Ninja's stalk in the cover of night and kill their targets without detection. That's the idea to the game Tenchu: Stealth Assassins. In this game the idea is not to fight every body that's in your way, but to hide and sneak up on your enemy and kill him before he even notices you. The sneak attack game is big this year, Mission Impossible, Tenchu and soon Metal Gear Solid. In this game you play as a Ninja (Rikimaru & Ayame) each have their own style of fighting. You play 10 missions in where you sneak around your enemy and kill them from behind, Usually cutting their thoughts (sometimes you cut the head clean off) or stabbing them through the heart. You even can sniper an enemy from a rooftop with shurikens. You use items to help you in your mission, Grappling hooks, shurikens, grenades, smoke bombs, poison, and much, much more! You can hide or take cover on roofs, against walls, crouching even disguise like your enemy. You even have to be on the look out for innocent civilians & cats that can give away your location. The graphics look great, a dark feel to the backdrops and characters. My only real complaint is the voice overs could have been better, Rikimaru's & Ayame's voice sound a little fake. (I liked the Japanese voices better) but I got over it. This has to be one of the best games of the year. This is truly the best ninja game I've ever played!
PUBLISHER: ACTIVISION
GRAPHICS: 8.5 MUSIC/SOUND: 9
CONTROL: 8 ORIGINALITY: 9
REPLAY: 10 SECRETS: 9
OVERALL: 9
(thanks to ign for the screen shots)