04/26/05 >> Dynasty Warriors 5

Genre: 3D action/fighting

Developer: Omega Force

Publisher: Koei

No official site

 

 

 

 

 

Dynasty Warriors 4 left a bitter taste in my mouth; it was both a step forward and back in terms of innovation for the famed series, but it was moreso of the latter, as its negative points far outweighed the good. Now, 2 years later, Dynasty Warriors 5 (or Shin Sangoku Musou 4 as it's called in Japan) hits back hard with a return to its more traditional roots of hack 'n slash.

 

The story as usual is based on the 3 kingdoms period in China, where warlords and warriors are slugging their guts and brains out to unite the country and free it of civil war. Not as simple as it sounds, but it's enough to keep you following the story.

 

Now, gameplay has been tweaked a lot different this time, much more akin to DW3 instead of DW4. First off, each character has his or her own musou mode (or story mode, for the unacquainted) unlike DW4. Also a nod to DW3 is the old weapon system, where weapons are found rather than leveled up, except this time instead of one of each weapon type; you get to choose to keep whatever weapons you want, much like Samurai Warriors. Duels are also taken out, and a few more orbs and items are added. The reusing of maps in DW4 is also gone; this time each one of the 30+ stages has unique maps.

 

 

One of the biggest problems with DW4 was the drab environments and its lack of enemies to fight. The latter was particularly annoying, as most of the time you'd find yourself going to one area, whacking a squad of 5 soldiers, go to another area, do the same thing, and so on. The environments that put you to sleep weren't exactly helpful either. However, all this has changed; you will more than often find yourself getting swarmed and easily getting hundreds of kills in a matter of minutes, and the environments this time are actually colorful, varied, and in some places even beautiful.

 

Six more characters are added to Koei's roster, Cao Pi, Guan Ping, Ling Tong, Xing Cai, Pang De, and Zuo Ci. I won't go any further than naming them, but all if not most of them are, IMO, excellent additions to the series. Another thing, all of the existing characters have at least a minor change in their movesets, and all 48 of them get new jump charges as well as C5, or SSSSST attacks.

 

I'm pretty easygoing on graphics, and DW5 uses almost the same graphical engine as DW4. However, the draw rate has been GREATLY reduced, and you can see much more than just 6 meters away from you now. Also, slowdown is almost nonexistent; I've seen almost 50 soldiers on screen, in groups, fighting with your own allies, and everything still runs smoothly. Another awesome thing about the game is that your allies aren't so helpless anymore; they actually do their job of being a damn army more than half the time.

 

 

While some of DW4's music was actually nice and easy on the ears, most of them didn't do the job that DW3's music did: Get you pumped up to kick some ass. DW5 follows DW3's style of rock that gets you ready to get out and kill thousands. There's nothing not to like, to say the least.

 

As with all other DW games, replay value is very high, and if you plan on using all 48 characters and getting all weapons/items, then this game is going last you at least a few months. Even after doing all that, you might just want to pop the disc in and start playing just for the hell of it. Either way, this game is going to last awhile. Another thing to note is that “edit mode” to create your own character as well as the “versus” mode are taken out. I'll leave it to you to decide if it's a good or bad thing.

 

In closing, DW5 does almost nothing revolutionary in terms of innovation, but it succeeds in doing what the series has always been about: having the ability to kill thousands and to have fun while doing it. DEFINITELY buy this game if you loved DW2 and 3, but you might want to rent and give this game a try if you preferred DW4 to DW3.

 

 

 

________________________________________________________

 

Game Score: 8.8

Though not a lot of innovation, the game succeeds in doing what it does best: battling thousands while having fun.

 

Developer Grade: n/a

 

 

 

 

Reviewed by Mac Staff