Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven (ps2: 2003): Reviews

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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.

Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven


8.6

based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 21 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game

GAMES:

Move like a shadow. Strike like a snake... After amassing an army of ninjas and lords of darkness, the mysterious Tenrai has begun a quest to conquer 16th-century Japan. Now your master, Lord Gohda, has called upon you - a cunning stealth assassin - to stop Tenrai and his disciples before all is lost. [Activision]

PUBLISHER:	Activision
DEVELOPER:	K2
GENRE(S):	Action
PLAYERS:	2
ESRB RATING:	M (Mature)
RELEASE DATE:	March 4, 2003

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...

100

Into Liquid Sky

The best stealth game and ninja game on the market today. This is my choice for 2003's Game Of The Year. [Grade = A+]

100

Maxim Online

If you’re the kind of guy who likes to chop his prey into Sizzlean before he gets a whiff of your bad man musk, then the ninjas of Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven are right up your dojo.

TotalGames.net

The perfect example of how to update a classic game without losing the spark of sheer enjoyment that made it great in the first place. This is the first must-buy game of 2003.

Absolute Playstation

A real beauty in gameplay, graphics and sound. I cannot imagine any Tenchu fan out there not being overjoyed with the overall experience this game has to offer.

Game Informer

The ninja game the world has been waiting for. It fights with honor, but still handily slays the competition. [Apr 2003, p.80]

Game Chronicles

Spectacular kill sequences, a cool plot, cooler weapons and great levels all contribute to make this game the best of the Tenchu series, and one of the best first-person stealth games on the market.

Gamer.tv

The main thrust of the gameplay is thoroughly mesmerizing, and there's a bundle of replay value here too. Despite glitches, Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven is ace.

GameZone

Perhaps the most puzzling thing of all is what happens when an enemy gets really, really confused. Most commonly you'll see them walk into a wall or some other barrier.

Game Over Online

A solid storyline, the inclusion of co-op play and plenty of unlockable items and abilities go a long way in extending the life of this game. However, the contradictory AI and sometimes abysmal camera angles can complicate the gaming experience.

GameCritics

Even without the open-ended level design, it was every bit as absorbing as the first game was at its very best and then some. And because of its mission-based structure that allows for quick access to all unlocked levels, it became a very hard game to put down.

IGN

The combat engine is solid, the new moves are great, and the stealth-reward system is an excellent, tried-and-true technique that works perfectly here.

Armchair Empire

Does a marvelous job of bringing the tension and suspense of being a silent device of death to the PS2.

GameSpot

Not only lives up to its predecessors' own high standards, but also to the generally high standards of this popular style of gaming.

GameSpy

Gone are cumbersome mechanics like hiding bodies and sheathing swords to run faster; back are gruesome one-hit kills, fun grappling hooks and those lovely poisoned rice balls.

GamerWeb Sony

While the PS2-level graphics make the game prettier than its PSone predecessors, the basics of gameplay remain essentially unchanged since the debut of the first title.

Gamer's Pulse

Although its plot didn’t captivate me, its exciting gameplay did. Gameplay is covert, yet exciting and had my heart beating rapidly each time I crept up on an enemy for a stealth kill.

Electric Playground

And oh my brothers, does the red, red krovvy flow real horrorshow under Tenchu's ultraviolence. That's A Clockwork Orange speak for "there's a lot of blood, too."

Cheat Code Central

The story is confusing and as far as I'm concerned you might as well forget trying to figure out the whole picture. Just concentrate on completing your current mission and everything will take care of itself.

GMR Magazine

The framerate is also speedy-slick, and your ninjas feel and move as light as a feather. [Apr 2003, p.69]

Play Magazine

The game's core mechanisms, a mixture of platforming, grappling, sliding along walls, creeping in the shadows, and hand-to-hand combat, are tuned to near-perfection. [Apr 2003, p.54]

PSX Nation

Good graphics, solid controls, decent sound (including purposefully-campy English dialogue) and mucho replayability (especially from its two-player mode) make Wrath of Heaven the best Tenchu game of the trilogy.

G4 TV

May not be the perfect ninja sim, but it's a ton of fun, and that's far more important than some minor flaws.

EuroGamer

This is all fairly familiar, but the key thing is that it's new content, there are new challenges, it all looks spectacular and it'll last you for ages.

GamingWorld X

Substitute the words Mildly Frustrating and Ninja into the title of the old Geto Boyz song "Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta" and you’ve roughly got a statement of Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

If nothing else, Wrath of Heaven succeeds where it absolutely must - executing stealth-kills as a ninja is simply exhilarating, and the animations rock. [Apr 2003, p.118]

Yahoo! Games

The control is satisfyingly tight and responsive, and the stealth kills (spookily augmented by the controller's vibration function) are right on that clinical line between gratifying and, well, a bit disturbing.

GamePro

You'll play through the same environments in each campaign, and despite multiple enemy layouts, that lack of level variety lessens the replay value.

PSM Magazine

An uninspired co-operative mode, frustrating camera, and incompetent AI prevent it from achieving videogame Zen. [Apr 2003, p.26]

Adrenaline Vault

The graphics aren't particularly innovative and the sound effects are merely a step up from mediocre. However, Wrath of Heaven succeeds where it counts - in providing an enjoyable experience with plenty of replayability.

Game Revolution

Tenchu's disjointed mission structure, temperamental camera and disappointing enemy AI will leave new gamers looking for something a bit more polished and sophisticated.

GameNow

Ultimately entertaining but also jarringly frustrating. [Apr 2003, p.49]

Official U.S. Playstation Magazine

Rather than fixing what was broken, they just offer tips, which themselves are faulty... Wrath has "rush job" written all over it. [Apr 2003, p.92]

Gaming Age

The needy camera and the almost forced replaying of the levels frustrated me. I also wish the manual (no item descriptions) and the tutorial (all text) weren't so atrocious.

The average user rating for this game is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Andrew J. gave it an 8:
A great fun ninja game.

David N. gave it a 10:
This game iz DA BOMB the steath kills the graphics n EVERYTHING!!!!!!any ways i never played the first one but the first time i played this game i loved it!!!!!!!!!then i played the second one and it didnt make any sense cause rikimaru had his full eye so i guess they screwed up on that one.the only game series as good as this is the MGS series n the dynasty warriors series thos ones r tight. so in the end this game iz tight so im totaly buyin the fourth one!!!!!!!!!!!

Ninja Mafia gave it a 9:
I really liked this game, probally the best stealth game of the year. The gameplay is really rewarding seeing how they give you stuff for stealth killing people in this game,unlike many other games. The graphics are ok, the lighting effects were awesome but the characters could have been improved. The storyline is the games weakest point. All it is is about some lunatic wanting to revive lord Mei-Oh to take over Japan and you have to stop him. I kinda liked where it was going when I heard about Lord Mei-Oh again but it really doesn't play an important role in the story. The sound is pretty good the voice actors are ok and the music set the mood, but nothing revolutionary. However I have heard people expecting this game to be a ninja simulator, well don't count on it. The game is unrealistic but that is why it is probally so fun. I really would have hated it if I had to slowly climb a rope up a building instead of just being propelled up there. Secondly why would people think this is a ninja simulator? K2 didn't say it was going to be a ninja simulator so you really shouldn't expect one. Back to the game now. The game has tons of replay value. While every level may be the same for every character, the different enemy layouts compensate for that. And there are three different enemy layouts for each stage for each character. Overall, TWoH is an awesome stealth game that I will play for months to come, but, like everything, it is not suited for everyone.

David gave it a 9:
If you liked the original tenchu you are gonna love this game. It has the same tense exciting gameplay as the first 2 tenchu games. With improved graphics and a new character and a fun multiplayer mode which make the game more replayable. However the same 2 flaws that have haunted the series (weak AI, and bad camera angles) are still not fixed.

Rob P. gave it an 8:
A great game, but all the bad points of the previous tenchus are still here such as bad camera angles which annoy and stupid enemies! a great game however.

Jon gave it a 10:
This game F@%$in rocks.

Adam D. gave it a 9:
When is the fourth installment coming out?