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| | Title:
Dynasty Warriors 5
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System:
Playstation 2
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Genre:
Adventure/Arcade
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Publisher:
KOEI Corporation
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Developer:
Omega Force
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Release:
September 23, 2005
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Online:
No
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ESRB:
Teen (T)
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Dynasty Warriors is definitely not a new series. It might even seem it is as even as old as its setting (the three ancient kingdoms of China), but it has been around since the original Playstation and is now on its 5th major title, conveniently named Dynasty Warriors 5. As you play through the newest game, you will not only notice a good amount of additions, but you will also get to learn a little about Chinese history.
Gameplay
If you aren't familiar with the Dynasty Warriors franchise, you should know that this game is all about the player--an elite soldier--going up against huge armies and coming out successful. By using a number of different attacks and tactical maneuvers, you can easily send twenty to thirty soldiers flying through the air back to where they came from. This is what Dynasty Warriors is all about, and as you progress though each level it will actually count how many soldiers you have killed and it isn't unlikely for that number to top 1,000.
When you first fire up the game, there are a number of different game modes you can choose from. The main game mode is "Mosou" Mode, and the others are Free Mode, Challenge Mode, and then another few for options and information. Mosou Mode is most similar to career mode in most games, and you will be able to pick your character before you begin your quest. At any time during the Mosou mode, a second player can join in on the action; the same goes with the Free Mode.
Free Mode allows you to select a certain scenario that you have already played in Musou Mode and play through the mission again. Challenge Mode is where a lot of the fun is at. Within the Challenge Mode is the Time Attack (defeat 100 enemies as fast as possible), Bridge Melee (knock as many enemies off the bridge as possible), Rampage (kill as many enemies as possible in a time limit), and Sudden Death (everyone dies in one hit; kill as many enemies as possible). Other options on the main menu contain Camp, where you can see officers, weapons, and items, the Encyclopedia where you can see the history of The Three Kingdoms and other information, and of course options, where you can tinker with gameplay settings.
Before the Battle
Before you start any battle in the game, there are a number of options you have to prepare for the battle. This part is not necessary, and you can easily go straight into the battle, but if you don't know exactly what you are doing and have the appropriate weapons and equipment, you are extremely likely to lose the battle. Before you start the battle, you will get to see a map of the battlefield and a menu where you can setup for the battle.
The menu contains the following options: Preparation, Personal, Objectives, and Overview. With preparation you will be able to choose your weapon, equip items that can be used in the battle, assign bodyguards to aid you, and change your character model. The personal option allows you to view information on your character. Objectives display conditions that must be meat to achieve victory and the Overview will be displayed before the battle begins stating the conditions to win and recommended strategies.
During the Battle
It is important to read the objectives before you start the battle, otherwise you don't exactly know what you are fighting for and what you should do to win. Most of the time, the objectives are things such as killing a certain person, or taking control of a certain area. If you don't know what you are fighting for, you aren't likely to succeed.
The combat system is a little complicated, so let's start out with the movement system. While in a battle you can move normally, shift move (sideways, or strafe), and jump. You can easily move sideways by pressing the left trigger and jump by pressing A. All three of these basic maneuvers are extremely useful in controlling how you will enter or flee from a battle. Once you get further into the game, you will be able to mount and dismount off of horses or even elephants using the A button. By pressing white, you can change the orders of your handy bodyguards to things like attack, guard, or hold.
The combat system is a little more complicated, and will take some getting used to. However, the instruction manual contains about 45 pages and is an excellent reference if you are new to the Dynasty Warriors series. Basically, you have a normal attack (X), a charge attack (Y), and then finally the Musou Attack which is the most powerful (B). Within these three main attacks, there are a number of different variations and you can also perform combinational attacks. Musou attacks are only possible with a full Mosou Gauge, so this means you can't go spinning through the levels press B constantly (although this sounds like some fun). The Musou Gauge can be charged by doing damage to an enemy, having very low health, or taking damage. When things really get going, you will have the opportunity to use the Musou attacks several times more often.
As you progress through the game you will be able to equip new and different kinds of weapons. Weapons can be found in boxes or by defeating officers. Each weapon has different specifications that you will be able to view before you equip the weapon, such as its power, how heavy it is, how much you can charge your attacks, etc. In addition, there are also tons of helpful items and ability boosters scattered around the levels and that pop up after some important people are killed.
With a combat system and a number of weapons, you have to have someone to use it on! There are basically three types of enemy soldiers: the dumb soldier that comes in masses, the general that shows up every now and then, and then the real leaders who come riding in triumphantly on a horse and with a large weapon of their choice. In just about every stage, you will encounter each one of these and have to fight them off. The dumb soldiers will never really be able to attack you unless you allow them to by just standing there or not having your guard up. The generals are the ones that will charge at you and do some damage while you are working on getting a number of dumb soldiers off your back.
The best thing to do at this point is to focus on the general, and then kill the other regular soldiers later. With the real leaders, or rulers of the dynasty, things are definitely not this simple. They are always surrounded by a good number of other soldiers, and possibly a few generals. The first thing you have to do is get them off their horse and isolate them. If you are not able to isolate them into a corner or another area, they are likely to escape and get back on their horse. Of course, there are always other tactics to defeat these kinds of enemies, but this seems to be the easiest way.
During every stage you will often see messages pop up near the bottom of the screen updating you on what is going on in the battle. Honestly, unless you are extremely familiar with the hundreds of Chinese names that all sounds the same, they don't help much because you have no clue who they are talking about. However, a marker will show up on the map that will help you out. The messages usually say things such as X's troops are losing moral, or X has just defeated X, etc...
Graphics
The graphics aren't the best, but they get the job done for this game. The overall detail of objects on the screen isn't that great, but the animations and amount of action going on at any given time almost make up for it. Character models are done somewhat decently, but the environment is lacking. On the other hand, the cut scenes that take place before and after the battles are very well done, and give you a good idea of the story at that particular time and what is going to happen next.
Overall
If you are a Dynasty Warriors fan at all, this game is a definite buy. If you are into fighting games, there are better, but if you like the ancient setting and battling with spears and sticks, it is well worth your money. Because you can play through the game with a number of different characters, the replay value is extremely high. You can also play the Mosou mode over and over again, helping increase the replay. However, there are absolutely no online options so the game may run dry quicker if you are used to continuing games online long after you purchased it. Dynasty Warriors 5 is just another game in the Dynasty Warriors series, and there is nothing revolutionary or exciting that makes number five any better than the previous. But without a doubt, it will provide some fun times--especially if you are a fighting fan.
| The Core Score |
Overall
7.9 |
| Fun |
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8 |
| Gameplay |
|
8.2 |
| Graphics |
|
7 |
| Audio |
|
7 |
| Replay |
|
8.5 |
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