Warriors: Legends of Troy Hands-On

Simple as its gameplay might be, the Dynasty Warriors series has a dedicated legion of fans, happy to lose themselves in the large-scale if repetitive battles the games offer up in spades. In our brief hands-on with Warriors: Legends of Troy today, we found that the game bears not only the Warriors moniker, but also its gameplay style. It's uncomplicated fun, and it looks like Dynasty Warriors fans may find plenty to like in this new series.

As its name implies, Legends of Troy doesn't take place in ancient China, but during the 10 years of the famous Battle of Troy. Publisher Tecmo Koei says the game stays true to period influences, including Homer's epic poem The Iliad. In our gameplay session, we played as Achilles and began by moving up a hill to take on some enemy soldiers. Attacks are basic: you have a strong and light attack, and pressing them in different combinations results in some simple combos. Our initial foes were complete pushovers, mostly standing around as Achilles mowed them down with his sword.

The game also features a shield bash button, which makes Achilles push forward his own shield in an effort to unbalance opponents. Using shield bash became useful quickly in our game session, with shielded foes blocking our attacks and needing that extra nudge to open up their guard. Weakened or fleeing enemies can also be flashily executed by simply pressing the Y button--this will make Achilles perform a cool cinematic kill, such as stabbing an opponent in the head or doing a jumping lunge.

It wouldn't be a Warriors game without some sort of super move, and Legends of Troy certainly features those. The game has its own version of the Dynasty Warriors series' musuo bar--activate it and your hero's attacks will do big damage, but the effect lasts only a short while.

While we didn't see it in action, Tecmo Koei reps say the game will feature a similar item drop system to previous Dynasty Warriors titles, with new weapons, equipable abilities, and more dropping from certain foes. There will also be more characters to play as, and each will have a unique style and method of attack.

There's no confirmed release date for Warriors: Legends of Troy aside from sometime in 2011, but it will land on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. GameSpot will have more information on this game as it comes to hand.