequel/prequel

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: September 25, 2000
Author: Amazon User

'Tenchu 2: The Birth Of The Assassins' should have been a much better game than the original 'Tenchu', which still stands as one of the best games from Playstation. But instead we get a much inferior sequel. Though the graphics in the first one were a little weak, they are even more so in this as some of them look down right terrible. Obviously, someone decided to rush this game into the market....Granted, there are 29 missions to complete and many of the fighting moves have returned, but the controls will have you pulling out your hair in frustration. In many cases, as with fighting the bosses, you'll find yourself falling right off the screen as you get spun around when attempting a strike. Needless to say, stealth is almost mandatory for survival. Also, your long range vision is impaired as you can barely see in front of your nose.

The game does include the capability to create your own levels as well as playing a third character other than the staple two. But the weaknesses just about ruin what should have been a great game - Such a shame.

great game idea, but not enough effort was put into it

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 6
Date: November 23, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The idea of being a ninja is a great game idea.I mean who wouldn't want to run around cutting people's throat? On a game of course. The game could be alot better.The graphics are terrible and it isn't realistic. Correct me if i'm wrong but I think the more realistic a game is the more fun it is. I hope if one of the creators for this game read this that they will make a much more realistic 3rd to this genre. Like I said before it is really a great great game idea but alot more effort should be put into it.

Rudolph

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 12
Date: April 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game has taken some heat from professional reviewers for not being up to the caliber of the original Syberia. In some ways, I agree with those reviews. As a stand-alone game, I don't think Syberia 2 measures up to the first game. HOWEVER, this is a continuation. Playing Syberia 2 without having played Syberia is akin to opening up a 1000 page novel and starting at page 500, and then wondering why you don't care much about the characters. Yes, Syberia 2 picks up exactly where Syberia left off, and for fans of the first game, this is great. It means there's no contrived rehash of events or reintroduction of characters. The story just moves along. In fact, I'd like to see Syberia 1 and 2 bundled as a single, huge game, since that's really what they form.
The beginning of this game is actually a bit better than the beginning

Great but could have been better

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The moment you start the game, the moment you see the beginning movie(which is very excellent), you begin to think that Tenchu 2 is going to be something special. But as soon as you start the game, you instantly learn that the game suffers from horrible graphics, weird controls, and a camera that seems like it's trying to piss you off(that means that it sucks). Let me explain the graphics, the textures are jumpy, so jumpy that it's hard to see. Not only that, but the textures themselves are kinda crappy. And now for the weird controls, it's not so much that they suck, it's that you turn really slow, making it hard to fight(this is a problem during boss battles especially), if the game had a "3D Classic" movement(pressing left makes you move left instead of turning, etc), it would be much easier. Also, the camera doesn't make things any easier, it can get stuck in wierd places(this problem is biggest during boss battles). I also forgot to mention this: they AI of the enemy is horrid, the enemies you fight are as dumb as a chicken(maybe even dumber), they can lose you so easily(climbing to another surface, ducking under water, ect). Here's an example: I was fighting a boss and he fell down a five-foot cliff, he was looking for me and then he couldn't find me so he gave up(just like normal enemies), and then I jumped down and stealth-killed him. It was really stupid. Aside from all these issues, there are some highlights, like the stealth kill animations and variety, you can stealth kill an enemy in so many ways. Now, before you go off to play Tenchu 2, remember this: RENT IT FIRST BEFORE BUYING, you'll thank me later.

dosen't live up to standerds of tenchu 1

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: October 06, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I played and played tenchu 1 and loved it as soon as i herd about tenchu 2 i went insane. I orderd my copy and as soon as it arived i popped open my play station and put it in and started to play i was happy with what i saw the first few levels. It was better than tenchu 1 in alot of ways like how the two ninjas stories didnt screw with the othes. Why did i only give it 3 stars. the control , the camra angels and the feeling that the game was rushed for some odd reason the people who

made the game were too lazy to play the blasted thing and work out the bugs before they relesed the game.

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