Francis pretty much said it all: “Disgustingly underrated”. I own all the “BIG” titles for 360, and there's only a select handful I keep coming back to for more. Tenchu Z is one of them. The Tenchu series are arguably the best stealth games out there. Granted the graphics aren't exactly great (I think because it was a hold-over from ps2), but good graphics alone do not a good game make. This game is addictive as hell, the controls are VERY smooth and precise, and once you get used to it, the straight out non-stealth combat's actually pretty fun. The only thing I don't like is that the levels are fairly repetetive, and the mediocre graphics like I said, but it's very easy to overlook this. In short, BUY THIS GAME!!! You won't regret it…
The Good:
- Insanely addictive gameplay
- Precise, intuitive controls
- Complete character customization (A first for the Tenchu series)
- A TON of fun abilities and items to pick and choose as you unlock them
- Excellent music and atmosphere
- Serial link multiplayer is engaging and often hilarious
- A long campaign with many missions that'll keep you busy for weeks, to find that you want to play it all again as the opposite gender!
The Bad:
- Mediocre graphics at best, no part of this game looks like it was meant for current-gen consoles
- Somewhat repetitive levels. It has a bunch of maps that occasionaly repeat, but with different enemy locations and patrols depending on the mission and the difficulty level
- Longish load times considering it's not a hardware-taxing powerhouse
- (Balance issue): female ninja clothing unlockables aren't as cool or impressive as the male's
- Online multiplayer has fairly severe latancy problems, sometimes almost unplayable. Stick to serial link