Tenchu: Fatal Shadows (PS2, 15+)

(Herald rating: ***)

It is fair to say that Tenchu: Fatal Shadows went down like a lead balloon among US game reviewers when it was released earlier in the year. The problem was that 1998's Tenchu, was a cult hit. Everyone loved it and expected a new interpretation with the release of Fatal Shadows.

If the consensus is accurate, Fatal Shadows is a rehash of the old game with a few improvements. That's fine by me. I never played the old game and I quite like Tenchu. It has more style than Tekken and its spin-offs such as Death By Degrees.

Tenchu takes us on a journey through feudal Japan. The cut scenes roll by like establishing shots from a Kurosawa samurai movie, complete with scratches on the film.

The main character Ayame is a skinny Lara Croft, but she has a mean dagger thrust and a schizophrenic energy that comes in useful when she has to simultaneously stab two people in the back.

Fatal Shadows introduces Rin, a younger female ninja who uses a big sword and you play as either Ayame or Rin. There's not much difference in the two assassins, other than one kills for honour, the other kills for revenge.

It is tempting to approach Fatal Shadows like a regular third-person action game, marching bravely into the fight, weapons at the ready. But that doesn't get you far.

Tenchu is really hard and you do yourself no favours in leaping into fights with trained ninjas.

It is a good way to reach "mission failed" really fast, which is doubly annoying if you have misplaced your memory card and can't save your progress.

Stealth is central to Tenchu. Before you begin your first mission - seeking out who torched Rin's village - you will learn how to creep up on people, kill them quickly and hide under water so guards can't see you.

You will drag bodies out of the way so the alarm isn't raised. And when you kill someone the scene morphs into a gruesome animation sequence that shows the moment of their death in dramatic detail.

Fatal Shadows is about sneaking around and waiting for the opportunity to kill quietly. If you have the patience, you will like Tenchu, even if its wonky camera angles and gloomy setting don't make it totally pleasant to look at.

* $110