Last year, a demo ofTenchuSenranappeared on the Japanese XBox Live Marketplace, and I quickly snatched it up. While I’ve never been a fan of the series (or any other stealth-based title, actually), I was eager to see what a next-generationTenchutitle would look and play like. Visually, the game was pretty bland — high-res textures and fancy lighting effects do not make a next-gen game. After making my way through the quick ninja creation mode, I found that,gameplay-wise, it played like all of the previousTenchugames. Five minutes later, I decided the game was not as good asGeometry Warsand decided to play that instead.
But, like I said,Tenchu(in any form) is not my bag. But hey, it might be yours; if you’re interested in getting a sneak peek, track downOfficialXboxMagazineissue #65. The Japanese demo isunlockableon the included demo disc, so get to hunting.
It’s unclear whether the North American release of the game will be any different (graphically,gameplay, online modes, etc.), but I’m sure we’ll get more information soon. Maybe it’ll ship with aProject Gotham Racing 4beta key!
