The perfect companion to the cult-classic film
User Rating: 9.4 | The Warriors PSP
This is what every movie tie-in should be. It's not just a bunch of levels thrown together to highlight the best scenes of the film...this takes it to a whole new level. I had originally purchased The Warriors for the PS2, and after playing the first couple of missions, I ran out to rent the movie so I would have a better understanding of what was going on. Being a child of the late-70's and early-80's, I appreciated the way Rockstar kept the music and dialogue authentic. Unfotuately, I don't have as much time as I like to play console games, so I traded it towards the PSP version. This turned out to be one of the best games I have played on the system. I was never much of a fan of the GTA series (although I do own both of the Stories titles for PSP) due to the violent nature of the games. This was quite a change, seeing only 2 guns in the entire game and never once will a character in your party lay hands on one. This is a throwback to a day when men settled their differences with their fists (as well as 2x4's, lead pipes, beer bottles, etc.) instead of resorting to pulling a gun on anyone that crossed them. If you had a problem with someone and you wanted to rough them up, you had to be tough and ready to take a few bruises. And that's what this game is all about. You're going to fight, and fight dirty. The abundance of side-missions and the creativity of the objectives keep this from being just another button-mashing brawler. No matter how many times I tagged a rival gang's burner (Warriors' lingo for spray painting over a rival's graffiti) I still found it a challenge to finish the mini-game in one try. Stealing car stereos, mugging, and resisting arrest became clever mini-games as well, and all of them helped break up the monotony of running and brawling. The game does have a decent length with 18 levels, 5 flashback levels (each of which is about as long as a regular level), the Armies of the Night "arcade" game (a Double Dragon style brawler) and plenty of side-missions. But it did feel like the last 5 levels could have been more. The first 13 levels and the flashback missions all take place as a prequel to the movie and can be considerably long, especially with the amount of ground you can explore. But once you get to level 14, it drops off considerably. It relies heavily on (very well produced) cut scenes to tell the story while the gameplay becomes very linear and the levels seem almost too short. I did however enjoy the different gameplay elements they implemented like the timed button pressing to escape the Turnbull ACs' bus, and the vigorous button-mashing to run from the Baseball Furies. I can't really complain about anything as far as controls, camera, or graphics. In fact, having played both the console and handheld versions, this is a near-perfect port. The graphics held up retaining the gritty look of dirty, grungy city streets, the controls are easy to master even with the lack of a second analog and are very comfortable, and the sound was top notch including all of the songs from the film's soundtrack. Even though the dialogue may be almost 30 years old, they really captured the feel of the late 70's with great performances by almost all of the original cast (Roger Hill didn't return as Cyrus), Pat Floyd was a perfect stand-in for the late Lynne Thigpen (the radio DJ) and Andy Senor filling in for the late Marcelino Sanchez (Rembrandt). Overall, this is one of the greatest movie tie-ins to be made, period. It's also one of the best ports for thhe PSP and it really shows what the system is capable with the amount of detail, gameplay, and combination of voices, music, and CGI video. A $20 price tag doesn't hurt either. Grab it up...you won't be disappointed.
