great port of the Wii title bearing the same name, minus the finicky motion controls.
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins on the PSP is a port of the Wii title by the same name, and it's a pretty solid port to boot. If you've played the Wii title, which was actually a pretty good return to form for the series, then you might want to skip over the PSP version, solely because it doesn't add much to the game, and there's nothing in the way of big extra features to entice you to play through the challenges and main storyline again.
If you skipped out on the Wii version though, then you might want to give Tenchu a shot here. The controls work pretty well, even though there was some motion specific aspects of the Wii game, they were mostly relegated to the kills, so porting them over to a basic button/d-pad combo on the PSP wasn't much of a stretch. In fact, most of the combat specific stuff probably works better on the PSP for a lot of people, and there's no awkward wiggling required obviously.
Besides the change in controls, there isn't much of a difference between the two versions. The visuals on the PSP game are actually really solid looking, and while it might not have as much flash as the Wii game did, they're still some of the better looking 3D models I've seen on the PSP in recent months, and the development team did a great job of keeping everything intact from what I could tell.
As the game begins you'll be introduced to the basics behind Shadow Assassins, and keep in mind that this ninja title is a game that focuses entirely on stealth and not being spotted. There's a lot of mechanics in the game that are used to keep you out of sight, including a special vision that will highlight particularly dark areas on the field, like in bushes, or next to walls or overhangs. If there are light sources about you can usually extinguish them in a number of ways, either by getting close enough to simply blow them out, douse them with water, or even toss a throwing star if they're too far away.
The vision also comes into play for spotting your enemies line of sight, which becomes integral as you advance, since not keeping out of sight will almost always result in an instant death. If you get spotted once the game will give you a pass, and allow you a quick escape (basically you reset back to before you were spotted), but a second failed attempt results in a game over screen, so it's not particularly kind if you don't have a firm grasp on your abilities.
Thankfully the shadow based game play is somewhat forgiving, and if you're currently concealed well enough enemies will never spot you, outside of a couple types that have some other uncanny ability. There's usually multiple paths you can take within stages when it comes to dispatching unwary soldiers or foes, like hanging by the rafters and snapping their necks, or swimming underneath the cover of a small pond and dragging an enemy in, drowning them. If fact, the different ways to dispatch enemies is pretty well varied here, and I'd almost liken it to Manhunt done right.
Along with the main storyline, there's a series of challenges you can pull of, around 50 or so, and these tend to be a great way of getting you acclimated to not only the controls, but certain scenarios you will definitely run into during the course of the game. I would generally suggest that new player's check this mode out and at least make your way through the first set of ten, especially if you're having trouble with what to do in the main story. These serve as a set of pretty fun distractions.
One thing that I did find far better here than the Wii version was the random sword combat encounters you'd get into, which were beyond annoying to try and complete on the Wii, due to the somewhat non-reliable controls. Basically you enter into a first person mode and you're supposed to block and attack using your sword, but with that mapped to a analog/button situation it's far easier to perform than it was on the Wii, and if you had serious issues with that in the Wii game, then give this one a try instead, I definitely liked that aspect of it far more.
I guess you could argue that the game loses a bit of its charm with the lack of the motion specific controls, and I'll agree to a point that they did add a little bit to certain movements, and they definitely made the kills feel a bit more visceral. However, the PSP version is definitely my preferred way to play the game, it didn't frustrate me control wise nearly as much as the Wii version did, and from that aspect alone I enjoyed it more. If you passed over the Wii game, then give this one a shot, and if the Wii version provided you with a bit of aggravation, then that's another reason to try this one out. It's a pretty great port for the PSP, and certainly worth playing for anyone that enjoys stealth titles.
