Tenchu: Fatal Shadows

(SEGA for PS2)
by Eric Chon

Hey, ever play Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven? Me too. And now you can play it again! You know, minus all the cool aspects that made Wrath of Heaven a pretty nice game… Okay, that’s not being fair, but Fatal Shadows is basically the same game, just released two years later. There’s a new character and some new stealth-kills, but beyond that, I got nothin’… It’s no wonder Activision stopped Stateside distribution for the series: It’s really not relevant anymore. Shame on you, Sega!

In a time where we’ve got games like Splinter Cell and Ninja Gaiden, something so mediocre is inexcusable. Gameplay is rote and uninspired, and the graphics feel dated and clunky. Unless developer K2 scraps Tenchu and starts from scratch, I highly suspect that the series will remain in the shadows from here on out.
(www.sega.com)