Mystic Heroes

"A great substitute for Dynasty Warriors, but slightly repetitive."

This game will remind you a lot of Dynasty Warriors, mainly because it is made by the same company. If you like DW, then chances are you will like this. While this game has a decidedly more ''kiddy'' tone, it still is just as good.

Graphics---9
The graphics in this game are good, but just short of great. The characters aren't very detailed, but they look crisp and clean. The environments are large and varied. The magic invokes some cool particle effects. The game also uses some cool real time damage (in that you can chop down trees and break statues). But the most noticable graphical orgasm is that over what seems like 100 people can be on screen in an all out battle and little to none slow down occurs.

Story---4
I hate to say it, but the story sucks. Some people (the game doesn't really even go in-depth who they are) are trying to get enough power to unleash their once ruler. The story seems cut up and not even finished in some places. They just pasted some cut scenes on in between stages. Then there is the voice acting which is just absolutely horrible. If you're looking for a game with a story, look elsewhere.

Sound---7
The music isn't very noticable, but when you do notice it, it is quite good. The sound effects of a hundred swords clashing is nice, and the sound when you perform magic is well done. The reason I took off 3 points is because of the voice acting. You will probably laugh when you hear it.

Control---10
I don't think I once had a problem with the control. The buttons are easily found for each action. It's easy to perform combos and magic. Nothing wrong here.

Gameplay---9
This game is an all-out-war. You go through different huge stages defeating enemy after enemy. You sometimes have a few friends along with you to help out, but they are pretty dumb. The terrains are vary from open fields, to winding mountainsides, to a chinese city, to a ruined city, to...well, you get the picture. After choosing one of 4 characters, you are off on your adventure. You have a main attack where you can pull off combos and magic you get throughout the game. You can collect all sorts of magic attacks. The only problem is that you run out of magic pretty quickly and it takes a little while to replenish, so you'll find yourself using your normal attack a lot. And it can get pretty repetitive pushin B,B,B,B,B... At the end of a series of stages, you'll play a boss, who is most likely huge and extremely hard. Actually, after the sixth stage, this game is extremely hard, even on easy mode. So be forwarned, this game is not for the pansies.

Replay/Lastability---8
There is a lot of magic to collect, so, if you're one of those types of people, you could spend a lot of time finding all the magic in the game. You can beat the game by itself in less than 10 hours. But after that, there is a decent multi player where up to four players can battle it out on 4 stages. It is pretty nice but not very deep.

Overall---8.7
If you're a fan of war games, then this would be a game for you. If you like the Dragon Warriors series, this would be a game for you. If you don't fall into either of those categories, rent it and you might end up loving it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/14/03, Updated 07/14/03