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Samurai Warriors Review
Chris Leyton
16/06/2004
Fans of the Dynasty Warriors series will find a lot ot enjoy from the latest chapter...
Despite having a tough time trying to find a copy in your local videogame retailer, the Dynasty Warrior series from KOEI has built up a cult following. Featuring frenzied combat set against the backdrop of ancient Japan, Samurai Warriors is the latest title to the series and makes a number of significant changes.
Firstly is the switch from Ancient China to Feudal Japan, whilst the developers have incorporated a variety of RPGâish features such as collectible items and special attacks to the equation; whilst this add significantly to the overall experience, fans should be happy to know that the balance is still very much on combat that puts you very much against the odds.
Set in the Sengoku era, better known as the âWarring Statesâ period, Japan finds its many clans at war with one another and the countryâs political structure in disarray. The game offers 15 different characters to take control of, each of which offer a varying perspective on the events that unfold within the game, whilst the structure of the missions features a degree of open-ended design, allowing the player to take different branches through the plot depending on their actions on the battlefield.
The actual combat system is pretty straightforward, offering standard attacks with the square button, special attacks with the triangle button and the circle button for âMusouâ attacks that can be accessed when your special meter is full. Players can carry out a variety of combos by combining these attacks, and to be fair one of the games greatest strengths is the ability to wade through literally hundreds of opponents and send them flying with some of the games most audacious special moves; although like most beat-em-ups the game does begin to suffer from repetition after only a short period.
Samurai Warriors does attempt to install a sense of tactics to the player, as each mission begins with a tactical battle-plan, highlighting your allies and opponents, the directions that each should go and ultimately laying out the victory conditions; but sadly itâs entirely possible to forget about everything and just slice your way through the hordes until you come across the opponents leading general.
If you do wish to play the game as it was intended then youâll find plenty of scope for replaying, as there are dozens of upgrades, items and new moves to unlock, whilst you can also upgrade your characters abilities during the game.
In what seems to be an attempt to add some variety to the proceedings, Samurai Warriors features a wide range of secondary modes, including the New Officer Mode, which allows you to pick a character and train him into a Samurai by carrying out a selection of training exercises and ultimately joining a clan. In addition the game also includes a Survival Mode, where your goal is unsurprisingly to survive as long as you can; a VS Mode where two players can compete against a variety of objectives and finally a Challenge Mode, which challenges you to complete the training exercises set out in the Officer Mode.
Visually Samurai Warriors maintains many of the same qualities of the Dynasty Warriors series, as such you can expect hundreds of opponents to fill the screen with very few framerate issues; sadly the compromise is an overall lack of detail in the visuals, particularly in terms of the mediocre environments. The actual style changes from the bright, garish look of previous titles to a much darker and foreboding feel.
Naturally weâd expect atrocious voice-overs and in this respect Samurai Warriors doesnât disappoint; some of it will make you cringe, some of it will make you laugh, some of it is actually alright, although thankfully thereâs always the option to select the original Japanese dialogue. The actual music features far less rock-guitar tunes then weâve come to expect from the series preferring a far more subdued and ambient soundtrack, although fans of the wailing rock and guitar screeches will be pleased to know that the odd tune does surface every so often.
