Dynasty Warriors 3

"Glitch Filled, But Worth The Frustration"

In the mood for a little mindless violence, a challenging fighting game with a ton of choices for characters, and the chance to ride an elephant roughshod over teems of native warriors? Dynasty Warriors is the end-all action/strategy game based semi-historically in 3rd century China that pits magic against wits against brawn for control of the empire.

Here's a breakdown of the game elements:

Story: 6
It's sketchy. It's loosely based on a novel that was loosely based on historical figures, but if you haven't read Romance of the Three Kingdoms you're not likely to know a lot of details. There are bios provided for all the main characters in the database, but very little actual storyline in the game itself. This isn't a major hassle since this is an action game, not an rpg.

Graphics: 8
In spite of the blocky hands in some shots, the graphics are very pretty in the CGs and great in game play. The scenery varies from daylit fields to dark castle paths in the middle of a rainstorm. Battle graphics provide some great moves from each character, with elegant weapons and cool 'magic' moves.

Gameplay: 8
This is definitely an addictive game. The actions are easy to master on the control pad but provide an incredible variety of combinations to keep your thumb happy. As you complete different areas of the game, new areas and characters open up, and with three levels of difficulty, you can kick back for some relaxing violence or challenge yourself against the hard stuff.

Sound: 9
Simply killer music on this game. You have the option to just play the music as well, of course, if you're not fighting and want to have some driving background music for.. well, whatever you do when you're not playing.

Technical: 4
This game accomplishes a lot, but unfortunately, they overtest the capability of the PS2 at times, leading to a lot of glitches. This can range from the simple failure of messages to appear when they're supposed to to the very annoying 'magically vanishing enemy' problem, when you have too many things attacking you at once and the one guy who is doing the most damage and hitting you in the back blinks in and out of existence, leaving you with no idea where he is so you can get rid of him. A lot of action going on will also bog the screen down into slow motion at times.

There are things I would change about the game. Fixing the glitches of course would be the main thing. The other thing I would change is the onscreen navigation map, which is fine in and of itself, except when the little blue dots indicating your troops obliterate pathways and tend to blend in with the scenery you're passing over, making it a bit of a strain to figure out where they are. Also, when messages and events occur, a large flashing area appears on the map to tell you where it is happening, which again, is fine, except that it covers up that entire area of the map, and happens every time you kill an officer or reach another 50 KO's on your tally, meaning your indicator is covered up and you have to switch to the pause map to see which way you're facing. I would also add in a dot to indicate where your horse is, as the danged things tend to get lost very easily. Another big help would be an active camera system where you could pan your view, as the only way to change your angle is to move to shooting mode, which gives you a very limited pan of about 30 degrees, or run around in a circle until the camera decides to follow you.

These issues aside, though, this is a must-buy game for any action/strategy fighting game lover. Just be sure you set your alarm so you don't get hooked into playing and forget other things you have to attend to, like school and work. You'll find it's hard to put down the controller once you pick it up.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/05/02, Updated 10/05/02