What Lurks in the Shadows You May Never Know – That’s How Good the Assassins Are in “Tenchu: Fatal Shadows”

by Louis Bedigian

“Early on the developers wanted to avoid having players get to a point, die, and then have to retry that part over and over again until they learn the pattern of the enemy.”

Sneaking through the shadows, I move closer to my final destination.  As I approach my target, countless thoughts run through my mind.  What will happen when I arrive?  Will I be able to complete my mission?  What if I’m caught?  Will this really be my final resting place?

I reach for the door, peaking through the opening.  There it is!  I extend my hand, desperately trying to obtain what’s rightfully mine without drawing any attention.  The howl of a nearby dog sends chills up my spine, though I quickly realized that it was not an imminent problem.  I had not yet been spotted.  My mission could be completed.

I open the door a little further, this time using both hands.  I’ve got it!  It’s mine!  All mine!

“Louis, get out of the fridge!  That banana cream pie is for our guests tomorrow!”

Busted again.  Mom always seems to know when one of her delicious treats is in danger.

If only I had the skills of a stealth expert.  The skills of a sneaky assassin, someone who could move in and out of an area without ever being detected.  Someone like Tenchu’s heroine, Ayame.

In Tenchu: Fatal Shadows, gamers get the chance to exercise more of their stealth skills than ever before.  The game is coming to stores this month, so Sega held a conference call to inform us everything we needed to know.

Fatal Features

• Takes place between Tenchu 1 and 3

• As a result, Ayame’s attacks have not yet been perfected (see the beginning of her famous “Wrath of Heaven” attack)

• The story is much more involved, much more cinematic.

• Double Stealth Kills means twice the chaos – two playable characters means twice the fun!

• You know what they say: everyone has skeletons in their shadows.  Be sure to keep your kill well-hidden.

Plastic Surgery

Ayame is a game character so she doesn’t need to have plastic surgery, but that didn’t stop the developers from making her look better than ever.  “They went back and re-did a lot of the effects,” said Fatal Shadows Producer Klayton Vorlick.  “They re-did a lot of the graphics, improved models and facial textures.  They went back and completely re-did Ayame.  She has a new outfit, a new look and everything.”

Maximus Villainous Nemesis

“There’s boss fights galore,” Klayton says happily, going over the list.  “One of the ways they integrated the story into the game is the inclusion of a very recognizable [cast of] boss characters.  There’s a cast of villains throughout the game that will constantly interfere, driving the player to want to kill them.  In addition to them there’s your usual targets where you’re hired to assassinate such and such person, or someone gets in your way and you have to take them out.”

Tenchu: Wrath Of Bonuses

During the conference, Product Marketing Manager Ami Blaire chimed in to inform us of their exciting pre-sell campaign.

“We’re giving away specially designed character t-shirts [primarily at GameStop and EB Games],” she says.  “There are three different designs that are available: one of Rin, one of Ayame, and one of the two together.

“We also are doing an online promo where we’re giving away signed exclusive posters from the development team.  There is a strategy guide that will be available at launch, but no action figures at this time.”

The world is much darker this time around.

Tactical Espionage Questionnaire

The levels are said to be structured to eliminate trial-and-error patterns.  Could you elaborate on this?

Klayton Vorlick: Early on the developers wanted to avoid having players get to a point, die, and then have to retry that part over and over again until they learn the pattern of the enemy.  The way the levels are structured is, you can actually stop, hide on top of the buildings, observe the environments, watch the enemies from afar, and learn their patterns while watching them.  So as long as you’re playing carefully and you’re not being stupid about it, you can basically plan your strategy as you go.  You want to be able to watch your enemies, see how they behave, see where they go.  This game gives you that opportunity.

Suppose I’ve killed an enemy and more are on the way.  Where can I hide the body to keep my presence a secret?

KV: The enemy basically works off of the levels.  It works off of sounds by detecting anything out of the ordinary, and visually.  Granted, dead bodies don’t make sound, so you don’t have to worry about that part.  What you have to do is hide it in an area where it’s not visible to anyone else, which can get tricky if there’s multiple enemies roaming around.  Sometimes you can dump the body in water, sometimes you can dump it on a dark alley behind some boxes.  If you position it correctly, and if the guard’s not walking through that area actively searching for you, chances are they’ll miss the body.

Is each character integral to specific parts of the game?  Or do they both individual quests to conquer?

KV: Once you beat a level you can actually go back and play it with either character.  During the main story mode each level has a specific character that you play as.  Compared to the previous Tenchu games, it’s all story-based.  It has a very integral storyline that has sort of a narrative throughout the levels.  In one level you’ll be controlling Rin as she makes her way through the scenario.  Then it’ll switch over to Ayame, who is going about her own business.  Essentially the two stories are intertwined.  It’s integral in the respect that each character is playing a different level at a different time, etc., etc., but you can always go back and play each level with each character.

The endless struggle between good and evil.

Are there any new attack kills?  Any new stealth kills?

KV: New to the series is the Double Stealth Kill.  Previously [in the series] you had to single out enemies to perform a stealth kill, and if there was more than one enemy you were pretty much screwed.  Whereas now you can actually perform a stealth kill if there’s two enemies together and kill them without ever alerting any other guards.

Other than that, Rin has some very specific moves.  For instance, she has something called the Death Trap.  In the middle of a combo you can hit the enemy into the air, jump up and basically do a pile-driver, breaking [the enemy’s] skull open.  Even Ayame has a few new moves, like a [special] kick that does a lot of damage on the enemy.  She also has stuff like Inner Ear, which allows you to see sounds.  It allows you to detect guards around the corner.

I noticed that the last Tenchu game was a lot easier to get into.  When I first picked up the controller and started playing, I was instantly able to perform kills, hide behind objects, etc., whereas the PSone version seemed more difficult.  Has Fatal Shadows been enhanced even further, or did you feel that the controls were perfect the way they were?

KV: Tenchu: Fatal Shadows is being developed by the same developer as Wrath of Heaven, so it has a lot of the same elements.  Older gameplay elements have been added back into the game, like the ability to swim.  It was removed before because there were issues with it in the earlier versions of Tenchu.  But overall fans of the series will be happy to know that the controls have stayed very similar to the previous Tenchu [games].  I’d say it’s more similar to Wrath of Heaven than the really early ones.  It’s a lot easier to pick up and get into, it’s a lot faster paced.

Since Fatal Shadows takes place between Tenchu 1 and 3, does that mean that we’re going to see a lot of familiar environments?

KV: There’s not going to repeat levels from previous games, however you will see cameos from recognizable characters.

That’s actually a good thing though, ‘cause we wouldn’t want there to be rehash levels, we want all-new levels.

Are the environments mostly outdoor, mostly indoor, mostly…?

KV: It’s a combination of both really.  Some levels feature both.  You’ll start off outdoors, you’ll sneak into a building, and then sneak your way through the building.  Some levels take place exclusively outdoors, some levels take place exclusively indoors – inside manors, inside caves, etc.

You won’t recover from that you good-for-nothing enemy that exploded into tiny pieces!

I’m sure our readers would love to know more about the boss battles.  Could you describe one of them for us?

KV: Without giving away too much in the story, I’ll cover the first one.  You play as Ayame in the very beginning.  You come across this burned-down village, and it catches your attention.  As you make your way through you encounter Rin, and she thinks you’re responsible for the destruction of the village, [leading you to] fight with her.  She doesn’t have all the abilities that you’ll unlock in the game at that point, but she’s still a relatively tough opponent.  She blocks, she dodges, she’ll throw you.  She’ll keep you on your toes.  It’s quite interesting.

Thanks to Chase at Access Communications and everyone at Sega for having a wonderful conference call.