Tenchu, the popular stealth based series where players assumed the role of a ninja, is making a return to next-gen consoles.

Microsoft have now confirmed that the next title in the series, Tenchu Z will debut exclusively on the Xbox 360 and will feature over 50 missions.

Tenchu Z will be the eighth game in the Tenchu series. It is different from previous games in the series in that the player creates their own ninja characters, then builds up their skills as they play through the game rather than choosing from a small selection of pre-made characters, as they take orders from the series' previous main male character, Rikimaru. It features four-player cooperative play through Xbox Live.

The game's character edit features will be quite in-depth, allowing you to use gold obtained by doing well in missions both in single player and multiplayer to purchase new aesthetic styles for your ninja, new abilities, items to use during missions, and different special attacks to use in combat, in addition to combo-editing abilities.

"True ninja mastery only comes with keen use of sound, sight and smell detection as you learn new moves and obtain new weapons. Patience and strategic thinking with use of the stealth kill system is rewarded over a run and gun style of hand to hand combat."

The release date is currently set for May in North America, with the European launch date yet to be announced.

Check out this video on You Tube which reveals character creation. The video is taken from the Japanese game Tenchu Senran which has been available in Japan since September last year. Tenchu Z will be the same game, but with a different name.