Dynasty Warriors 5

"Another great addition to KOEI's DW series, good for fans only."

Think back to around the time when DW2 was released for the PS2, it revolutionized the action/hack-n-slash genre in gaming history. Jump a year or two towards DW3, between the second installment and the third, big differences were seen and lots of new features were included. Another year or so forward, you get DW4, along with what everyone else thinks, I say DW4 was a big letdown for the DW series, it was like going 2 steps forward but 4 steps back :(

Finally, 2 more years forward, we get DW5. So the question you want an answer for is "What's the final word?". Well, the final word is superb :D Dynasty Warriors 5 fixed nearly all the mistakes that DW4 made, from the weapon system to the level designs, etc. Now lets get down to the review...

Graphics: 9/10

Along the lines of graphics, DW5 is looking good. Everything is nice and smooth and you'll rarely see slowdowns, that doesn't mean that there aren't any. You'll come across a few lags here and there but nothing to worry about. All of the 42 returning characters have new models and IMO, they're looking good as far as I've seen. The 6 (yes, not 3, but 6) new characters all look good to me.

Sound: 9/10

I enjoy the music here in DW5 better than the DW4 one. Not much to say here as I'm not a pro at rating the sounds and such. Going to voices, there's no Japanese voice acting no matter how much people want it. There are some voices that suck but it's nothing anyone would die over (not me at least o.O).

Controls: 9/10

It's been the same since DW2 with a few minor changes here and there and it's all good. Controls are easy to learn and easy to get use to. A problem I have with it is that there's no option to turn the map off like they had in Samurai Warriors. Another problem with the controls is that they still haven't taken out the display life button, they should just leave the life displayed and take use the L2 button for something else more useful.

Gameplay: 10/10

Hack-n-slash through hundreds to thousands of enemy soldiers as you battle across over 30 unique levels. How can that not be fun? To all those people who say its repetitive, that's just them, I think it's fun for a long while before it gets repetitive. The levels now all have unique designs unlike in DW4 where they re-used parts of maps for the other ones. All returning characters have had their movesets changed somehow, the throw moves have been completely taken out too. Duels have also been taken out, I think this is for the better because duels were kinda boring in DW4. Also, remember in the earlier DW games where there was that annoying auto-lock on feature? Well, now it's gone, there is no more auto lock, this will allow you to move freely in between combos, not only will this make juggling enemies easier, it also prevents you from attacking an enemy after they're dead (which most of the time led to being hit in the back). The musou (story) mode is going back to DW3 style now, each character has his/her own story mode, not like DW4 where each kingdom had one big story mode for everyone in the kingdom would follow, this would lead to confusion and characters wouldn't die at where they should have in history. In DW5, its more accurate.

Replayability: 9/10

With 48 characters each with their own story and each with their own unique 4th weapon (ultimate weapon kinda) to collect, you'll be spending a LOT of time on this game. Also, there are over 10 items to max their stats out which can also take some time.

Rent Or Buy?

If you're a casual fan of DW or hardcore fan of DW, it's a definite buy. If you're not, I suggest renting it at least, it's a great game to try out.

Overall: 9/10

Overall I think this is a great addition to the DW series. It fixes a lot of problems from DW4 and returns a lot of stuff from DW3 that fans want. With 6 new playable characters, unique map designs, individual musou modes, this is the best DW yet.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/21/05