Tenchu: Time of the Assassins

Assassinated.

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It has come to all, I assume, as no surprise that a Tenchu title has been developed for the PSP. In fact, what I am surprised at is that it did not happen sooner.

Since the launch of the PSP itself, almost every IP that was developed for the PS2 has either been ported over to or has had "new" titles developed for the PSP. There are the Grand Theft Auto titles, Daxter, Prince of Persia Warrior Within, Syphon Filter, Monster Hunter, Tomb Raider: Legends, 2006 Fifa World Cup and Super Monkey Ball Adventure just to name just a few. Though some of these are "original" titles for the PSP, five of those titles listed are direct ports from the PS2 or merely tweaked versions of them.

To an extent, Tenchu: Time of the Assassins is the victim of this same process. Although this Tenchu title has new characters, storyline and the new Scenario Creator, it does not differ in the slightest to rest from the series. Time of the Assassins is a continuation from the previous Tenchu title, Fatal Shadows. There are a few loose connections via the storyline and a couple of old enemies thought dead rear their ugly heads. Certainly, fans of the series will not want to skip this title if they wish to be up to date for when future titles are released.

The main characters Rikimaru and Ayame are there along with many new ones. None of these new characters add anything extra to the game, and perform many of the same attacks and stealth moves as previous characters do. The only difference seems to be a few weapons variations, in fact.

The game itself plays like all of the others. Each level is based around the usual objectives such as killing a certain person - or everyone, retrieving certain items, moving through an area undetected, etc. The levels themselves can be extremely monotonous and near identical - not only to each other, but also to all of the other Tenchu games in the series. They are also very dark (as most stealth missions take place at night so no one can see you) but sometimes too dark, making some levels very frustrating and disorientating to navigate through.

With boring level design, it does not help that what your character is capable of is also somewhat limited. Each character has one, repetitive attack combination and one or two stealth kill moves, the items available to them are recognisable and identical to those used within the very first Tenchu title, and their sneaking and jumping manoeuvres are simpler compared to those of the console titles.

In terms of gameplay, Time of the Assassins offers little new, apart from one fairly significant feature: the Scenario Creator. This new feature allows players to create their own levels and "scenarios" to play through themselves or transfer to their friend's PSPs via wireless connection. The level editor works in similar way to those within FPS games such as TimeSplitters, or creating your own skate park in a Tony Hawks title. You work on a blank grid where you can place set pieces such as walls, stairs, buildings, etc, to create your level. You then select certain settings to decide what kind of scenario you wish to create (a few of them being those mentioned earlier, such as retrieving an item or making it through an area undetected) and even what music you want to play in the background. As you complete more levels within the main storyline game you will unlock new pieces to use in your level creation. This is a very worthy inclusion and is perhaps the only original element that will add to its longevity. However, even this too can become tedious as it is based all on levels within the game, which are in themselves unexceptional.

The graphics at times are poor, even for a handheld, certainly not showcasing the PSPs abilities. The main character models are of a high standard but the basic enemies can look very polygonic and flat, with pixelated textures and jarring edges. The levels and different environments are also very basic and can look near Playstation in quality with flat foliage, boxy buildings and patchy water. It is exactly like playing the original Tenchu title, the first level being so similar that it was very easy to become confused.

A good point, something which a few other PSP titles have used, is that there is aural speech along with subtitles and text in-between levels. It adds a little more involvement into the game and brings the characters, both heroes and villains, to life. However, the sound effects such as sword slashes, grunts and groans or jumps and leaps are tinny and of a mediocre quality. The background music is the same too and also very repetitive; one track is used over and over for most levels with just one track used in the between level scenes.

It is true that Tenchu: Time of the Assassins has new characters, more characters, and a "brand new" scenario mode, but it offers nothing new to the series of real note. Fans of the series will simply love it, buy it and play it avidly because it is - after all - Tenchu, but those of us who are looking for something fresh and new of the series will be disappointed to find that it has not evolved at all, despite the new platform.

60%

By Tobias Rowe