Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends

"It aint great, but it sure is cheap."

I assume you have DW3 and you are planning to get this as some sort of expansion pack...for a console.

JUST THINK SONIC & KNUCKLES!

I am not even gonna go review the sounds, graphics and all that crap. Because the game is completely identical to DW3 and therefore will simply be a waste of time to list those things. (I am lazy)

I find DW3:XL to be very good, and their new features are new and interesting. However, many problem are also brought along with those features. Kinda like a...umm...trojan Horse. Where although you may appeal to the outer appearance of the features presented to you by KOEI. There Lurks many unwanted experiences as well.

Problem 1:
Such as the new bodyguard system, sure...you can create names for them and now they are more effective in battle. But you will probably never get there unless you do novice difficulty runs, because the bodyguard dies extremely easily and cannot upgrade unless they survive a battle. Which is highly unlikely in this environment where you are stuck worrying about yourself most of the time because those god-awful archers keep interupting (and Murdering) your ass every 2 seconds. While novice runs are...ehm. Extremely Boring because there is no challenge to it. Kinda like leveling in diablo 2. Sure, you can unleash the bodyguard's true potentials in time. But one wonders if you really want to complete such a rigorous task for something as little as the amazing bodyguards that dies every 10 seconds even when they are maxed.

Problem 2:
Anti-Cheat systems. Not really a problem...
Want get a gameshark so you can beat the crap outta the game? Sorry, but this time around the game forcefully demands one to play with honor.
...I only list this because the cheaters back there are complaining 6 million thousands time and its really starting to annoy me.

Problem 3:
Ok, not really a problem here either. But meh, those 5th weapons seems alittle pointless and serves nothing more then alternatives to 4th weapons...even though 5th weapons are extremely hard to get...since you have to travel through the wonderful land of Archers...on crack, or speed, or whatever. Its really disapointing that the new 5th weapon aren't that great. But hey, they look cool on some people and some 5th weapons are actually better then the 4th. Although I really hoped that people would get mean power ups (like collecting the 7 super emeralds, but in this case...umm...)

All in all, these are all the problems I have encountered thus far. Unless you wanna count that they hire new voice actors for certain characters. Generally this game meets most of the expectations that most people...expect. I mean, its an expansion pack, its only 30 bucks, and it sure as hell add in quite a few features for such an interesting price. Hell, if you are poor...like me. You can get this as a pretty great standalone game too. (like sonic and knuckles)

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/17/03, Updated 01/17/03