Tenchu 2, while labeled as a sequel, is really a prequel as far as the storyline is concerned. Younger Rikimaru and Ayame return to the game as junior ninjas, along with a new,more experienced apprentice ninja, Tatsumaru. After the death of their parents, the three ninjas were taken in by Master Azuma Shiunsai, the leader of Lord Gohda's Azuma Ninja. One day the three apprentices learned a coup had broken out in the House of Ghoda. As they rushed to the castle to defend Lord Gohda, they learned that lord's uncle, Motohide, had plotted to kill and displace him as the head of the House. They then discovered that a much more sinister plot was in the works. The game begins at this point, and the rest of the story is then played out in between each mission. The storyline is quite a bit more involved and interesting this time around, and all the realtime and CG cut scenes feature full voice acting. Although not bad, the voices of most characters do come across as being 'too American'. In my opinion, individuals living in feudal Japan should at least speak with some semblance of a Japanese accent. It's not really much of a deal, but in a game possessing a number of authentic feeling features, it seems out of place.

Visually, Tenchu 2 is among the more impressive PlayStation games out there. Whereas the original suffered from a close draw-in horizon, bland textures and dark environments, the sequel comes across as the exact opposite. The entire game runs at a higher resolution, the textures are both detailed and more colorful and the characters and environments are well modelled and shaded. The draw-in distance has increased at least two-fold, and a now nice big chunk (which is sometimes still not enough) of the environment is rendered. Objects not within viewing range, very smoothly transition into view, instead of just popping up in big square blocks as before. Acquire has done an excellent job with the hardware, and I just shudder at the thought of what Tenchu 3 on the PS2 will look like.

Aurally, the game does a good job mimicking what "sneaking around" would sound like. Which, as you can guess, is mostly ambient noise, scattered voice samples and silence. Tenchu 2 also does seem to have less in-game music than Tenchu 1 did, and I miss some of those excellent authentic sounding music tracks. But what Acquire and Activision has put together, does the job well.

Just like Tenchu, T2 is all about sneaking around while trying to complete some mission objective (eg. locate and kill boss). Each level is dotted with various characters and creatures, such as evil ninjas, wolves, bears, as well as innocent civilians. Any of these entities may be spooked by your presence, a noise you have made, or even dead bodies left in your wake. In order to sneak around, your ninja is equipped with a "ninja radar" of sorts, which can pick up on enemies within a certain distance, along with their state of alertness. If you keep quiet and out of site, most of the enemies will just leisurely go about their business, whatever it may be. If you accidentally come into their range of sight, or make a noise, then you will either be attacked, or at least be searched for by the evil ninjas and creatures. This will cause you to have to defend yourself out in the open, very much against the traditional way of the ninja (though you can just run like hell if you feel like it). The fighting engine is very much like the one as found in the original game. While not deep at all, there are enough little combos and slashes to fend off most enemies. Collision detection is a little iffy when in close proximity with an enemy, but besides boss encounters, not engaging the enemy in hand to hand combat, is preferred.

As a ninja, you have a nice variety of standard and special tools at your disposal, such as a grappling hook, smoke bombs, shurikens, caltrops, and energy replenishing rations. It is important to utilize both the tools and your sneaking abilities, to the utmost. Crouching, peeking around corners, hiding bodies, climbing onto trees and high structures, etc. are all important skills to learn in order to navigate the environment efficiently. Now, this is probably where most of the game's enjoyment is derived from. Being able to quietly sneak up to enemies, without being seen, and assassinating them, is satisfying no matter how many times you do it. Tenchu 2 features a few new fatality-style assassination maneuvers (slitting throats, breaking necks, etc.), though in general, the result depends on your position in relation to the enemy, and the character you are using.

Overall, the control in T2 is good, though not without its problems. The most frustration comes with attempting to rotate in place, while either near a ledge, on a narrow platform, or when directly next to an enemy. Frequently, the little lateral steps the character will annoyingly take, will send you either plunging down to a lower level, or cause you to miss the assassination or an attack. Also, when attempting grapple onto a structure, if you are not lined up square with the ledge above, your ninja will not catch the edge with his or her hands, once again, sending you falling to the level below. This, along with the spotty collision detection when fighting, seems to make the game more difficult than it should be. The game is still extremely playable, as long as you are extra cautious and don't rush though the motions.

Besides the real heart of the game, which is the typical story mode, Acquire has included a fairly full featured mission editor. Being able to create your own level, and populate it with enemies is a pretty cool idea, and a nice way to extend the longetivity of the game. The fact that in order to see everything, you must play through the missions as all 3 characters (Tatsumaru being unlocked after completeing both Rikimaru and Ayame's missions), definitely helps as well.

Tenchu 2 is probably the best representation of a Ninja-sim thus far, and just a damn cool game. A few of the niggling control and camera problems from the original game are still present, but if you were able to overlook them before, then you will absolutely love this sequel. Others just intrigued with the cool stealth aspects of Tenchu 2, should also find the game quite satisfying, and should give it a try at the very least.