Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends

"KOEI adds on to an already great game"

Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends is an add on to KOEI’s hit hack and slash game Dynasty Warriors 3, which means without DW3 it’s like half a game. It can still be played on its own, but it’s really not worth it, you’ll only be able to play the 7 new musou and get about half the new stuff. If you still have a DW3 save DW3:XL will retain all your weapons, items and stats from your DW3 save....so you don't HAVE to re work up eveybody if you don't want to. But even with all the new stuff, is it really worth it with DW4 coming out so soon…I think so…but you can decide that for yourself.

Gameplay 10

DW3:XL don’t change anything about DW3’s great gameplay, so there’s really not much to say here….if you liked the DW3’s gameplay you’ll still like DW3:XL. But I’ll still explain the controls (for anyone who might be new) and tell you all the new stuff added in. The square button swings yours weapon, X jumps, O charges up something called your musou bar which when full let’s you do a special attack till your musou bar runs out, and the triangle button does a more powerful charged attack. You start out with a weak character, but while you’re slashing through the hundreds of little peons you’ll fight enemy generals which will drop power up items that when you get will go to your characters stats and make him more powerful. Also your character will start of with his first weapon (or his second, if you’ve already played through with someone who uses the same type of weapon as the character your playing, he may have his second weapon. Example of this would be Lu Meng and Guan Yu.) And as you play through you’ll find weapon boxes that will sometimes give you a better weapon. Each character now has 5 weapons, (back in DW3 each character only had 4) 3 of which you get by beating enemy generals that drop weapon boxes or finding them in boxes around the stages. 2 of them (the 4th and 5th) must be obtained by doing a certain task in one of the stages. There’s also tons of items to be found, (and tons of new items in DW3:XL) most of which you can get by beating enemy generals that drop items or by finding them in boxes around the stages. But others have to be found doing a certain task in one of the stages, just like 4th and 5th weapons. The bodyguards do work a little different this time, instead of getting a new group of bodyguard with every new character; you start off with 4 already made groups of bodyguards. You can choose how you want there stats to grow, give them more power or life/musou ect. You can choose to give them up to 5 different weapons. (A Sword, Spear, Pike, Bow, or Cross bow) Now the bodyguards can get there own weapons upgrade, 3 for each class of weapon you can give them, that you get in the same why as your weapons. You can create your own bodyguard and give them the names you like. You start with 2 different classes of bodyguards to make, but as you play you’ll unlock 2 more. You can switch what color they wear and stuff like that.

The main mode you’ll play is the musou mode where you’ll play through 7 stages with one of the characters and help his kingdom rule china, but there’s also free mode where you can play any stage you’ve played in musou mode with any character, and on any side. There’s a challenge mode with about 6 different challenge’s (4 that are new to DW3:XL) you can do, that range from a “Time attack, to an Endurances mode, to a mode where you have to race to the finish in as fast a time as you can, and so on. There’s also a 2 player mode in which you can play through a musou mode with a friend, or just play any free mode stage with him. There’s also a versus mode where you can fight a friend….but it’s really not that great.^^;;

Graphics 9

The graphics still look beautiful, and at times look even better then they did in DW3. The characters are colorful and well detailed. The stages are big and colorful well detailed. The slowdown is still there, but it does seem a little better then it was in DW3. The new FMV scenes look great, even better then the old ones. There can still be a little pixel, but it’s not really that bad. And the fallout has been improved….just a little.

Story 9

Since all the old musou’s are there, the game is still about the Three Kingdoms each trying to bring China under there rule, but in DW3:XL you get 7 new musou modes for the characters that didn’t have them in DW3 ( Lu Bu Meng Huo Zhang Jiao ect. Besides Fu Xi and Nu Wa) KOEI just made up stories for each of them, since none of them were part of one the Three Kingdoms, and since there would be a lot to cover I’ll just say KOEI did a pretty good job. There stories are interesting, and at times can be really funny ( Meng Huo) and really bring out new life in there character’s. All of the stages in there musou modes are just new versions of old stages (Chi Bi with the Yellow turbans, Fan Castle with Yuan Shao ect.) and most of the scenes are reused ones, just with them and what they want to say.

Sound 8

The voice acting is no better and put simply…..absolutely horrible…..but at least you can turn it to Japanese. But on the other hand, the music is still as great as ever. It kind of sounds like modern rock…with ancient China’s in there a little…it’s really good.

Difficulty

On its normal and even hard modes, this game isn’t really very hard, actually once you get a character with maxed out stats….it’s pretty easy. But I guess that’s what the new Very Hard mode is for. Very Hard is just that…..VERY HARD, even with a fully maxed out character, you’ll still be doing less damage to them then they’ll be doing to you. Your armies will get wipe out pretty quick…so it will be just you most of the battle. And trying to get all those 5th weapons can sometimes make you want to rip your hair out. So if you just want a game with normal difficulty, DW3:XL is good….but also if your looking for a challenging game….put the difficulty on Very hard and there ya go…a challenging game.

Replay 10

Getting all the 5th weapons, getting all the new items, playing through all 7 of the new musou modes, and if you’re like me….re working up all 41 characters….will take you forever. Even if you don’t re work up all the characters…you’ll easily put in 30 plus hours into the game. There’s a lot to do in DW3:XL….lot’s of replay.

Overall 10

If you’re a DW fan, DW3:XL is a great buy IMO, you get tons of new stuff, and they improve on a few of DW3’s flaws. You even get a new set of customs for every character (Lu Bu and Sun Shang Xiang have 2 new customs…but you got to work hard to unlock them =D) and it’s even cheaper then an average game…..I see no reason not to buy it. But if you’re new to the DW series, I would say buy DW3 instead and if you like it, give DW3:XL a shot. Or just wait for DW4.

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