I love the Tenchu games. I'll say now, I am biased in favor of these games, like, a lot. This one is my absolute favorite, for the PS2, and that's the thing; On the PS2, you can actually play this game. The control scheme for this game simply isn't friendly to the xbox controller, so the whole game feels clunky and awkward.

Ninja Gaiden changes things. Before I played it, Tenchu: Return from Darkness probably would've gotten four stars. But after I dipped into the pot of Ninja Gaiden-ness, and I returned to Tenchu and saw how limited the game was. Well, I didn't use those words exactly; I think I said, "Holy crap! This game sucks compared to Ninja Gaiden!"

But I'm here to talk about Tenchu, aren't I? Yeah, I guess so. Tenchu is a tale of two ninjas, namely a creepy looking ninja-dude, and a hot ninja-chick. There is also a dumpy bald guy, but that comes in later. As these ninjas you fight thru feudal Japan and gain spiffy weapons and crazy abilities. Rikimaru (the dude. Not the Big Lebowski dude though) and Ayame (I forget how to spell it) fight this old dude who is totally whack. Yeah, that makes sense.

What makes Tenchu suck is a lot of things. For starters it has bad graphics. I suppose that could be because it was originally a Playstation game (which I did play with an old buddy of mine who eventually went sort of insane), and after adding "new levels," the tech boys kind of forgot to make the mouths of the characters move when they spoke.

The multiplayer sucks. You can only play with one other person, and not against the machine itself. That really sucks for people like who have no friends (remember? He went insane). And the co-op thingies are stupid.

But, there are enough saving graces to make this game worthwhile. Heck, the "B-side" soundtrack on the Rikimaru storyline is worth the package. The storylines are varied in theme. The Rikimaru and dumpy guy stories play kind of samurai movies (Lone Wolf and Cub and Zatoichi movies, respectively). The Ayame one plays like a...ninja video game plot outline. It seemed a little less creative to me, and the B-side is not a funny as the other two.

The visual graphics are very nicely done. They are stark, high in contrast and somehow reminiscent of a comic book.

Without a doubt, however, the best feature in the game is the following procedure: after you've gained the "animal noise maker" use it with your ninja stars: 1) Toss ninja stars at enemies. They become alert and start searching for who threw that shuriken. 2) Blow the animal noise maker, which will sound like a random animal. (This is normally used when you make noise and alert guards, so as to fool them into thinking it was an animal that made the sound.) 3) Laugh your head off when said enemy reassures himself that it was "just an animal" that attacked him. Also works great when guards find decapitated bodies!

(If you liked that, get the bears to fall down the temple in the Buddhist temple level of the dumpy guy storyline. You'll figure it out.)

Tenchu gets a 3-star rating because it's an average game. It's not evil; it's just stupid at times. Not that that's a bad thing. So Tenchu lovers out there rejoice. I just can't comprehend why.

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

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.

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.