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Dynasty Warriors Review
Written by Modojo Staff on Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Solid controls and graphics, nice unlockables, and generally true to the series.
The short battles offer little challenge, and won't win anyone over.
Hack-an-slash action comes to the PSP in the form of Koei's Dynasty Warriors, a pint-sized version of the popular console series that takes place in ancient China. The game provides plenty of enemy soldiers to kill and battles to take part in, but it ultimately fails because of some poor design execution.
If you're at all familiar with the Dynasty Warriors series there's nothing about this game that'll necessarily amaze you. Just like its big brothers, the game's based on Luo Guanzhong's novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Playing as one of many Chinese leaders, you battle in an effort to crush the opposition's will by taking advantage of a host of crazy special moves that enable to you slaughter numerous enemies with a single blow.
The game is loaded with pretty effects and it looks very much like the PS2 games... at first glance. Unfortunately, character models are a bit jaggy, and the game retains all of the visual problems from the other versions, including clipping, slowdown, and a near Silent Hill level of fog that obscures the backgrounds.
However, to the developers' credit the game does look quite impressive in motion. The engine is capable of tossing well over twenty characters on screen at a time, and the opening FMV sequence looks amazing. The game's music is also impressive, but only if you're a fan of the soundtracks to the other games. A mix of Asian themes and rock music, the music in Dynasty Warriors did manage to get me pumped for battle.
Disappointingly, the game ripped out my adrenaline tube after I completed its first mission that must've been only two minutes long. This is the real problem with the game. In an attempt to make it accessible to portable gamers, Koei decided to make the majority of the battles only minutes long. You'll ride in on your horse, kill maybe 15 enemies, and move onto the next stage in the time that it takes to flush a toilet and watch the water go down.
What this does is rob any sort of depth and strategy the game could've had. I know that the other games aren't well known for being too much more than hack-and-slash button mashers, but extending the levels would've given this title some legs. Sadly, strategy ends with deciding which officers you want to bring into battle with you.
Other than causing some serious abuse to your Square button, the controls are fairly solid. Musou and Charge attacks are immediately accessible via the Circle and Triangle buttons, respectively. However, the game forces you to move with the system's analog nub. While this system works fine, being able to choose would've been appreciated.
The camera is also a huge pain in the rear. You really don't have access to it, so you'll race right past enemies, and by the time you turn around you won't have a clue where they are. Of course, the odds that they were eaten by the fog are pretty good.
Lastly, I'm not too impressed with the game's AI, which is dumber than an old bagel. While the game's NPCs will put up a fight later on, in the beginning they just stand there waiting for you to hit them. If I wanted this kind of a challenge, I'd beat up a snowman.
Nitpicks aside, one area this game excels in is its unlockables. Dynasty Warriors has a ton of officers you can uncover, and you're able to trade them with other people. If your friend has the one guy you've wanted for some time you may be able to strike some sort of deal.
If you're not already a Dynasty Warriors fan, this PSP title won't convert you as it's both boring and difficult to get into. There's very little satisfaction taken from pounding on some stupid NPCs for thirty seconds, and unless you're intent on unlocking all of the officers you'll probably tire of this game quickly. We look forward to Koei's future attempts on the PSP, as this one just doesn't cut it for us.
