A game that beats the Bomberman franchise out of the water and exposes its faults like a trapped mouse
Tenchu: Shadow Assault is a game much similar to the Bomberman franchise in which you face opponents who move from one location on the map to the next in a pre-scripted manner without change, and they each have their own respective yellow meter in front of their models as they walk that represents how far they are able to see; if that yellow meter turns red that means you have been spotted and they will chase after you.
What separates this from the conventional Tenchu is your inability to kill an opponent without relying on traps instead of rushing upon them with a stealth kill, finishing the task without worrying about anything else. This may seem negative in a sense but From Software really hit this new theme on the head well, and rightfully so, it is what Bomberman should have been: a strategy based puzzle game that can be mastered after a small learning curve, not the type of game that doesn't have any more strategy and variety than pong, seeing as half the time in Bomberman you would accidentally kill yourself with your own bombardments and suffer from the terrible level design along the way.
In Shadow Assault the weapon choices are the following: a basic shuriken, the classic poisoned rice, planted bombs, fall-through compartments on the ground that send an opponent to another location on the map, a special fire scroll technique, and the most useful element of them all -- a spring pad. Each of these weapons can only be used once they are retrieved on a select map, and the weapons that will appear on a select map are based upon the discretion of the developers. Even if you wrongly use these weapons for one reason or another while you begin a map those weapons will regenerate after a given amount of time has passed, but as you only have x number of minutes to complete a map it is recommended you analyze the movements of your enemies without error -- which is why I stated this virtually is just a mastered version of Bomberman with an appealing theme.
Now the interesting element in each level is that there will exist a default trap that the enemies can be hurt by if you play your hand correctly (ex: a guard is walking between two cut-off horizontal positioned bamboo traps and the only method you can use to knock him into one and render him dead is through the use of a spring pad). For such items the cardinal direction your character is pointing at the time that you set the spring pad--or relatively any pad--will determine what direction the opponent who steps on it will be sent flying, and this is particularly essential when the opponent has a large sum of stamina who you only have so much time to defeat and little rations to use against.
From Software did this best by positioning the camera so that you have a helicopter view of the territory around you; there may be a few spots here and there that may block your view which require a trap but these instances are very few. The characters are also quite distinct, have fluent, unique movement, and don't act against their pre-scripted movement unless you are spotted by that character so you won't have to worry at all about not being able to perceive your surroundings accurately enough in order to act efficiently on a map.
Tenchu: Shadow Assault is comprised of 30 missions--as mentioned--and there are eight characters to choose from who have their own unique special attack and speed. The eight selectable characters are:
--Fastest: Ayame, Rin, Kagura
--Moderate: Rikimaru, Tesshu, Onikage
--Slowest: Tenrai, Nasu
And the special attacks may range from four flames being shot from each direction for the duration of 1 to 2 seconds or a bomb throw.
Overall the graphics and music in this game are quite decent for an arcade entry on the Xbox Live market and Tenchu: Shadow Assault does not disappoint those who enjoy properly made strategy-based titles whether they play single player or battle it out with players on multiplayer with multiple traps at their disposal. If you're also looking for a game that can beat the mundane quality of Bomberman you will definitely like Shadow Assault. I believe this game deserves a solid 7/10 for the reasons that I have mentioned.