Compared to the previous Dynasty Warriors Titles, Especially 6, It has plenty of potential...

User Rating: 9 | Shin Sangoku Musou 6 PS3
Opening:

Dynasty Warriors has been one of my all time favorite games for a long time, but with the previous installation, Dynasty Warriors 6, I had my doubts if Koei was going to come back from such a hard blow. But then I played Samurai Warriors 3 last year and It shut me up, Now we come to this year, Dynasty Warriors 7.

I must say that this game has actually surpassed all my expectations of what I thought it was going to be. This being said the game is not without its flaws, nor is it the greatest beat-em-up in history, It is what it needs to be and thats just fine with me. This being said I'll get down to the points I'll be making starting with...

Story:

Dynasty Warriors has forever revolved around the tale of the Three Kingdoms. As such for a major history buff like me, it is exceptionally fun to play and learn about the new things found in the logs of history. The story up until seven revolved around the kingdoms of Wu Shu and Wei, These kingdoms from their humble beginnings to their grueling defeats was always fun for me as a kid to play and learn from.

Seven introduces a fourth new and historic kingdom, the kingdom of Jin, a kingdom founded by Sima Yi, and the one which united all of the land into one. This being said the game goes a little farther in the storyline of the Three Kingdoms then the original six did, it goes into detail of how Jin defeated the mighty kingdom of Wei, and then completely slaughtered the kingdoms of Shu and Wu. Due to this I have to say that for what it is the storyline is more advanced and there for better then the original six which opens up the fact that for a Dynasty Warriors game, this story is epic.

Game-play:

The number one problem I had with Dynasty Warriors 6 and it's spin-offs was the massive game-play change. Six got rid of the level-up system that all the other games had, and gave the characters a more fantasy get up then one of historic value which is what I rate this game on. Seven reintroduced the old combat style system, with brand new additions that shot my expectations out of the roof. It opened the way to make this game more tolerable then its predecessors. Sure their weapons are still a little fantasy oriented and their abilities even more so, but for the most part 95% of the characters in the game are historically correct in most of the things they do.

The next thing about the game-play is the cut-scenes they are gorgeous, they transition smoothly, and near perfectly. I was a little turned off by their neglect to introduce a 'Freemode' like they did in all the other games and instead went with a 'conquest' mode which you could play online with friends. While that in a total is okay, They could've easily added a freemode or at least added an Character Creation into conquest to make it more interesting. Unlike games before 6 thanks to the power of the X360 and the PS3 the people can come in droves instead of just five at a time and they don't randomly disappear which is a plus.

The level-up system for this game is more advanced as well as more realistic, basically the more you knock-out officers the more Skill Points, or SP, you get. You can then use collected SP to gain specialized abilities as well as other special characteristics that your character has special to them. The main problem I have with this is how -easy- it is to gain enough points to maximize your character out, I played three levels with Zhao Yun and I maximized out his ability to hit all six times and use the charge up to level five. It might be worth mentioning as well that the system has also gotten rid of the 'Level-up' aspect of this and instead of gaining levels, you now simply pick up things officers drop when you beat them to increase your six stats.

Finally, This is my favorite part, the game no longer limits you to your own single weapon. You can use a characters historical weapon or switch out during battle if you want with a weapon that you gained through battle or bought before hand. This allows more variety and a more historic feeling to it, because while the characters use historic weapons, I'm sure at one point or another someone had to pick up another weapon and use it. Though I might want to mention as well that the character specials known as 'EX Attacks' can not be done without the character specific weapon type, For example Zhao Yun's EX can not be used without a Spear type weapon.

Graphics:

The graphics are actually really good, despite how they used to be and how they still are in some games (Warriors Orochi anyone?). The game has given life to these characters who have long since died with Koei/Tecmo's masterful graphics. The characters look borderline real, while at the same time still retaining their lack of realism. The game gives a real feeling to everything you do, attacks and otherwise. There really isn't much to give on graphics but it is overly amazing in what it is.

Sound:

Dynasty Warriors has always been known for three main aspects, its unique storyline, Its beat-em-up capabilities that never seem to get old, and its amazing rock/metal soundtrack that blows your mind, this game is no different. The game holds a masterful array of soundtracks that you can enjoy throughout the game. Like the old games the game has a Remixed version of Lu Bu's theme, but unlike the other games, this game has an Original Soundtrack. Which works for me because in the old games all of the songs were basic remixes of the songs from the past or from the game before.

The Voice Acting for the game is as gorgeous as ever, Featuring the Talents of Jamieson Price once more reprising his role as Lu Bu, Yuri Lowell once more doing Sun Ce, and a barrage of other voice actors that you know and love from several different video games. The actors add in their expertise of emotion during their lines, its like you can actually feel the pain and suffering that the characters are going through. That is why I say that the voice acting is gorgeous, and deffinitly worth putting into play here in the review.

Final Thoughts:

As I said several times throughout the review the game has surpassed all my expectations in several forms. The game is easily and most definitely the best game in the entire Dynasty Warriors game series hands down. It has its flaws, but so do many of the other games that everyone claims to love and care for. The storyline is massively complete and the game-play is amazing, The sound and Graphics are top of the line. Compared to other beat-em-ups this game is one of the best. That is why I say that anyone new to the series should start here, and if you enjoy beat-em-ups you should definitely buy this game.