Hands-On: PS2 Dynasty Warriors 2

TOKYO - Koei displayed an impressive new game at its TGS booth called Shin Sangoku Musou (Dynasty Warriors 2 in the US). Shin Sangoku Musou, a fighting game of sorts, lets you pick a warrior and then thrusts you into the center of a battlefield. It's you vs. a multitude of enemies, and the only weapon you have to fend them off with is your sword.

The game features some pretty impressive graphics - the fighters look quite realistic and animate well. This is especially nice to see considering there are often about 20 people onscreen at a time. You can also find horses to ride on the battlefield that look really good too. It looks to us as though a lot of the models for the characters and horses were borrowed from Koei's other great-looking PlayStation2 title Kessen.

As for how the game plays, we have mixed feelings about it. While it's very cool to battle hundreds of people at a time, the game often just feels clunky. This is mainly due to the enemy AI - sometimes enemies just walk around en masse like drones just there for you to hack up. We hope this is cleaned up by the game's release date. Otherwise, the game will get old incredibly fast - you need worthy opponents for battle! Fight with honor!