Dynasty Warriors 3

"One of the great 2-player cooperative games"

This is quite simply one of the best 2 player co-op games....ever. Not since Contra have I had this much fun playing a 2 player co-operative game. 2 player co-op games have turned into a dying breed with the rise of FPS, at least until this game came along.

Graphics: 8/10 Really good, especially considering the HUGE amounts of characters on the screen at once (ie 50+ at times). Points off though for the occasionally ridiculous amounts of slowdown when 2 characters are playing (think Double Dragon 3 NES type of slowdown when this happens). The CG's look great, and are pretty frequent.

Control:6/10: The controls in this game leave a little to be desired, since essentially you only have 3 types of attacks. There's no real depth to the combat system, which is bad if you're a fighting game fan, but good since anyone can pick up the game rather quickly. Jumping is virtually worthless too since you can rarely land a jumping attack (except against a mounted adversary). The control is also a little fussy when it comes to combos. This isn't exactly last blade 2, it's closer to the original final fight. Hit detection is spot-on though as is general directional movement.

Sound: 8/10: Some of the music in this game is really good. It has a rock/techno feel that is sometimes overlayed with an asian influence.

Story: 8/10: Quite shockingly for an action game (I don't really play these games for the plot), the story is great and is based on the epic poem, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms (which I remember fondly from one of my favorite RPG's Destiny of an Emperor). If anything, there's too much story to digest in a few playthroughs, which is definitely not a fault for an action game.

Replay: 6/10: There's 40+ characters in this game to find. Plus you'll want to level up your characters. Plus, it's fun playing 2 player co-op even if you've beaten a board a dozen times or play versus. Still if you're just playing one player, you probably won't replay it much after getting the characters. In short, 2 player has virtually infinite replay, 1 player doesn't. All sorts of items, weapons, and characters you can acquire make this game fun and add to the replay.

Difficulty: 6/10: this game is a little more difficult than the average PS2 game, without being sadistically difficult, which I think is good, since too many games released now are way too easy.

Innovation 10/10: This is one of the few games I can really think of besides Actraiser that has successfully mixed seemingly disparate genres and made a truly great game. Who would've though tactics and action games would've ever made a decent pairing? I certainly wouldn't have. I never would've though of all companies Koei would've made a great action game. I always dismissed their tactical war sims as way too complex. They finally made a game that people actually want to buy.

On the flipside though, if you are expecting one of their ridiculously complex warsims, you should probably look elsewhere since this game is basically a fighting game.

Fun factor 9/10: This game is a great game to play with a friend. It's REALLY easy to learn how to play (because the game mechanics aren't that deep) so anyone can start playing right away and it's a lot of fun figuring out a strategy to get the generals. The one player is still fun, but the AI that assists you is a bit dumber than most of your buddies. The gameplay is great since you figure out a tactical gameplan ie: which generals to defeat first from which directions etc and still kick the crap out of everything while you're thinking about it.

This is a brawler though, not a 1-on-1 fighter, so some folks might not like the relatively shallow depth of actual combat in DW3 if they're expecting a fighter with reversals,parrying, etc. If you want unparalleled realism in a 1-on-1 fighting game, though, I'd recommend something more along the lines Bushido Blade, which is one of my all time favorite fighting games (for PS1). If you want a great 3-D brawler/tactics game, I'd recommend this.

Overall 9/10: Koei made a real winner here by mixing a fighting game with a tactics game and making it a lot of fun. It's sort of like a 3-D Final Fight in ancient China with some tactical gameplay thrown in. It's a good one player game and a truly great 2 player game. Highest Recommendation to 2-player fans. I just wish it supported 4 players so more of my friends could play at once, which is the biggest problem.

This is definitely a buy, not a rent. And considering the fact you can pick it up in bargain bins for $20, nowadays, it's definitely a must-buy.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/24/04