Dynasty Warriors 4

"Killing the Expectations..."

Dynasty Warriors 4 is a game where you play as a famous general from the ancient Chinese times and battle your way to victory by slaying thousands of soldiers and defeating other famous officers as well. Dynasty Warriors 4 may be newest addition to the Dynasty Warriors series. However, that does not mean that it might be the best.
GRAPHICS (8.5/10)
Some parts of Dynasty Warriors 4's graphics have definitely improved but some have been made worse. The character models are now smaller, giving the game a slight cartoony look whereas Dynasty Warrios 3 had bigger and more detailed models. However, the smaller does have give players a bigger view of the environment, which is a good thing. The costumes...Er...In my opinion, most of the costumes don't fit the character. Xiahou Dun looks weird without a cape, Zhuge Liang had to throw away his old hat for a new one that looks like a garlic, Yuan Shao threw away his spiky helm that could've done more damage with his charge 1, Dong Zhou looks fatter than a whale in his new costume, Cao Cao doesn't look good without his sash, Huang Gai goes from bad to worse in costumes now that he tries to show off even more of his ''muscles'', Zhang Jiao looks like Mr. Birdman, Pang Tong just had to replace his OK hood with a ''Straw Hat'', Zhao Yun has stole Jiang Wei's ''Funny Pant'' design, the Qiao sisters have shrunk the hem of their pants/skirt by length, Sima Yi might now be smart enough to wear a helm but it doesn't look good and the Nanman couple now have entered themselves in the ''Funny Hat'' contest with Zhang Liao. However, there are some good costumes. Zhou Yu, Zhang Liao, (I know, he still has the funny hat but at least it's acceptable when he has a cape on his shoulders) Sun Jian, (At least now he doesn't look like a Medieval knight!) Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Gan Ning, (though i prefer him without the vest) Jiang Wei, Wei Yan (If he is a Tarzan wannabe, then his new costume suits him very well!) Sun Quan and all the new characters. (Yue Ying, Cao Ren [Would've looked better without the spikes on his helm] and Zhou Tai)
SOUND (6/10)
Personally, i like the old rock music. But this is not an all-that-important concept of the game so...It just depends on whether you like music played using ancient Chinese instruments or the rock music. There is one point i have to point out, though: While Chinese music may SEEM suitable for a game like this, it certainly doesn't SOUND fit. In Dynasty Warriors 3, it offered ROCK MUSIC, which adds the tension in the game. In Dynasty Warriors 4, the Chinese music gives the player soothing sounds, not at all suitable when there's a war raging on right in your TV screen.
GAMEPLAY (2/10)
The biggest problem in Dynasty Warriors 4. There are so many things to point out, i don't know where to start. First of all, anyone who has played Dynasty Warriors 3 or the expansion Xtreme Legends will notice that the game got easier, A LOT EASIER. Take, for example, the enemies. In Dynasty Warriors 3, any guarding enemy would shift its guarding position when you unleash a musou attack. (An almighty, invincible attack.) This is not the case with Dynasty Warriors 4. The enemy will just guard without moving, making it easy for you to go around their back and hack them there. Also, notice how enemies like to use different attacks in Dynasty Warriors 3. In Dynasty Warriors 4, the enemies just keep using regular attacks or a charge 1. (Activated with the triangle button on PS2, Y button on XBox) Also, when you unleash a musou attack, enemies don't try do stop it with their own musou attack.
And notice how they have replaced the Power Guard with Counter. (Both activated by pressing square button [PS2] or X button [XBox] in guard mode) Counter is great but they didn't need to remove Power Guard.
The Orbs are good since they put them and the Saddles in a different column, but now there's even LESS space for normal items instead of MORE. And half of the Orbs are useless! (IE: The Vorpal, Poison and Blast Orbs.)
The archer's power has been reduced by at least 80%, making them pathetically weak. Half of the fun was trying to not die from the incredible power of the archer!! The Nanman armor has completely lost its usefulness!!
The Weapon System might've been made so that we can't start each character's musou mode with their fourth/fifth weapon but why??? I mean, i don't like the idea of beefing up a character before they even got into their story but trying to get a character's fourth/fifth weapon using their default stats added a lot of replay value to the game, in my opinion. Anyway, the whole system is TEDIOUS !!
REPLAYABILITY (1/10)
Ha!! Don't make me laugh!! What with the new Kingdom Play in musou mode, there's no need to play every character now. It's always the same. By the time ANYONE finishes going through every character's musou mode, he/she must've played Yellow Turban Rebellion and Hu Lao Gate 50 times!!
The difficulty, well...Koei might've been smart enough to save Xpert mode for the expansion of Dynasty Warriors 4, but that doesn't mean that ''HARD'' mode should be so ''EASY'', should it? Personally, i think i have mastered Xpert mode so Hard mode is like Novice in Xtreme Legends to me.
CONCLUSION: OVERALL MARK (4/10)
Nope, the game has ''killed'' my expectations so much, i think i'll stick with Xtreme Legends.
RENT OR DON''T RENT
Well, i would recommend you not to even rent it but you still should in case it might look appealing to you. If you like it after renting, buy it. If not, buy Dynasty Warriors 3. (Don't buy Xtreme Legends just yet until you think you've done all on Dynasty Warriors 3. There will be a nice surprise if you follow my advice.)

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 11/22/03