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Tenchu: Dark Secret

EMAIL PRINT ds

5.3 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 10 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 6 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: From Software

Genre(s): Action, Adventure

Players: 2

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: August 21, 2006

Summary

(Also known as "Tenchu: Dark Shadow" Tenchu: Dark Secret places you in the shoes of ninja assassins charged with protecting the life of a princess. Stalk your enemies with sword in hand, plant explosive traps in the underbrush, or strike with an assortment of realistic ninja weaponry - the choice is yours. Features over 40 single-player missions and the ability to construct your own weapons and items. Prove your mettle with the metal by challenging friends to a local wireless multiplayer match. Tenchu: Dark Secret boasts three unique modes and a whole host of options to keep each match fresh and fun. Whether you're creeping through a bamboo forest to plunge a dagger into your friend's back or setting a trap to steal his precious dumplings, you're going to need a towel to wipe the sweat from your hands. Need a new bamboo trap? Short on shurikins? Just hop online. Tenchu: Dark Secret allows players to buy, sell, and trade items via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. You can choose to transact with either friends or strangers. [Nintendo]

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Nintendo Power

But it's a really watered-down take on sttealth gameplay, and annother disappointing installment in a once highly regarded franchise. [Oct. 2006, p.91]

GamerFeed

The latest entry in the once respectable ninja series is downright awful, what with its lack of blood, horrendous top down perspective, and abominable story.

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GameSpot

You'd be better off staying away from this botched attempt to translate the great ninja stealth action series to the DS. Almost nothing good about Tenchu made the cut.

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Deeko

An awful attempt to cash in on a relatively good name. The AI is about as intelligent as a pet rock, the graphics are incredibly bland and dull, the music is quite annoying and I get to barter in REAL TIME on the INTERNET.

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Games Radar (in-house)

The developers opted instead for run-of-the-mill hack-and-slash game mechanics, and so they turned out a game that incorporates very little of what makes the system so enticing in the first place.

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IGN

Don’t be fooled by the fact that it’s a familiar brand, that Nintendo published it, or that it’s a limited release: this game is a bad one.

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eToychest

Fans of the series will find absolutely nothing to like here, and it’s likely that any gamer making Dark Secret their first Tenchu game will never buy another one.

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Official Nintendo Magazine UK

A botched excuse for a stealth game whose only achievement is bringing a decent series' name into disrepute. This game should have been so much better. [Jan 2007, p.72]

Modojo

From Software has insulted themsleves with this piss-poor development, a game that fails in every category. Graphics? Terrible. Music? Bleah. Gameplay? Unreasonable. Wi-Fi? Not even included to a good extent. Replayability? Hey, if you can handle playing past two levels, have at it.

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Thunderbolt

The characters have no personality whatsoever. The missions are a joke; the ridiculously horrible AI makes beating every objective a five-minute walk in the park at best.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 5.3 (out of 10) based on 6 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Chris D gave it a4:
Tenchu conjures to mind sneaking around to perform stealthy kills. This has none of that. It would have been a sub-par release even without being a Tenchu title, but being as it was makes it even more disappointing.

Yiu C.H. gave it a5:
Seriously, I managed to play the game till the end. I wont say this is good or bad (sitting on the fence), but rather it kept me occupied for somewhat 5 or so hours. While you are half way through the game, you will find yourself laying multiple traps, waiting for the enemy to walk pass (and hoping that they wont change their walking route in the process), as it is not possible to one hit KO an enemy while back stabbing, and using projectiles and foods are a waste of resources. Anyway, the game play is quite a monotone (even boss fighting is a mass spam of traps) and unless you like to hear the sound of bandits or ghouls flying on your traps, look elsewhere.

Dusty P. gave it a3:
Since "Wrath of Heaven" there hasn't really been a good Tenchu game, and this is no exception. Not really suited as a DS game (other than the fact that the title is D-ark S-ecret), most of the draw of the game -stealth- is gone since you can't move the camera. This means the only way to see where the guards are is on the bottom screen map... represented as a red arrow. So, instead of sneaking to excecute an enemy with ninja like tactics, you are chasing red arrows with some of the worst sampled audio I have ever heard. Don't be tricked into buying this like I was. Not even the most hardcore Tenchu fan would like this, even with the online trading system.

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Tenchu: Dark Secret

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What The Critics Said

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