"RTK Battle map gone mad!"

Summary:
I am a huge Romance of the Three Kingdoms (RTK) fan back from KOEI's initial release of RTK I on the old NES System. In my opinion they haven't released a bad game. A few shortcomings here and there but Dynasty Tactics is a great direction for them to take. A large part of the RTK books is about battles and formations, and this has always taken the back seat to most RTK titles. Dynasty Tactics is an excellent addition to the RTK universe as it is VERY battle driven. You will actually spend more time on the battle field in this game than anywhere else. For a first outing in this genre, this is a great title. I am really looking forward to future releases as the building blocks that are in place are very promising. If you have played any of the RTK titles titles you are familiar with the grid that battles are fought on. Different terrain have different effects on different armies (Archers, Cavalry, Infantry) and some armies are better suited to fight particular armies. This game really focuses on the battle map and allows you to string together powerful attacks when the armies work in unison. The AI is weak however and there is no setting for difficulty level. In general the AI will string 2-3 hit combos while after a few hours of play and a few levels gain you will be hitting back with 5-7 hit combos or even greater. For a real challenge you are going to need a friend with the game to play against. Overall I consider this a must buy title for myself. I passed on Kessen II since they removed the historical aspect but this game has the best of both worlds. The characters are familiar to anyone who has played the DW3 series and the gameplay is really like a supped up battle chess. Outside of some tweaking of a few cheesy tactics, this game rocks! Highly recommended.

Gameplay:
The single player is not open ended like the RTK VII game, but you make decisions early on which decide whether you will play through the history as it happened in the book, or a fictional version. So essentially there are 6 different paths you can take when playing this game. You can recruit almost all the offices, except those tied directly to the story like Guan Yu or Xiahou Dun. Over all, the game allows enough flexibility to keep it fun, and the action is kept fresh by the missions. Though the 2 player option only allows for random battles, it is extremely fun and challenging. If you have a friend who likes RTK games, then you don't want to pass up this 2 player experience. It is a shame even this limited battle mode is not available for internet play, hopefully that will be added in a future release as the PS2 is now internet capable. The controller layout is top notch, though the documentation does not let you know how to navigate. It can be a bit frustrating to learn where everything is, and you may play a few hours without knowing how to see certain information, but it is almost all available if you hit the right buttons. Most important to me was the R2 button during battle. if you hit Square then R2 you will see summary information of the general. If you have not hit Square, and hold down the R2 button you can see what each of the tactics do. After you learn the different tactics (I recommend not focusing on this but just play through and have fun, you will learn them as you go) you will be able to pair generals up who's tactics work well together and eventually pull off that elusive 10 hit combo.

Graphics:
Excellent graphics that match the quality of other KOEI titles such as Kessen II or Dynasty Warriors 3. There is hardly any slow down with this game. Graphics are smooth and crisp and a lot of work went into having the battle scenes match up with each general. Cut scenes are sometimes long, especially the second time viewed, but the Start button gets you right past them, you can also use this to speed up the battle scenes as well. Though the battle scenes can't be turned off, the start button truncates enough of the scene so it isn't too bothersome the 100th time you scene a particular tactic in action. They still make Xu Zhu look like a dough boy, but they fixed Zhang He up so he has one of the toughest portraits in the game, a far cry from Zhang He in DW3. The Cut scenes are a little ''too good''. I wish they would spend more time on the game play than these scenes. Between DW2, DW3, and DT, they should just come out with an animated feature already. That was meant as a criticism, but if they did I would of course buy it. I really like the overlay effect they use on the battlemap. This gives a very slick look and feel to the game and is not too obtrusive to the action. Very well done.

Sound:
Good low key soundtrack. Personally I always end up turning the sound down and playing a CD eventually, after 25 hours I am still not tired enough of this soundtrack to bother though. Overall it has a more ''Ancient China'' feel, like RTKVII rather than the Hard Rock soundtrack of the DW series. Still a lot of current music during battle in such. I really don't have any complaints on the sound. The character acting is done well, most main generals have a unique voice, some other are stuck with a generic one. Sound effects from battles are fit well.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/01/02, Updated 10/01/02