PlayStation 2

Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends

The Dynasty Warriors series came a long way since its early beginnings and fans have seen this semi-historical strategic beat-’em-up evolve ever so slightly with Dynasty Warriors 3. Not only was the third outing an enjoyable game, its warm reception inspired Koei to release a remixed version filled with extra features. But make no mistake, Dynasty Warriors 3 Xtreme Legends isn’t just an expansion disc, it’s also a game that can stand on its own.

For most of its existence, KOEI has been a humble publisher of heavy-duty strategy games based on the Three Kingdoms era of Asian history -- but with the double-barreled shotgun blast of Kessen and Dynasty Warriors 2 in late 2000, KOEI suddenly became a "playa" in the U.S. market. Seemingly out of nowhere, the company figured out how to combine deep gameplay with killer graphics, and how to broaden its games' appeal without alienating the grognards upon which the company was built.

The Dynasty Warriors series has become something of a surprise cash cow for publisher Koei. The first game in the series, a little-remembered PlayStation fighting game, didn't really grab that much attention, but the subsequent Dynasty Warriors games have found success by throwing out the one-on-one fighting model and replacing it with all-out brawling on a grand scale. While series fans are eagerly awaiting the fourth installment, Koei has released an updated version of Dynasty Warriors 3, called Xtreme Legends, to tide over the more fanatical among them. The game doesn't make any major revisions to the Dynasty Warriors formula, but for hard-core fans of the previous games, it'll serve as a decent holdover until Dynasty Warriors 4 comes out.

Even though it is an Expansion Disc; the seven selectable characters, a host of improvements over Dynasty Warriors 3 and a discounted price point (29.99 U.S.) means that Xtreme Legends could actually be a good stepping on point for any gamers who haven’t played the series before. At “worst,” it will make them want to go out and pick up Dynasty Warriors 3 in order to unlock everything.

Considering the timing, it would be easy to knock Xtreme Legends for six with a well-placed Halberd uppercut from the top-seat of an elephant, but in my view it probably is worth £20-25 to die-hard fans of DW3 who want to warm their blades in time for the long-awaited sequel and finally give Lu Bu a decent run out. It's better than the average PS2 title at £40 despite less bullet points on the press release, and it's definitely been made for its audience.

Everyone's in a rush to go Xtreme this holiday, aren't they? The new Dynasty Warriors isn't a full-fledged sequel to last year's closet hit?it's a mission pack with seven new Musou mode characters and some deft enhancements to the original game engine. If you have an original DW3 disc, you can play it with enhanced features activated simply by loading up Xtreme Legends first.

Well, it's a dry time in gaming for the US markets, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything coming out. Shipping on the 15th of January will be Koei's latest offering, Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends. I got my hands on a copy of the Japanese version, which I'm going to assume is going to be pretty much like the US version (since all the other versions of Dynasty Warriors have been pretty much the same from Japanese to US versions). The Japanese version is known as Shin Sangoku Musou 2 Mushouden. In Japan, there was a distinction made between the game US markets got as Dynasty Warriors which was a 1-on-1 fighting game (basically the Vs. Mode of DW3.) so, that's why this is "2" here, and "3" in the US.

This series has become Koei’s most profitable franchise, so it’s no surprise to see it trying to capitalize on this grandiose brawler. Make no mistake, though; this isn’t new as much as it is an expansion pack through and through.