Xbox

Samurai Warriors

For most companies, the lack of gameplay innovation can easily kill a franchise, as gamers turn their backs on purchasing what seems like the same game over and over again. Not so with Koei, the publishers of the cultishly successful Dynasty Warriors series. Somehow, while Dynasty Warriors returned to the same battlefields with the same warriors over and over again with some additions or variations, the hack and slash action it provided kept fans coming back for more. So you can only imagine the surprise these diehard followers must’ve felt when Koei announced that their latest title would crossover to the shores of a new country. Get ready to leave the familiar Warring States period behind for Feudal Japan as we gear up with Samurai Warriors.

The fall of the Ashikaga Shogunate has caused turmoil in 16th-century feudal Japan. Clans are vying for control of the lands. Battles are raging across the landscape and into this setting is thrust a warrior and a small army.

It’s been close to a year since Dynasty Warriors 4 challenged gamers in the ways of ancient martial arts, and thumb dexterity. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms storyline, mixed with furious hack n’ slash action kept many a gamer interested and fully exhausted at the same time. Droves of enemies require less planning than the usual action title, but a much stronger right thumb.

Overall Koei tried to make a game that blended many different elements. A little bit of action, RPG, hack and slash, broader story line, and more. Their goal may have been to grab the attention of new comers to the game, but instead those die hard fans of the game will probably be the only ones who will pick it up. The Xbox version over all is a little bit better then the PS2 version, offering surround sound, and more enemies on the screen at one time. If you were looking into this game on the PS2, and you are still interested then maybe you should take a look at the Xbox version. If you have been interested in Koei’s games then this game would be a find place to start.

Gamers around the globe know the small Japanese company Koei for having a love affair with history. With underground cult favorites like Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Dynasty Warriors to their credit, the growing company has strove in recent years to make some of the best history-related strategy games on the market. Regardless of its niche space in the overall gaming realm, games like Dynasty Warriors have hit the mainstream more than ever as of late, catalyzing the release of Samurai Warriors in America this past May on PlayStation2.

The core game is still much the same as it has always been, and as such, Samurai Warriors remains a game primarily for those already enamored with the Warriors franchise. Koei's Dynasty Warriors games, despite an almost unreasonable aversion to serious alteration, have amassed a pretty rabid fan base over the years. The games are essentially pure beat-'em-ups in which you can play as various warriors based on real historical figures and slash your way through hundreds upon hundreds of bad guys for hours at a time.

If it’s a Koei game and the word “warriors” appears in the title, it’s going to be more fighting action than a presidential Ohio ho-down. Solo combatants surrounded by hundreds of enemies twirling spiked sticks is the mainstay of this entire series. Always in the Orient. Always historical. Always the same. Ish. With the recent dalliance of mixing a strategy underlay with the crazed combat scenario in Dynasty Warriors: Empires failed to basically “work” especially well, it’s a relief to get back to some solid, non-stop fighting in Samurai Warriors. But, if we’re being honest, we’re seriously on the verge of being all warriored out.

With a fairly large name change for the game (going from Dynasty Warriors 4 to Samurai Warriors), one would think there would be plenty of room to let the series breathe a bit and take a stroll down other gameplay paths, ideas, and elements. The Dynasty Warriors series has always been solid beat-'em-ups that really sold themselves on the fact that the protagonists of the game can easily handle hundreds of soldiers single-handedly as you make your way through the game's large levels.

Non content d'enchaîner des suites dans sa série fétiche Dynasty Warriors, Koei nous propose de manière relativement fourbe une déclinaison de cette dernière, en la personne de Samurai Warriors. Reprenant dans les grandes lignes les principes de jeu de l'ode historique chinoise, le dernier titre du studio nippon sous des airs évident de copier-coller, parvient tout de même à intéresser, par un miracle simplement nommé "fun". Agréable à jouer, intense et basé sur l'univers immensément profond et passionnant qu'est celui de la civilisation japonaise, Samurai Warriors attire malgré des errances dramatiques de moins en moins excusables au fil des années. Amenant certaines innovations intéressantes et des guerriers charismatiques, ce jeu trouvera sûrement son public. Mais si la probable suite ne se renouvelle pas, celui-ci sortira ses naginatas.