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Fly On
September 21st, 2005, 04:48
Koei's latest iteration of the popular franchise Dynasty Warriors has been on the PSP shelves for a while. So how does it stack up against other PSP games? Let's take a look:


Graphics:2/5
The graphics don't look fantastic. Player models are pixelated in gameplay, and the environment is not detailed well. On the victory screen after each mission, you get a close up of your player model, and it just it just looks bad. In addition, draw distances are ridiculously short. You are litarally sorrounded by gray fog in each level, and enemies tend to creep up on you unless you follow your map display.
In contrast to a game such as WipeOut Pure, with astounding graphics, this game just doesn't seem to cut it.

Sound: 4/5
I'll be lenient on the soundtrack. It's mainly a fusion of rock and traditional Chinese music, but the soundtracks themselves are not too diverse. But they sound good.
The sound effects are good too. You will eventually come to love the death groan of the lower grunts, and you will rush them first just to hear them go "Uhhh-uhhhh."

Controls:3/5
Dynasty Warriors suffers in this category. The camera controls force you to completely stop in order to focus behind the player, and this is usually just enough time for an enemy officer to use one of their special attacks on you--it gets really annoying. Sometimes, because you use the stick to move the player around, it gets hard to get the player exactly where you want him/her to go. This is only a serious problem when you are fighting another general. Other than that, precision movement isn't needed at all when slaughtering hordes of enemy soldiers :p.

Gameplay 4/5:
Yeah, yeah, I know, it's a Dynasty Warriors game, you played one you've played 'em all. But leave me be--this is the first Dynasty Warriors game I have ever owned.
In Musou Mode, or Story Mode, you choose to fight under the banner of one of three kingdoms- Wu, Wei, or Shu of ancient China. Each side initially has 5 or so playable generals, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.
In addition to choosing your general, you also choose your subordinate officers to fight under you. This is one of my favorite aspects of this game. Some officers are mage-like warriors that give you the ability to Ice-Freeze your opponents in battle. Others give you the ability to recover your health, give you a horse (or battle elephant :D), or up you defense or offense stats, in addition to being above average grunts in battle. However, the "better" an officer, the more points he (or her) costs to use, and you only have 25 points to spend.
Each mission is organized into a battlefield map. You choose enemy positions to attack, and the battle begins. IN order to succesfully complete each mission, you must conquer the main enemy camp. You fail if you die (duh!),if your own main camp is taken by the enemy, or if your army runs out of supplies.
Depending on the number of enemy or allied generals at that particular location, the battle will be easy or tough. Fighting is pretty straightforward-simply run to a group of enemy soldiers and hack 'em up to pieces. If find yourself sorrounded, and your "Musou" power meter is full, you can unleash a unique devastating attack sure to down any foe in your path. Enemy grunts are somewhat diverse-some weild spears, others bow and arrows, and others swords. Each type of grunt has an upgraded officer version, who are more powerful and have more health than normal grunties. The generals each have their own levels, and as you progress through each mission you will notice that they have leveled up, becoming more formidable enemies.
You only have a limited amount of supplies, so you can't crusade across the map and level up at will. You can significantly increase your supply stores by conquering depots. A decision between storming a depot or going straight through to the enemy camp can decide whtether you win or fail the mission.
In addition to Musou mode, you can play in Free Mode, where you can fight as any general in any side ony any completed level.
Being new to the Dynasty Warriors franchise, I found the gameplay quite repetitive, but fun. However, long load times plague the game in between each sub mission. However, the game is addictive, and still makes Dyansty Warriors worthwile to play.


Overall:3/5
If you are into simple, hack 'n slash games, then Dynasty Warriors is perfect for you. Dynasty Warrior veterans, feel free to tackle this one, but I do not expect you to be surprised by this package. Gamers prefering puzzles or games that actually involve strategy...steer a bit away from this one. For you guys, you might as well get Untold Legends for ten bucks cheaper than this game.

password9
September 21st, 2005, 23:45
Well here is my take on the game. I own all the PS2 dynasty warriors games and love them. I love facing 50+ guys and beating the crap out of them. I also love the large maps with at least 1,000 guys to fight. Finally, what I love most are the weapons and items you can find which your character can equip and use in any future levels. These reasons are why I love dynasty warriors.

How does the PSP version stack up? In a nutshell, it shouldn't even be called dynasty warriors. First, gone are the huge levels. The entire game has turned into a card battle. Select an area, wait 20s for the level to load, fight 10 guys who are virtually impossible to locate due to the large character size and small screen size, and then after you beat them the level exits. That's it. That's basically the entire game. Stage after stage of that. I don't know if it's a memory limitation for why the PSP doesn't have huge levels or what, but I'm sorry, the area you play in can't even be called a level. I feel like I'm fighting in a cadge. Also what is up with the 10guys or so. Seriously. I want to fight 50+ guys on a level with at least 1,000 opponents. So my second beef with this game is the lack of guys to fight on each level. If KOEI can't make large levels, at least give me a horde of guys to fight... My third complaint, and the biggest one, is the 100% complete removal of all weapons and items! There is simply no excuse for this! This game contains NO weapon powerups. NO new weapons. NO items to collect to modify your character. Nothing whatever!

So this game has been turned into a mini-battle game where you fight 10 guys per 20s load and that's it. Out of 5 stars I wouldn't even give it 1. I'm not buying the next DW game for the PSP until I've read the reviews and am satisfied that it contains the elements which make DW for the console good imho.

Also, a reason for this crap title, and other crap titles (like twisted metal) is probably the rush to get the system out with games. Anyone notice how there are virtually NO new games for the system since the system's launch? Talk about a rush job on Sony's part. Why mention this? Probably to indicate that all you guys with an XBOX 360 preorder are probably in for the same treat. Remember, the 360 is 100% different architecture. Gone is the Intel setup; instead, go read the articles on how difficult this sucker is to program for. There will be about 5 crap launch titles for it, and it won't be until probably June of next year will we see some decent titles. Just food for thought guys.

Btw, I don't want to hear anyone supporting Twisted Metal for the PSP either. What a piece of sh*t. Takes a good 10-15 min to connect to an online game. The cars have the worst movement in the world. They rotate so easily it doesn't even feel like you're driving a car. Hard as hell to pinpoint opponents locations, yada yada yada. Nutshell is, these days, games for new systems aren't even qualified to be called "first-gen" games.

Privateer
September 29th, 2005, 01:13
Dynasty Warriors are just okay, in my opinion. Buying more than one is a waste, though - as you've said, you play one, you've played them all; Dynasty Warriors is the epideme of button smashers, and it gets really boring after a while.