A lot of game critics aren't fans of hack 'n slashes such as Dynasty Warriors. Well I am, and this game is sick.
Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 9/10
Replayability: 8/10
Learning Curve: If you're familar with Dynasty Warriors or anything by Koei concerning masses of enemies and a weapon, then you'll have this down in seconds. If you're not, there's a quick tutorial mode and mastery should only take about 20 minutes.
Pros:
- First thing's first: The Soundtrack. Oh dear god, they could not have done any better if they had the entire line up of Sonisphere Festival at their disposal. Japanese musician Haruki Yamada has double-bass pedal blaring, guitar screaming, mind numbing heavy metal goodness rumbling thoughout the bloodshed, and it is just.... so..... good. I went out of my way to download the soundtrack, it really is that good.
- So unlike Dynasty Warriors, there's an awful lot of gore, and gore is tantamount to awesome in my books.
- The graphics are impressive compared to Koei's normal roster of late-PS2 lookalike creations such as Warriors Orochi and Dynasty Warriors 7, I mean really impressive, although there are some minor hitches that I will go into in the Cons section.
- There are plenty of attack options and you can unlock interchangeable finishing moves (or Signature attacks) for each character, maximum of four on the battlefield, 8 in total, and they are on the whole - really quite beautiful to behold, mainly the ones with a hundred lightning-fast punches and the air visibly distorts as the shirt on the opponent begins to rip. There are throws with primary and secondary attack options based on whether you press X or Y when the enemy is grappled, a Rage-like mode (The Focus Gauge) which gives you a limited times beefing and access to an even more powerful finishing move and the ability to pick things up to use as weapons, all this in addition to what you normally expect of a Dynasty Warriors style game.
- The campaign runs smoothly, you have a predestined path that is always indicated on your map, in stark contrast to Dynasty Warriors where you are left to your own devices.
- Cutscenes are well detailed and beautifully voiced by the actors.
- Enemies are varied enough to make the game less monotonous as it may actually appear
- Cooperative gameplay with a friend in the room is always a blast
- Camera angles, motion and screen shake are beautifully rendered. When you come to finish off an opponent, the camera zooms in for that blood splattering finish, and during the kick ass Signature move, the camera shows the move from 3 different angles and then slows down on the final strike and lastly even when you are trawling through fodder, the cameras slow down for a hefty strike of yours, making it all the more satisfying.
- For the price you can now get this game at (£12/$20), it's a better option than going straight for a £40/$60 brand new one.
Cons:
- Frames can be a little inconsistent during cooperative play when there are many enemies on the screen.
- When a character has a damaged costume, the torso is always badly pixelated for some reason, no matter who the character (besides Jagi or Kenshiro)
- There aren't a massive amount of playable characters
- Graphics for explosions needs some work, they currently look like N64 style Perfect Dark.
The Verdict:
This game is for all all intents and purposes a man's game, be it the Heavy Metal soundtrack, Jagi constantly shouting "Say my name. b*tches!" or the thin translucent skirt on Mamiya's thighs that goes entirely transparent when she is crawling. There are no two ways about this, if you like Dynasty Warriors, then it may take an hour or so, but you will fall in love with this game, it is seriously, seriously addictive. I don't know what critics like IGN are thinking about when they slam a game like this, probably because the actual critic has a personal preference to FPS games, but it is always the same nonsense of these games being "too monotonous" or something, well the monotony IS the fun! Maybe I want to spend hours on end kicking scrubs into walls and watching them explode for my own amusement. All I'm saying is - for me, this game melts the butter on my crumpet, if you have never had any affinity for this genre before you probably won't feel any different, but for a fan of the series Fist of the North Star or for someone who just plain loves monotony and gore, this is the creme of the creme. No homo.