Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends

"The expansion to a great action game..."

Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends

Introduction:

Well, this is the sixth installment in the Dynasty Warriors series. This, being the latest one. Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends, is only an expansion to a previous title, Dynasty Warriors 4. Being an expansion pack, you're probably thinking, "why should I buy this? It's probably incomplete without the first part." True, that this game is incomplete without it's other half, but that doesn't mean it still isn't enjoyable.It still holds all the same elements as Dynasty Warriors 4, but with a few new additions.

The new additions, you ask? Well let's see... new items, Legend Mode, and Xtreme Mode. In Legend mode, you can choose one character, (or any character, after you beat it) and begin your mission. The stories behind these stages, are the accomplishments of the general you chose. Many of them, are what actually happened in history. Others, are... not so accurate.

Xtreme Mode. Well, before this game was released, this new mode was highly anticipated. Basically, it was a never ending, not-so-accurate story. What you did was this. Choose a general, take him to mission areas, beat that mission's commander, and then when all that was said and done, get your gold, rank points, and weapon exp. Then, you went to a new mission, went to the store and bought some things, and repeat all of that. The exception being that every 5 missions, you could choose to invade a kingdom, or if you already had a kingdom, defend it. One interesting aspect to this mode, was the ability to buy or gain new generals. Either by, contracting them, or performing a task for them and winning their favor. Well ok, it wasn't as great as it could've been, but it was a start. It's actually kind of enjoyable, if you can still collect items.

I won't talk about the new items and their effects, I don't wanna spoil the surprise for the potential DW4: XL gamer. But other than 2 new modes, there was also the addition of new level 11 weapons and improved A.I., I think those are both self-explanatory. As well, you can load all of your DW4 accomplishments onto this game. Hence the term, "expansion pack." Now, onto the details...

Game play - 8/10:

The game play to DW4: XL, is the exact same as DW4. Basically, the D-pad makes your character move in the direction you are holding. The square button can give you from 4-6 hit combos. Triangle button can combine with the Square button to make new combinations, or you can use it by itself. X button makes you jump. Circle button unveils your musou attack (if it's charged up). There isn't to much new in the controls area.

Most of the missions you play, are gonna have roughly, the same idea behind them. Kill, kill and kill some more. Killing millions of peons, has become the Dynasty Warriors trademark. And while this can be very entertaining on the easy difficulty, it becomes much more difficult on the expert difficulty. Along with killing peons, you can also kill sub-officers, officers and commanders. Often, killing the commander will end your mission. Very simple. Sometimes though, you may be given other objectives, such as protect somebody. Or time limits. As well, sometimes there may be a more strategic element to the stage. I can't tell you about the strategies in the stages, as that would be spoiling it for you.

Graphics - 7/10:

Well, they aren't amazing. And they aren't horrible. They are above average, at least for the PS2's capabilities. From what I've seen, and what everyone's said, there haven't been any changes to the graphics since DW4 came out. Other than that, they are still pretty good. It's actually quite an accomplishment to keep these kinds of graphics and have thousands of soldiers battling it out at the same time. One cool thing is that when you chop down a tower, is that you can see it gradually start to lean, as if you actually did cut through it. As well, the 42 generals and custom characters are all unique and detailed far beyond the normal soldiers, so that's pretty cool too.

Sound FX and Music - 8/10:

Well the music is still the same from DW4. It's that Chinese and rock-like background music. Anyone that's played DW4, will know what I'm talking about. The sound effects to DW4: XL are actually quite good. When you are walking through puddles and such, you can hear the water splash around your feet. When you are on a horse, you can hear it's hooves hit the ground. When you are having a weapon deadlock, you can hear the scraping metal. When you are shooting an arrow, you can hear the bow string "twang" and hear your character reach for and load a new arrow. But there is just one problem I have with the SFX. When you are attack the peons with any weapon, it kind of sounds like jello or something along the lines of that. To me, it's just kind of unrealistic. But I'm sure some people can enjoy the game despite that.

Story - 8/10:

It's not a compelling story, but at least it has a story. The story being, it's the time of the Three Kingdoms era. But unlike DW4, you don't get to go through musou mode and follow one kingdom. Instead, the story revolves around that one general's Legend mode stage. So all the stories are varying, but they all do take place in generally the same time frame. Xtreme Mode however, doesn't follow a story, it's just fight through missions and establish a kingdom.

Re-playability - 8/10:

Depending on how skilled you are at this game, this game can take anywhere from 2 weeks to maybe half a year. (if you suck like me) The main objective to playing this game, is to max out your character's stats and weapons. The weapons, going up to level 11. These weapons have special objectives you need to complete in order to attain them. As well, once you finish this game, you can go into the option and either reset the character stats, or reset the weapon levels. So, potentially, you could just keep on playing this game over and over again. Sometimes though, it does get a little repetitive without DW4.

Overall - 7/10:

A 7 you ask? Well, to me, without DW4, this game can't quite stack up against others. True that it does provide new features and such, this expansion by itself can get very repetitive. But, if you have a friend over, this game can get much funner. As me and my friends have had some good hours unleashing double musous on helpless peons. So yes, go out and buy this game. And if you can, buy DW4 along with it..

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/19/04