Sony Introduces Tenchu

Sony Music Entertainment's 3D action-adventure title Tenchu was released in Japan last week for the PlayStation. Equal parts Bushido Blade and Tomb Raider, the game puts the player in the role of one of two ninjas (one male, one female) who assassinate, hide in shadows, and scale buildings with the best of them.

If Bushido Blade was all about honor, Tenchu is all about dishonor, since the player is much better served by sneaking up behind enemies and killing them (which initiates one of several different execution cinemas, such as back-stabbing, throat-slitting, or back-breaking) than dueling with them. Stealth is the main key to the game, and the character can even flatten out against walls to peek around corners.

Taking a page out of Nightmare Creatures, there are a handful of different special items that the player can use, including poison treats to feed the guard dogs, magical health potions, explosives, foot spikes, and throwing stars, which utilize an easy-to-aim targeting system (the perspective goes first person and a red star-shaped target appears in the center of the screen). This system is also used for the grappling hook, which can be used to get the player quickly up onto rooftops (it's a device that can one could easily inspire developers to build a PlayStation Spider-Man title).

As reported in GameSpot News last week, Sony Music Entertainment has made comments about an international version of the title, though Sony Computer Entertainment America has said nothing so far about a US release.

For more information, be sure to keep an eye out for VGC's upcoming import review of the game. In the meantime, take a look through the following pile of screenshots.