Tenchu XBOX demo - poor AI

[Adrian M]

I spent a few minutes playing this last night (it's on the latest OXM demo disc by the way). I've never played any of the previous incarnations seeing as how they were for Sony's systems and I must say that the XBOX incarnation has the potential to be a great game, but I've already uncovered a few fatal AI flaws.

 

Maybe I'm just used to Splinter Cell's AI, but the whole stealth thing in this game just feels poorly done. The first time I played it, I tried to attack everyone head on and promptly had my ass handed to me. The second time through, I realized that with skillful usage of the grappling hook, shadows and rooftops, one could EASILY rack up the stealth kills (the core feature of the game).

 

Problem here is that the enemy AI is terrible. You can slip up and find yourself spotted, only to duck behind a tree while in "stealth" mode with the enemy no more than 5 feet away and staring right in your direction. They give up too easily...rather than search around when alerted, the enemies in Tenchu just stand still and then go on their patrol.

 

The boss in the demo (the man in the temple with the sinister laugh and pointy hat) is easily beaten by exploiting an AI weakness. Simply lure him outside to the front of the temple where there is a campfire burning. He tends to run in a direct straight line, so keep him in your sight and let him run at you through the campfire. The idiot will run at the fire and wind up being burned, thrown back and injured as a result. Now, simply keep yourself positioned properly and he'll continue to run at you, again, being burned in the process. Repeat this until he dies. Pretty bad AI.

[Duke 4ever]

I played this game...it stinks like rotting meat (quote from "DOOM" )

The AI, Camera Angles and Controls are horrible.

[Adrian M]

I played this game...it stinks like rotting meat (quote from "DOOM"  )

The AI, Camera Angles and Controls are horrible.

 

Damn shame too...I love the setting and the graphics are mostly good. But you're right...the camera is terrible. Definitely a no-no when you consider that the bulk of the game is based on making sneaky stealth kills. It becomes difficult to track the enemies while you're waiting in the shadows (or worse, on a rooftop) only to have the camera get stuck or refuse to swing around a bit more. Particularly frustrating when you're in one of those situations where your back is against the wall...the viewpoint really sucks in those situations which almost forces you to move away from the wall and wait in a crouched position elsewhere.

 

As I stated, I do love the setting (ancient feudal Japanese settings are awesome...Otogi and Onimusha for example) and once you figure out the stealth killing gimmick, it does become somewhat enjoyable. I may pick it up, and perhaps they'll clean up the AI a bit (they did add the ability to drag and hide bodies in the XBOX version) for the final release. Time will tell.

[Starscream]

Wow this game looks to be very disappointing In all fairness, I played it after playing the Ninja Gaiden demo and Tenchu just was ass. I liked the Tenchus on the PS so I was looking foward to this one but just seeing how half-assed it looks and plays, I think I will skip it.

[Adrian M]

Wow this game looks to be very disappointing  In all fairness, I played it after playing the Ninja Gaiden demo and Tenchu just was ass. I liked the Tenchus on the PS so I was looking foward to this one but just seeing how half-assed it looks and plays, I think I will skip it.

 

Graphically it isn't too bad--the environments are nice but there's little in the way of special effects or graphical tricks. There was only so much they could do with the PS2 source material. Initially my gripe was that the game was too hard...and it is, if you play it like Ninja Gaiden. The only real way to succeed is to use the stealth mode, go for the stealth kills, and use your items at the right times. If you go head to head with the enemies, they'll promptly cut you up since they seem to have attack priority.

 

It's mainly the AI and camera that really kills the game for me. Too easy for any semi-good gamer to exploit the enemy AI weaknesses while at the same time dealing with a camera that sometimes turns out to be your own worst enemy.

[cimerians]

Wow, one of the reasons I bought an X-Box was for Tenchu!!

 

 

I REALLY hope they clean it up!

 

 

Here is my thinking on the Tenchu games:

 

Tenchu (PS1) - Awesome. Addictive and fun as heck. The AI and the graphics were pretty bad but the game was too much fun to notice. Cool music and atmosphere too.

 

Tenchu 2 (PS1) - Awful. Boring. The bad AI was still there but they chopped the game up too much to fit the game editor in there. Also, no music in the game! An overall huge disappointment.

 

Tenchu (PS2) - Same as the original Tenchu. No camera problems, AI was still pretty stupid but way smarter than the original Tenchu. Cool music and atmosphere. Cool characters and the controls were perfect.

 

As you can see, Tenchu 2 was the worst of the three IMO, its as if they got a different set of programmers to do the game.

 

Now from what your saying, it seems another set of programmers is doing the X-Box version.

 

I really hope this isn't so, I really hope that Tenchu for the X-Box lives up to the original PS1 title and the PS2 version.

 

If not, oh well, I still have the PS2 version.....its still disappoting though as I have been waiting for it for a long while.

[Adrian M]

Wow, one of the reasons I bought an X-Box was for Tenchu!!

 

 

 

I REALLY hope they clean it up!

 

 

Here is my thinking on the Tenchu games:

 

Tenchu (PS1) - Awesome. Addictive and fun as heck. The AI and the graphics were pretty bad but the game was too much fun to notice. Cool music and atmosphere too.

 

Tenchu 2 (PS1) - Awful. Boring. The bad AI was still there but they chopped the game up too much to fit the game editor in there. Also, no music in the game! An overall huge disappointment.

 

Tenchu (PS2) - Same as the original Tenchu. No camera problems, AI was still pretty stupid but way smarter than the original Tenchu. Cool music and atmosphere. Cool characters and the controls were perfect.

 

As you can see, Tenchu 2 was the worst of the three IMO, its as if they got a different set of programmers to do the game.  

 

Now from what your saying, it seems another set of programmers is doing the X-Box version.

 

I really hope this isn't so, I really hope that Tenchu for the X-Box lives up to the original PS1 title and the PS2 version.

 

If not, oh well, I still have the PS2 version.....its still disappoting though as I have been waiting for it for a long while.

 

Well, since I haven't played the previous iterations of Tenchu, I'm not sure where this one will rank in the grand scheme of the previous installments. What I can tell you is this:

1. Graphics are passable. Quality-wise, it's PS2. Environment and character models look fantastic though. The demo features a traditional Japanese Buddhist Temple that's obviously decaying from years of neglect. The courtyard and surrounding grounds are nice too. But you won't find anything enhanced by the XBOX such as realtime shadows a la Splinter Cell, etc.

 

2. The soundtrack is very good. Traditional Japanese instruments and some memorable tunes.

 

3. The AI IS bad. It's obvious that the AI has been dumbed down a bit (enemies will see you far off if you're in the open, but press the Left Trigger to go into stealth mode and it's like you're invisible to them...despite being in the open). Enemy soldiers tend to follow set patterns and rarely deviate unless provoked. That said, they give up far too easily if they spot you and you hide from them. If you hide in a corner and remain in stealth mode, you can throw projectile weapons at an enemy and he'll simply stand still whilst getting hit-from what I've seen they don't come looking for the source. The boss, on the other hand, has much better AI when it comes to finding you and following non-set paths (he'll climb rooftops to get to you) and getting a stealth kill on him is difficult. That said, he has a tendency to rush you which you can exploit via the campfire kill technique I described earlier.

 

4. Camera was an issue for me and it becomes annoying when you're constantly fighting for a good angle, particularly when you're waiting for that perfect moment to strike.

 

5. Combat is extraordinarily clumsy. You're ninja swings wildly and it's difficult to get hits on the enemy since they block just about everything. It's easy to find yourself facing the wrong way while in close combat. Kind of annoying.

 

6. Voice samples seem odd. Hard to describe, but it's almost as if the voices seem to be sampled at a low frequency resulting in slight static--voices reminded me of those you'll hear in a low budget kung fu movie.

 

To tell you the truth, I liked this a bit more than Ninja Gaiden and I'll keep my eye on the final rev. My opinion is that it's NOT worth $49.99. Maybe $30 or so.

[cimerians]

Yup it does sound like Tenchu.

The AI has always been pretty bad, almost like its a feature of the game. Its kind of like an arcade game if you think about it. But for some strange reason I like it more than any other actionadventure game out there, including Metal Gear Solid.

 

The demo for the PS2 was pretty average as well when it first came out. The game itself on the other hand was very well done. A LOT of supernatural oriental stuff thrown in too to make things a bit nerve wracking.

 

Tenchu to me is simply a great arcade style stealth game that requires a LOT of patience. On some missions I would sit there and watch for up to 5 minutes to see what sort of patterns the guardsetc. would take.

 

(The unlockable hidden character in the full version kicks major bu__tt)

 

Its a great game on the PS2, I will check reviews before I buy the X-Box Tenchu only because I don't want to get stuck with another badly done "sequel" like the PS1's Tenchu 2.

[Adrian M]

Yup it does sound like Tenchu.

The AI has always been pretty bad, almost like its a feature of the game. Its kind of like an arcade game if you think about it. But for some strange reason I like it more than any other actionadventure game out there, including Metal Gear Solid.

 

The demo for the PS2 was pretty average as well when it first came out. The game itself on the other hand was very well done. A LOT of supernatural oriental stuff thrown in too to make things a bit nerve wracking.

 

Tenchu to me is simply a great arcade style stealth game that requires a LOT of patience. On some missions I would sit there and watch for up to 5 minutes to see what sort of patterns the guardsetc. would take.

 

(The unlockable hidden character in the full version kicks major bu__tt)

 

Its a great game on the PS2, I will check reviews before I buy the X-Box Tenchu only because I don't want to get stuck with another badly done "sequel" like the PS1's Tenchu 2.

 

I don't know if this helps, but I did some reading on the game and it does appear that the XBOX version is loosely based on Tenchu 3: Wrath of Heaven for the PS2.

[IronMongeR]

The only Tenchu game I've enjoyed was the first one. Wrath of Heaven was a major let down for me.

[Swifty]

I could barely stand playing the demo for more than a couple of minutes -- especially after playing the fantastic Ninja Gaiden demo.

 

Unless Tenchu: Return From Darkness received a complete overhaul for its final version, I see it as being a major disappointment.

[Adrian M]

I could barely stand playing the demo for more than a couple of minutes -- especially after playing the fantastic Ninja Gaiden demo.  

 

Unless Tenchu: Return From Darkness received a complete overhaul for its final version, I see it as being a major disappointment.

 

Oddly enough, my experience was exactly the opposite of yours where Ninja Gaiden turned out to be a massive disappointment and Tenchu turned out to be a better game (as far as the demos are concerned) despite the terrible AI.