Dynasty Warriors 4

"Three words. BUY THIS GAME!"

At first, when I played Dynasty warriors 3, I got glued to my controller. It was the most addictive game I ever played and there was so much replay value in it that I haven't finished it yet after playing for more than 100+ hours. Even after all those hours, I still had some characters to unlock. And when Dynasty warriors 4 came out, I was the first one to get to the games store and buy it. I went home at top speed and popped it into my Ps2. After playing for a while
, I was mesmerized by the amazing graphics and the cool battlefields. My sleepless nights were well worth this amazing game. Today I will be your host and I will entertain you well, dont worry. Well! Let me, I mean us, begin the review.

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About the game
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This game is basically a hack and slash game. You command an army(Sometimes you command the army, sometimes some other character) which has to defeat the enemy in a vast battlefield contain more than a 1000 blood thirsty generals, sergants and privates. You are one of the generals and it is your job to use the right strategy and send the opponent where he really belongs. IN HELL!(Or heaven)

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Graphic:9
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The graphics have improved a lot from the previous games. The characters are more detailed and the battlefields have been modified a lot. You no longer fight in a map with only a few trees and some trampled tents. Now there are swamps, huge castles and whole areas covered in grass. You can now break more objects apart like cutting down the towers on which the OH-SO-ANNOYING archers are stationed or destroying tents and hay stacks. Oh! The fun of killing the scum who never could never die if you never had any arrows(In Dynasty Warriors 3). But as much as the graphics have been improved, there is still one major problem, which tarnishes everything. If there are more than 30 peons on the screen, the game slows down, as if in bullet time, or soldiers disappear and reappear somewhere behind you. Suppose you are in a live-die situation and about 40 guards come on the screen. The general you were doing a combo on disappears just when you had him dead. After a few seconds, when your enemy has inflicted heavy damage on you, the general pops back somewhere behind you and gives you his musou(special move) , which results in a game over and the wastage of your time. If KOEI could just fix these problems, the game would look and feel superb.

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Sound:8
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I don't really pay a lot of attention to the background music but I do know that it consists of rock music mixed with some Asian instruments. It's a good thing they used some of the Asian instruments because the music must suit the location. Why they removed the option of changing the language from English to Japanese, I don't know. Maybe KOEI wanted us to hear their brand new voice acts. The voice acting has also been improved from the last installment. Though some characters still sound more 'American' than 'Chinese', overall the sound department has definitely been improved. There are still the moans and groans of dying peons, which we love to hear.

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Game play: 10
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Game play is simply superb. Nothing much has changed from the last game but that’s not exactly a bad thing, is it? The pleasure of hacking and slashing is still there and now the weapons system has completely changed. Now you don’t need to feed weapons, you level them up. You get points by doing combos on enemy generals. The longer the combo, the more points you get. These points are needed to upgrade your weapon. The item system has also been changed. Now, when characters progress through ranks, they also get more item slots. Some characters have 4 slots, some 5 and some 6. It all depends on the character’s strengths and weakness. The weaker the character, the more item slot he gets at the top rank and vice versa. You can also give your weapon an element effect like fire or lightening. They cause extra damage when your musou level is full and they rock!Three new characters are also available. They are Zhou Tai(he really has a cool fighting style), Cao Ren(the midget) and Yue Ying(the brains behind Zhuge Liang, sniggers!). You can also duel an enemy general if you hate him a lot(there is a hidden level of friendship and hatred in this game). If you accept the duel, you’ll instantly be transported to a small arena with your enemy. Ahh! Now no one to bother you in the process of enemy bone-breaking. But one thing ain’t good. If your enemy’s life bar is almost empty, he will always hit a musou. If your hit your dead because then they’ll charge their health to full while you’re on the ground trying to get up from that musou. Well that’s all for gameplay.

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Life span: 10
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Whoa! This game has the largest life span I’ve ever seen on any PS2 game. It’ll take you about 100+ hours just to level up all your characters. Then you have to get level 10 weapons, find items and then finish the campaign missions. After all that maybe some characters are still to be unlocked. So it’ll last at least 200+ hours. I guaranty you that.

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Buy or rent: BUY!
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What are you waiting for? After all those 10s and 9s, you’re still reading this review? Close your computer and get to the nearest video games retailer to get your copy now! Any will do, used or new, but i'd rather suggest the used one's as they work fine and don't cost as much. Don’t even think about renting this game. But, of course, if you haven’t played a hack and slash game before, I suggest you rent it. But I’m telling you this. You won’t even get 2% complete if you rent it for 3 days.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/24/03