Sunday 22 / December / 2024
Hayato shimmies across the wooden banister, his catlike stance pronounced as he keeps to the shadows, just out of sight of the guards who patrol the governor’s estate. His adversaries carry a torch in one hand and a Japanese naginata in the other, tools with which to keep the darkness and their enemies at bay. For Hayato, though, the darkness is his friend. He drops down from the parapet into a hedge below, the faint rustle barely registering. The moonlight catches the gleam of his shuriken, as he prepares to dispatch the guard blocking the doorway to the estate.
Shuriken-jutsu, the ninja whispers, before aiming his trusty weapon at the nearest guard. A fount of red erupts from his throat. From a nearby alcove, his accomplice, Yuki, moves quickly to hide the body before the samurai on patrol spots her. She’s not quick enough though: Blade drawn, the elite warrior charges towards the lithe thief, only to be stopped by one of his own ilk: Mugen makes quick work of his counterpart, before hurling his enemy’s corpse into a nearby lake.
The resultant splash is heard by two nearby guards, who unsling their rifles and rush to investigate. They’re stopped, not by the sight of the rapidly sinking body, but by Aiko. Disguised as a geisha, she saunters towards them, mesmerising the unsuspecting duo with her charm.
Concealed in a tower far away, the elderly Takuma-san has his sniper rifle trained on the duo. He picks off one of the two with his sharpshooting skills. Before the other can react, Aiko has finished him off with a poisoned pin between the shoulder blades.
Their immediate foes dispatched, the five regroup to quell the rebellion in this part of feudal Japan and bring peace to the Shogunate.
Welcome to the world of Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun. Set in Japan’s 17th century Edo era, this stealth game from Daedalic Entertainment puts you in command of five warriors, recruited by the Emperor of Japan to investigate a rebellion brewing across the Land of the Rising Sun.
Peace has only just returned to the land, but there are many inside Japan who wish to prolong this strife and profit from the chaos. The rebels are led by the elusive Kage-sama who has stockpiled weapons in local villages and enslaved the local population to work his war machine.
Kage-sama knows the shogun will come after him, and while he has posted his forces throughout the land, there are always unscrupulous peasants who will willingly cooperate with him to meet their own selfish needs. And this makes our heroes’ job all the more difficult: At its heart, Blades of the Shogun is a game that rewards stealth over strength. I’ve played my share of combat games, but this to me was a whole new ballgame.
Because your job is to deliver justice from the shadows. If you decide to knock down the front door instead of picking it, all you’ll do is sound the alarm and draw out the local garrison, making your job all the more difficult. It’s easy for first timers to think Daedalic’s lovingly crafted hand-drawn environment is geared against them, but as you go on, you learn that the stunning landscapes of Feudal Japan, which range from a castle under siege, with banners aflutter and cannons firing into the distance, to a gorgeous mountain monastery complete with shrines, monks and even incense chambers, are not really easy to discern in black or white, but have shades to them.
Leave footprints in the snow, for example and your enemies will follow them, but lead them into an ambush and you’ve made your job a whole lot easier. The vines that dangle from cliffs and form an integral part of the landscape aren’t just there for aesthetic purposes either. Scurry up and down them, and use them to your advantage to stay out of sight of the enemy.
As the game progresses, you learn to appreciate its subtleties. You realise that however hard your mission, however insurmountable the odds, you are not caught between a rock and a hard place. Instead, you are the water, always flowing and adjusting to its surroundings.
And always finding a way around any obstacle. A perfect game for your weekend download.
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The Short and Skinny
Name: Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
Genre: Stealth Action
Producers: Daedali Entertainment and Mimimi Productions
What it’s about: Your Shogun has called upon you to restore peace, honour and glory
to Japan. Will you answer the call?
Platforms: Windows, Linux, Mac OS, PlayStation, Xbox
Where to Buy: Steam Store (Windows/Mac), PlayStation Store, Xbox Marketplace
IGN Rating: 8.2/10
