Dynasty Warriors 2

"Solid, but not quite there to be completely engaging."

STORY 3/10
The story is brilliant but the execution is terrible. It is based on the ancient Chinese text Romance of the Three Kingdoms which is an excellent, excellent account of heroism, loyalty and ambition set at the fall of the Han dynasty. But in this game the only hint at a story lies in the fact there are characters from this book. There is no real linear story as such. As gamers we are placed in ancient battles (that did take place) and given a very brief synopsis with little to no context of the historical events that lead to this. Occasionally we are graced with what seems like a very random cut scene but actually does relate to the events unfolding.

Overall I think this game would be very hard to follow if you have not read the book or other historical accounts from this period.

GAMEPLAY 6.5/10
Lots of people, LOTS OF death. VIOLENCE MURDER KILL KILL KILL. The gameplay is very monotonous, but very addictive. Basically you've got one 4-hit combo which you can stop at any time and finish with a power move if you like. There is also a "musou" move which is just this magic mega move that recharges when you kill people. To make things more interesting you can also ride a horse and barge through crowds of 50-60 people, which is fun. You can also use a bow and arrow for those remote attacks.

One of the cool aspects is there can be heaps of people on the screen at once. And im not talking like 10 or 15... Im talking like 50 plus. There's something immensely satisfying about having 50-60 soldiers trying to take you down only to emerge unscathed after slicing them all over the place in 5-10 swings of your staff/axe/sword.

There is a bit of war-strategy involved - basically you are a first-class warrior and you and your colleagues (other first-class warriors) lead a whole stack of soldiers into battle. You have certain goals such as securing gates or taking out opposing leaders. If your leader dies, its all over. Unfortunately this happens alot because the AI is PATHETIC. You will be off fighting in a bloody battle, trying to protect as many of your men as possible. Suddenly, something will flash on your screen saying your leader is in trouble. So if you are lucky enough you get on a horse, if not, you run to the battle where your leader is only to find your colleagues standing around in groups very close to him while a small crowd of say 5-10 men fight an army of sometimes more than 60 men. This aspect really bothered me because basically your colleagues are useless and you have to do all the work yourself while they stand around letting others attack your leader.

There are lots of different characters to choose from (I think at least 20) all with different strengths, weaknesses and fighting styles, which helps make the gameplay more varied and makes it worthwhile completing it over and over.

GRAPHICS. 8/10
Not bad, especially for a CD-ROM game, and also especially for one of the PS2's first titles. There are some very pretty cut scenes, as well as some very pretty characters (and some butt-ugly ones too). The environments, while big, aren't too detailed, but the graphics hold up pretty well.

SOUND 6/10
The soundtrack mostly consists of repetitive looped music with guitars wailing. It sounds like the sound director was trying to revive 80s hair metal, but failed miserably. It seems likes theres only about 4 sound effects. But lots of yelling and horse noises, which increase in intensity as large battle aread are approached, which helps raise the atmosphere.

CONTROLS 9/10
Really good; very natural and intuitive. Very easy to learn. I would have liked it if there was a button to make the horse jump. Or explode. That would have been really exciting.

VALUE. 7/10
I played through the game once. I was very determined, but after that I kind of lost interest due to the repetitive nature of the gameplay. Mind you, it is interesting because once you've finished the battle with one side, you can then play it from the point of view of the other side. While the environment is the same, the goals and tactics completely change.

Overall, there's something horribly addictive about this game. The gameplay is good and flows nicely but it's just lacking that certain something to take it to the next level. But a very good, solid release for the new game system.

7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/17/07