Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends

"More like 'Dynasty Warriors 3:Xtreme Xpansion Pack'"

Hello, and welcome to my review of Dynasty Warriors 3:Xtreme Legends, for the Playstation 2 game console. I am Geosaur, and I have been a fan of the DW series since DW2, and I was sort of dissapointed with this game. I'll tell you why in this review. This is not an actual game. Yes, sure, you can play it as if is one, but face it, this is an expansion pack folks. The game adds several new things to the old game, and in some cases makes the game worse, for an extra buck. What is in this game, should have been included in DW3, but they just had to rush DW3 out. Why Koei??

New Content: 4/10

Seeing as this is a sequel (coughexpansioncough), you would expect new content right? Wrong. The game is almost identical to DW3. They have revamped some of the levels. Some of them they were too lazy too remake, so they changed little insignificant features. Such as the Battle at Ru Nan, which is just the Yellow Turban Rebellion, with a new name, and it is night instead of day. You can now make your own bodygaurd unit, with 8 members. that it probably the biggest update in the whole game. Oh yah, a new musou mode. But guess what? see how in DW3 you could only use Lu Bu and etc. only in Free Mode? Now it is the opposite. You only use the Wei,Wu, and Shu kingdoms in free mode. And to do a lot of things, you need the DW3 disc anyways. You can tell that they intended for this game to be an expansion. I don't even think there is 1 new playable character. Really....

Storyline: 3/10

You probably know Koei for it's historical simulation series right? Well in this game the whole storyline is a complete lie in history. the whole musou mode is a 'what if' scenario. What if Dong Zhuo would have won at Hu Lao Gate? The whole storline is a lie. You must admire Koei for trying though.

Graphics: 8/10

As in DW3 you have your crisp graphics. You think they could have improved upon something though. The only new graphical change, is the new female bodygaurds. That would be about it.

Sound: 9/10

As in DW3, there are voices for all characters,the music is kick-ass, and it will make you want to listen to the game's soundtrack again and again. I think there is 1 new track in the game, but that's about it.

Gameplay: 8/10

This is the reason the series is such a hit. You can control you're character with great ease, and playing this game is rather addictive. Each level will take at least 30 minutes, and you'll probably play several hours of this game at one time. Extremely fun. My complaint is the versus mode. It's not what you would expect. They should really fix this, at least so you can use your character's stats that you have built up.

Difficulty: 6/10

Bah... DW3's difficulty was a lot more challenging than this. You can easily pic Lu Bu, and wipe the floor with the enemies on most levels, especially is you have used him in DW3. Honestly, why even include Lu Bu? Why include any of the characters? Lu Bu, and Yuan Shao, are the only desirable ones to play as in Musou mode anyways. You'll spend the majority of your time on free mode most definitely.

Replay value: 9/10

Well, let's see. If you own DW3, the replay value will go a longer ways, IMO. It would take a full day (no, not 24 hrs) of playing, just to max out your character's stats on the ''pick your character'' screen, so how long would it take to max out your character on the actual stat screen? The strong point of the game by far.

Rent or buy?: Rent

Why not buy? Well actually, you should buy this, ONLY if you have DW3 also. Don't bother if you dont have dw3. And plus the fact that the content on this game should be in dw3 in the first place, dont buy it unless you get it for a cheap price. Over here games can be up to 70-80 dollars at the max(Canadian currency). I would not pay 70 bux for an expansion pack, no way. If you can scoop it up for half of what a regular game costs, sure get it. Otherwise rent it.

Finally:

This is an expansion pack. That is the whole truth. And a poor expansion at that. Shame on you Koei. Shame on you....

Overall: 8/10

Good game, too bad there is another game exactly like it, Oh! whoops! It's this game's predecessor! Next time don't leave room for things like this to happen. work on the game COMPLETELY! Oh I can't wait for DW4 now...

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/02/03, Updated 02/02/03