Dynasty Warriors 4

"Might not be the most innovative game, but it sure does kill a lot of time, and isn't that what video games are supposed to do?"

Well this is the fourth part in a series that has a wide range of opinions for it. A lot of people will tell you this game is great because its simple, fun, and you can just pick up and play. Other people will tell you its the same as part 3, repetitive button mashing, and gets boring very quickly. My opinion is a little between both of those.

The missions in the game are pretty simple. You have to defeat the leader of your enemies army. They have officers, and so do you. There's a big battle(which is always the best part of the game, it feels like a huge battle is taking place) and you defeat as many officers as you can and try to find the leader before you or the leader of your army dies. Its an easy concept, but it gets the job done.

There is a very short learning curve, due to the simple controls. But at the same time, its a fun game! It has an extremely high replay value, since its great to just go in and have some mindless fun. You'll be mashing on square a lot, with some triangles thrown in there and the occasional circle. So this isn't a game for people who want some extremely deep, realistic action. But if all games were like that, there would be a lot less gamers out there. This is definitely the kind of game to play when you're just trying to kill some time. But you can also play for hours on end, which is the perfect combo, isn't it? But this game isn't going to win any awards either, since there's plenty of other button mashers out there. There's also a major slowdown problem, the game will slow down during larger battles, but that is to be expected, considering the amount of enemies on screen at any given time. But that still can't always be used as an excuse. Because this isn't the "barely noticable" kind of slowdown, that only nitpickers and magazines talk about. This is very noticable, and can be frustrating, although I don't mind it too much.

There is a story there, but I'm guessing you didn't buy this game for the story, when you could just read a history book. The game isn't true to history, but you can actually look at the true history of what really happened, which is a nice edition.

The music isn't bad, although the V.O.'s are horrible, even though each person usually only has two different lines which they will repeat through every.single.mission. You almost wonder why they even bothered putting in voices.

Overall, this is an extremely fun game. And its cheap now that Dynasty Warriors 5 is out, or possibly even Dynasty Warriors 11 for the PS4 by the time you're actually reading this. Koei is definitely milking this series for all they can, but its still enjoyable enough to throw down the 20 dollars or so that it costs.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/17/07

Game Release: Dynasty Warriors 4 (US, 03/25/03)