Dynasty Warriors 2

"Warlords and Generals and Armies oh my..... Koei makes a winning war sim"

Number 2 on my bought list, but so far number one on my best of PS2 list, Dynasty Warriors 2 was a surprise game that'll keep me playing for a long time. YOU WILL NEVER HAVE THIS MUCH FUN TAPPING THE SQUARE BUTTON! The fighting can be repetitive, but is far from mundane. The killing is done with style and grace (if thats possible, in.. killing) as you never see too much blood and guts, just lots of action. I really do think that seeing spurts of blood would have been... too much when the body count reaches the thousands. Despite the premise, you WILL have fun playing this game. You will be surrounded by enemies, and your gonna like trying to get out.


Gameplay
---A' la Tomb Raider, DW2 has you controlling one of twenty eight generals of the three warring kingdoms of ancient China. You roam around rather large maps that are multi layered and have lots of variety. Separating this game from others is the thousand+ men armies of opposing nations out to kill you and your emperor. Amazingly, you get to participate in a large scale battle against your army and thiers, and make decisions that affect the course of history. Fighting is rather simple and straightforward, you tap the Square button to attack in combos of up to four hits. You also have a charge move (triangle) that is a bit more powerful but has a little chage animation that leaves you vulnerable, but is very powerful and may knock multiple opponents into the air, stun someone, or kill instantly. A third type of attack is the 'Musou' attack (circle), a super flashy super-move, when activated results in some nice freeze-frame circling of your character before he/she whips out a massive combo killing and knocking opponents into the air. The longer you hold the button, the longer the combo goes, and the more of your musou bar is depleted (filled by taking hits and attacking). Attacks can be comboed, which adds more depth to the symle combo system. Pressing Triangle after the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th attack will vary the hit, and Musou attacks are a thing on thier own.
Aside from weapons fighting, you also get some Equestrian roaming too. Generals tend to ride on horseback, and knocking them off game in the means you get a brand new ride. The horse has infinite usefullness, allowing you to gallop over enemy troops from the safety of your high perch and cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. Need to get to a losing battle? Wanna rush the generals? Get a horse. Your guy isnt all docile when on the horse either, he will swing that weapon to keep people from bringing him off the thing. I recomend you secure a horse and take it everywhere.
You also get to dabble in some archery, at any time, pick up a bow and shoot some arrows. Hey, they do it too, you might as well. Arrows can be very effective when used against charging opponents from the safety of a high perch, or evenon level ground to kill a few extra guys before they get to you or dismount a general on horseback. Theres even special moves you can do, like a Musou arrow attack that sends a barrage of arrows at your opponent. Arrows are deadly and can take out most enemies in a hit.

Rundown: Combo tapping to get moves out that will knock down and kill the swarms of enemies coming at you. Battles arent all midless, tactics are needed, and you need to target leaders to stop reinforcement and organized enemies fighting back. On horseback or on foot, you have to make sure your side is the side doing the attacking, or successfully defending the keep.

Story
---Much like the mildly popular first series, Dynasty Warriors 2 takes place in ancient China during the war of the three kingdoms. It uses Koei's traditional formula of 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' but unlike the first game, you take a much more interactive part in the war. Whereas part one was a fighting game, DW2 puts you in the very battles that chose the fate of China.
You are a general of one of the 3 kingdoms, the Wei, Shu and Wu, and depending on the general and kingdom you choose, you play on different sides of the battle. Your decisions affects your army's well being, your success is their success. You can give aide in all battles (wars are fought on different locations of the map in layers) of start the charge yourself. Killing enemy generals will get your troops to rush the enemy, but that is a task easier said than done.

You get a little bit of background on some of the characters, see what roles they played in the battles, and get to watch all the nice cut scenes on your way to claiming china.


Audio/Video
---Im too busy killin people to listen to too much of the music, but i do kno its there. Nothing great, the music is decent and adequite, what really shines, or shouts, are the various war noises you get. Lots of yelling and screaming sound bytes, be it the guy your are currently hacking or the war cry you make as you swing your giant pike. You get even hear a disticnt roar from the warriors as they charge enemy lines, and lots of clashing and fighting noises are in the background.
As for the visuals, this game is pure eye candy. What is most apparent is the costume and clothing of your general. No generic brand kimonos here, you get lots of colorful, vibrant colors, decorative plumes and armor, and all sorts of accesories. The weapons can be quite eccentric, ranging from short swords to giant battle maces. The enemies arent all boring either, they too have costumes that vary depending on rank. Enemy captains and generals are all well dressed to single them out of the crowd- so you can pick em off of course.
The next best thing to the Oh-So-Pretty visuals are the nice motion capturing and poligon collision system. The moves are all pulled off with style and grace and are just wonderful to view. As you complete a nice 5 hit combo ended with a charge move, the 8 enemies in front of you take the hit in the jaw and go flying doing corkscrews along the way.

The best show of the graphics will have to be the absolutely gorgeous Musou attacks... you have to see em to really experience this game, and each of the 28 characters have more or less unique attacks.

Replayability
---You get 9 initial generals. 28 total will be unlockable. 2 special generals, like the awesome Lu Bu, are also unlockable by special means. There's also a hidden edit mode that lets you make your own CG's. Not to mention having to beat all the levels while mastering each character and maxing their stats, there's a whole lot to do in this game. Each mission can be done in lots of different ways, be it defensive or attack, rushing or staying with the group. You can even get a little espionage and get behind enemy lines undetected and work your way to the front gates.

Buy or Rent
---At first I rented this game and had a blast mowing thru te thousands of enemies that persistently came at me. After a while, though, I found that there was more to this game than killing as many people as you can see. There's lots of strategy in choosing your battles, morale management and stat raising. After you think you finish all 5 of the hour long missions, you find out that you can unlock all sorts of new stuff that'll keep you playing. All this can't be done with one rental and you'll have a whole lot of fun doing it, so I recommend this game as a buyer.

OVERALL, i really enjoyed this game, and i think most others into action titles will too. Looking long and hard for that long lost beat-em up? This is where to go.

PSYCH0midget's MUST DO for this game: Heres where I describe an occurence or event you work at to really get the feel for what a game is all about, and give you that fuzzy feeling (or rush) only a game can give you.

First off, get full health and full Musou, and of course, a horse. Get to the enemy encampment, or close, and charge swinging. You can distinctly see waves of enemies charge at you (to no avail, thank you horse!) in layers depending on rank, and once you get to the enemy general/warlord, knock him off and fight on land. You will literally be surrounded by a hundred of more enemies. Heres where the full Musou comes in, hope your warrior pulls off a herculean feat. (raise those stats!) Activate the attack when close to the general and watch as the dozens of soldeirs fly off your weapon. Killing the general is no easy task, and the constant harrassment by his guards dont make it any easier. Use the knockdown charge (Square x3, Triangle) to keep them off you and kill that general!

You get the insane feel of a real war, enemies on all sides, their leader in front of your weapon, on his last ounce of strength. -Just dont get sluaghtered by the 200 people, it wont tickle. At this point, when the Musou attack addes 50 points to your counter, you cant help but stare in amazement as you tap that square button. once again, YOUVE NEVE HAD THIS MUCH FUN TAPPING THAT SQUARE BUTTON.

Full recomendations, this game gets the PSYCH0midget Seal of approval.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/03/00, Updated 11/03/00