Tenchu2 itself isn't an utterly terrible game--I know I've put in a good  10 hours or more on it, but what's frustrating is how there is so much  promise and so much failure both in the same package.  The feel of the game  is that Activision rushed this one out the door, and throughout the game  you'll find bugs, glitches and all sorts of annoying problems that would  lead one to believe that the game wasn't even beta tested.  Here's my list  of gripes:
-The controls are worse than Tenchu 1:  Of course, Tenchu 1 is  clunky but they are even worse here.  A lot of would-be perfect kills will  get ruined because what should have landed you right on top of your enemy  has you rolling out in front of them or some other stupid  stunt.
-Ridiculous AI:  Tenchu 1 did not have the best AI but it was far  superior to this.  I've walked in front of guards and had them not see me.  On the other hand, some guards are capable of seeing me through the back of  their head.  Also, guards quickly forget your presence and seem completely  uninterested in pursuing you once you are out of sight.  Yup, you can be  one foot away from them but under water, and neither can they see through  the water nor are they patient enough to wait even a minute to see if  you'll resurface (nor wonder why a bamboo air-pipe is suddenly sticking out  of the water.)  This is really a let down given that there were reports  that the AI would be vastly improved, guards noting blood running along a  stream or looking for fallen bodies (blood doesn't run down stream in the  game anyway.)  Other guards can see you without even being present.  This  is a neat trick when your KI meter is in the teens or lower and you can't  see anyone but they can see you.
-Graphic interface or whatever you want  to call it:  Graphics are just plain sloppy--my ninja is often teleported  up four feet instead of actually having to climb or jump over fences  anymore .  In the same manner, when dragging bodies I've been able to leave  them hanging in mid air, as though supported by an invisible floor of  glass.
-Graphics in general:  Sometimes the backgrounds go through  objects (IE you can see the sun and clouds THROUGH a wall of mountains.  Also, sometimes you can see guards out of your perriphrial vision but not  straight ahead.
-Inconsistancy with stealth kills:  Again, not only can  guards see you out of the back of their head, but some -cannot- be stealth  killed. PERIOD.  This wasn't evident until playing Tatsumaru's 'labor  shortage' level where certain guards could not be knocked unconscious even  with 20 tries or so.  Incidentally, this level seems nearly unbeatable and  I think gives even more evidence that this was a rushed job.  With 20 tries  on this level, I could not beat it, and I can't say I really want to  anymore.
-Difficulty level:  A good friend of mine nearly sold this  within the first week until we dug up the cheat code.  The game is nearly  unplayable without the armor, but it is almost impossible to get a grand  master, so you can't get the armor. This would be different if I could  start looting guards for blow darts on level 1, but even then, those are  useless against bosses, and between the combination of worsened controls,  bad camera angles and 'two hits and your dead' boss damage, Activision has  managed to take all the fun out of Tenchu and turned it into a tedious and  frustrating derision of the first game.
-Voice assignment:  This is  thefunniest glitch.  Sometimes the voices of the guards are the wrong  gender, and probably the glitch that had me laughing the hardest was when  the shark started talking.  C'mon folks!  The shark should not talk.  Please test your game before releasing it.
-Mission editor is a joke:  Ok, this isn't really a glitch, but really, I can't even make roofs in this  thing.  The saving grace would have been being able to make an island full  of cats or something, but all you get are boring people (maybe you can make  a bunch of godha's samurai and evil samurai line up like some insane  football game?)
My overall take on this game is that while Activision  certainly added a lot of new things to make Tenchu the 5/5 it should have  been, they lost it where it really counted--the outstanding game play that  made Tenchu 1.  Sure, Tenchu 2 has a lot of improvements, but none of this  makes up for the lack of AI, a soundtrack, good controls, and an  environment that reacts in a realistic way instead of one that has so many  bugs in it I never know how it will react.
I sincerely hope Tenchu 3  will be the game this should have been.  There are a lot of great ideas  here, but they just seem so poorly executed that it makes one long for the  game this should have been. It's still somewhat enjoyable (especially with  the cheat codes), and its glitchyness is sometimes amusing, but all and all  it isn't worth the $40 price tag--maybe you should look around your local  vendors...my used copy will be showing up soon :)
Tenchu2 itself isn't an utterly terrible game--I know I've put in a good  10 hours or more on it, but what's frustrating is how there is so much  promise and so much failure both in the same package. The feel of the game  is that Activision rushed this one out the door, and throughout the game  you'll find bugs, glitches and all sorts of annoying problems that would  lead one to believe that the game wasn't even beta tested. Here's my list  of gripes:
-The controls are worse than Tenchu 1:  Of course, Tenchu 1 is  clunky but they are even worse here. A lot of would-be perfect kills will  get ruined because what should have landed you right on top of your enemy  has you rolling out in front of them or some other stupid  stunt. -Ridiculous AI:  Tenchu 1 did not have the best AI but it was far  superior to this. I've walked in front of guards and had them not see me. On the other hand, some guards are capable of seeing me through the back of  their head. Also, guards quickly forget your presence and seem completely  uninterested in pursuing you once you are out of sight. Yup, you can be  one foot away from them but under water, and neither can they see through  the water nor are they patient enough to wait even a minute to see if  you'll resurface (nor wonder why a bamboo air-pipe is suddenly sticking out  of the water. )  This is really a let down given that there were reports  that the AI would be vastly improved, guards noting blood running along a  stream or looking for fallen bodies (blood doesn't run down stream in the  game anyway. )  Other guards can see you without even being present. This  is a neat trick when your KI meter is in the teens or lower and you can't  see anyone but they can see you. -Graphic interface or whatever you want  to call it:  Graphics are just plain sloppy--my ninja is often teleported  up four feet instead of actually having to climb or jump over fences  anymore. In the same manner, when dragging bodies I've been able to leave  them hanging in mid air, as though supported by an invisible floor of  glass. -Graphics in general:  Sometimes the backgrounds go through  objects (IE you can see the sun and clouds THROUGH a wall of mountains. Also, sometimes you can see guards out of your perriphrial vision but not  straight ahead. -Inconsistancy with stealth kills:  Again, not only can  guards see you out of the back of their head, but some -cannot- be stealth  killed. PERIOD. This wasn't evident until playing Tatsumaru's 'labor  shortage' level where certain guards could not be knocked unconscious even  with 20 tries or so. Incidentally, this level seems nearly unbeatable and  I think gives even more evidence that this was a rushed job. With 20 tries  on this level, I could not beat it, and I can't say I really want to  anymore. -Difficulty level:  A good friend of mine nearly sold this  within the first week until we dug up the cheat code. The game is nearly  unplayable without the armor, but it is almost impossible to get a grand  master, so you can't get the armor. This would be different if I could  start looting guards for blow darts on level 1, but even then, those are  useless against bosses, and between the combination of worsened controls,  bad camera angles and 'two hits and your dead' boss damage, Activision has  managed to take all the fun out of Tenchu and turned it into a tedious and  frustrating derision of the first game. -Voice assignment:  This is  thefunniest glitch. Sometimes the voices of the guards are the wrong  gender, and probably the glitch that had me laughing the hardest was when  the shark started talking. C'mon folks! The shark should not talk. Please test your game before releasing it. -Mission editor is a joke:  Ok, this isn't really a glitch, but really, I can't even make roofs in this  thing. The saving grace would have been being able to make an island full  of cats or something, but all you get are boring people (maybe you can make  a bunch of godha's samurai and evil samurai line up like some insane  football game? )
My overall take on this game is that while Activision  certainly added a lot of new things to make Tenchu the 5/5 it should have  been, they lost it where it really counted--the outstanding game play that  made Tenchu 1. Sure, Tenchu 2 has a lot of improvements, but none of this  makes up for the lack of AI, a soundtrack, good controls, and an  environment that reacts in a realistic way instead of one that has so many  bugs in it I never know how it will react. I sincerely hope Tenchu 3  will be the game this should have been. There are a lot of great ideas  here, but they just seem so poorly executed that it makes one long for the  game this should have been. It's still somewhat enjoyable (especially with  the cheat codes), and its glitchyness is sometimes amusing, but all and all  it isn't worth the $40 price tag--maybe you should look around your local  vendors... my used copy will be showing up soon :)