Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires

"The same Dynasty Warriors, but with an interesting new twist."

With a series of games as popular as Koei's Dynasty Warriors, it seems a natural fit that there will be several games published that share that profitable name. For the second time within a year, Koei has agreed on this point, and has released another standalone expansion to its fourth entry in the Dynasty Warriors series. This game, however, represents the greatest break from the series' tradition yet, and so it merits consideration as a game independent from the rest of the series. Read on:

Visuals:

The presentation in Empires has been ‘modernized.' The menus have the same simple, easy to understand feel to them, but they feature a different color scheme and layout. The same goes for in-game menus, and the HUD; they have all been toned down, with a lot of the personality of DW4 taken out.

In-game graphics, however, are mostly the same as they were in DW4 All of the models, for both the player-controlled characters and the NPCs, still animate as fluidly and seamlessly as ever, and the gameplay still flows well. As you might expect, the occasional slowdown that has always been there throughout the series rears its ugly head in Empires as well.

Much like DW4: Xtreme Legends, the levels are essentially the same as those in DW4, but they have been retrofitted to suit the purposes of Empires' gameplay premises. They still feature average locales that are spiced up a bit by weather and plant graphics, and are still nothing to write home about.

The cutscenes that have been added for Empires are on par with those from DW4 and XL. They are all made using the in-game engine, and feature some decent character animation, combined with occasional awkward pauses due to the same scene being reused for many different characters saying many different lines.

The visual look for Empires seems more sanitized (or, as you may want to call it, ‘blocky') than that of DW4 and XL. This helps to convey the new direction of the expansion, and ultimately shouldn't end up turning anyone off to the game.

Score: 7/10

Sound:

The sound aspects of the game have not changed at all from either DW4 or XL. The sound effects for menus and gameplay are still the same, with their appropriateness usually where you would expect it to be.

The terrible voice acting that this series is known for is present once again in Empires. You'll experience the joys of poor line readings over and over during battles, as long as you keep the voices in English. The option to switch to the original Japanese voice recordings helps to ease the annoyance factor a bit.

The generic rock/techno with an Eastern twist is still present in Empires as well, although a handful of songs have been remixed specifically for this title. If you don't like the generic music that has been a staple of the DW series up until now, this won't be your cup of tea either.

Empires changes almost nothing about the audio from either DW4 or XL, and this will end up appealing exclusively to fans of those previous games.

Score: 5/10

Gameplay:

Without its essential core of gameplay, this game could not be called Dynasty Warriors. Of course, it is called Dynasty Warriors, and thusly you can expect to hack your way through thousands of enemies with your trusty sword/spear/pike/club/fan/staff/axe.

The button-masher friendly controls of the previous games in the series have not been changed for Empires. You'll still use a basic attack, charge attack, a ‘Musou' attack (your ‘special'), and the occasional block to cut your way through the masses of enemy soldiers.

The battles in Empires, while maintaining the one-man-army premise of the previous games, feature a new twist that adds a dash more strategy to the proceedings. Now, each level features several ‘strongholds,' which are bases that are controlled by either side. In order to achieve victory in any given level, you must either take over the enemy's main stronghold, or, if you are fighting against the enemy force's leader, you must defeat him. Conversely, the only way to lose outside of your character dying is to have the enemy take over your main stronghold. This stronghold feature adds a unique challenge to the tried-and-true DW gameplay, and gives a new tactical feel to the proceedings.

The new additions to the gameplay make for an interesting departure from the normal ‘kill everything that moves' goal of DW gameplay, and in the end makes the game more appealing as a result.

Score: 8/10

Features/Modes:

Unfortunately, unlike the previous expansion to DW4, Empires must be played separate from both DW4 and XL. This limits the scope of the game's appeal somewhat (although, Koei likely isn't concerned about broadening the game's appeal among that crowd). The game also does not feature any online content, which is again a disappointment, especially since empire vs. empire competition has the potential to make for an interesting online game.

Empire Mode is the meat of Empires. This mode places you in charge of a single force in a grid of the lands of China, and tasks you with conquering the entirety of the land. You do this by individually battling each force based on the lands around you until you control the country. This may seem like a different twist on regular DW gameplay, but there is a lot more strategy to it this time around. The game advances in turns, and for each turn, you must choose two policies to implement. These policies range from replenishing troops to recruiting new officers for your stable, and choosing the most appropriate strategy is important to you during battle. By choosing the right policy, you set yourself up for success when you're actually in the level fighting, by either having more troops to back you up or by having an ally come to assist you. Overall, Empire Mode is a resoundingly interesting take on the typical DW gameplay mode, and should help to both attract new fans to the series and keep existing ones loyal. Of course, its limited replay value may dampen that attractiveness.

Other than Empire Mode, there are only a few additions to the DW canon in Empires. There are several two-player challenges and versus modes, which are somewhat interesting if you have another friend who loves DW as much as you. There is also a much deeper Character Edit mode, although it's a shame you can't take a model created in Empires and use them in DW4 or XL. Finally, there's an incredibly extensive archive, where you can view models for just about every character and NPC in the game. None of these extras are all that entertaining, although they do flesh out the package well.

Empire Mode is the most original and satisfying addition to the DW series in a long while. The other modes are mostly fluff, but that shouldn't stop you from trying the game out.

Score: 7/10

Total Score:

In Koei's quest to continually turn a profit, they have released a long line of similar Dynasty Warriors games, all of which have been eaten up by a hungry fan base. DW4: Empires, in a first for the series, tries something new to change the basic formula, and it comes across very well. While this game won't turn people who dislike DW-style gameplay into fans of the series, it at least shows that the formula can be taken in new directions and still be fun. So, if you're a Dynasty Warriors fan, or have been interested by the series but never tried it, you should definitely give this game a shot.

Score: 7/10 (not an average)

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Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/18/05