Dynasty Warriors 6

"A Warrior Maybe Worth $60..."

Picture this: You are in Ancient China, during a time of war and instability. On your side of the battlefield, you have yourself and your trusty weapon. On the other side of the battlefield, an army numbering over a thousand. Fans of the series will quickly be able to recognize the familiar scenario just described. Shin Sangoku Musou 5 (known as Dynasty Warriors 6 in the US) is the first game on the PS3 of the long running hack and slash series of the same name. The premise of this game is simple: you are practically a one man army set out to prove your worth and become a warrior worth a thousand warriors. This time however, KOEI has decided to change things up a little with a new gameplay system and various new in game features that make battlefields more lively and the game just a little bit more strategic. Unfortunately, with the new focus on gameplay, KOEI moves its focus away from what it has always done best: game content.

Using Simple Machines to Increase Mechanical Advantage...

The first thing you will notice in the game is that it's beautiful. The game is neatly presented, the characters are different and detailed, and the scenery is just as well presented. The draw distance, something that has always been an issue with the series, is greatly improved. The "fog of war" has all but been removed, allowing you to see your enemies from a distance instead of just having them pop up from no where. There is some slowdown issues when there are a lot of enemies on screen, but this only happens when you're surrounded by many enemies, which you shouldn't allow yourself to be in the first place, or when you have many allies on screen, which means that you shouldn't have to worry about losing. The battlefield maps are also improved. There are a variety of battlefields you will fight through, each one with its own unique feel to them. Furthermore, the designs of the battlefields rival those of Dynasty Warriors 2, normally praised for having great level designs.

The next thing you will notice is the changes in the game mechanics. This time around, you have more freedom of movement through the implementation of swimming and climbing ladders. While these two things sound like they wouldn't add that much to the game, in reality, they add a whole new dimension to the battlefield. Through the use of climbing, you can now interact with siege battles instead of simply just watching them. In order to aid your siege engines being built, you will often have to climb up ladders to take down the enemy defenses on the walls. With swimming, battlefields become much more interactive and enjoyable, allowing you to find and take new paths to where you want to go. Plus, normally dull battles in previous installments, such as the Battle of Fan Castle where a flood attack happens, becomes much more exciting because the flood actually affects the battlefield and the flow of the battle rather than simply changing which way you move around. Furthermore, due to the changes in the freedom of movement, you can now find ways to sneak up on your enemies from various waterways or high grounds that allow you to gain a tactical advantage on your opponent, adding to the strategic elements of the game.

Renbu, Renbu, Renbu...Renbu?

One of the biggest changes to the game is the new Renbu system. This system allows for "infinite" combos. When your character reaches the end of his or her Square move set, the move set will simply loop around back to the beginning. During your regular move set, you can press Triangle to perform Charge attacks, or you can hit the R1 button to dodge attacks that are coming at you. At the start of the battle, you will start off at Renbu 1. However, as you continue to chain your combos and avoid getting knocked to the ground, your Renbu meter will raise, giving you access to a longer move set and more attacks added to your charge attacks. You can gain longer Renbu combos and more attacks through the skill tree. Each character has their very own skill tree that allows each character to be unique in their own way. Moving through the skill tree will unlock power ups and more Renbu attacks, along with other advantages.

To compliment the new Renbu system, all of the characters have been updated to have completely new move sets. Most characters even have new weapons to go along with these new move sets. "Musou" attacks, which are unstoppable attacks, have been changed. While they are simply more powerful versions of the character's regular move set, each character has their own special finishing technique that can deal lots of damage to the opposing force. Finally, each character has their own special attack. These attacks can only be activated by obtaining special cards dropped on the battlefield. Each attack falls into one of five categories and can be improved upon by obtaining skills on the skill tree. Activating these skills and killing enemies during the skills activation will cause them to drop experience points, making your characters more powerful in the process. All this gives a certain strategic value to the game, as you must decide when and where you will want to activate your special attack to give you the most bang for your buck...err...yuan. All this simply helps improve the gameplay. Yes, you may end up pressing your Square button more, but at least this time, it's more interesting to press the Square button.

Smarter Than a Fifth Grader...or Smarter Than a Fifth Installment...

One of the biggest drawbacks in the Shin Sangoku Musou/Dynasty Warriors series has been the AI. Dynasty Warriors 3 had some of the best computer AI in the series, where the computer actually tried to defeat you and actually tried to put up a challenge. Unfortunately, due to the lack of what you could do in the game, this pretty much boiled down to simply attack, move, and block. Dynasty Warriors 4 boasted a completely redesigned, "smarter" AI. Unfortunately, despite the boasting, all the AI did was react to what you did. Meaning, if you did nothing, it became a staring contest. If you did something, the AI reacted to what you did with a counter to that move. If you knew how the AI worked, you could simply take advantage of the predictability of the AI, which made the game less interesting. From Dynasty Warriors 5 onwards, the AI became worse. KOEI decided that harder difficulty should simply translate into more damage the opponent does, meaning the AI wasn't smarter, it just hurt if you got hit.

In Dynasty Warriors 6, with the redesigned move sets and the new Renbu system, KOEI decided to up the intelligence part of the AI. While normal soldiers are still not much smarter than a rock and have about the same movements of said rock, the opposing generals are much improved. They actually dodge your attacks to try to get better positioning. They will use their special attacks when they are in danger or to try to set you up for more damage. They will not simply stand there and block your attacks. They will counter your attacks after a while. Simply put, running up to them and attacking all out will not always result in a win. You will have to dodge, block, and try to find openings in your opponent's attack. This will become evident even more so during duels, which have made their return to the series, in a way better format than what it was in Dynasty Warriors 4. As when it is just you versus your opponent (or multiple opponents as sometimes may be the case), they dodge and move around to lure you to their side of the dueling ground to get the advantage over you and will try to avoid simply running straight at you to your side of the dueling field. Not only is the enemy side of things improved, but your allies try to help you out as well. While you are still practically a one man army, you don't get the feeling that your allies are also your enemies trying to cause more harm than good. They assist you in sieges and can be handy to have around when you are outnumbered. Clearly, the AI is taking a step in the right direction and will hopefully lead to better things in the future.

Warning: Contents Under Pressure...

Probably the two biggest parts to any game are gameplay and content. KOEI has always been great on including lots of content in their games in the form of characters, unlockables, and history lessons. With the huge upgrade on gameplay that was just described, of course the contents of the game have to also improve, right? Unfortunately, that isn't the case here. There are only 17 "Musou Modes" (story modes), meaning that while there are 41 playable characters, only 17 of them have story modes, which leaves the rest to be playable in Free Mode only. Furthermore, most of the Free Mode only characters have move sets cloned from another character, where in the past, they might have had a unique or semi-unique move set. While there are some differences between clones, it's really not enough to separate them.

Also, there are very few things in terms of unlockables. The playable character count actually went down in the game. With the new weapon system and the new skill tree, there are no special weapons, items, or skills that can be unlocked by achieving certain requirements in a battle. The only special things you can really unlocked in the game are the mounts, and even those are completely random and force you to "farm" to get better mounts. While there is some special content in the game, like the Challenge Mode and the second costumes (even if they are only color swaps), there just isn't as much as there normally is for a Warriors title. The content of the game feels very rushed. KOEI has proved in the past that they can provide a game loaded with extra content, so when you compare this game to their track record, you can't help but be disappointed. You can almost forgive the 17 Musou Modes. You can almost forgive the cloned move sets. You can almost forgive the lack of unlockables. You just can't forgive the combined lack of content.

The Dynasty Warriors 2 of the PS3...

With so many improvements on the gameplay front, it's a shame this game is held back by the lack of content that the Warriors series has made its name from. This game gives off the feeling that this was a test run for the future. As you play through the game, you cannot help but feel like something is missing in this game that will be added in the next installment. Much like Dynasty Warriors 2 was a great game in terms of gameplay, but everything improved and much more content was added into Dyansty Warriors 3, you can only hope that Dynasty Warriors 7 will be better. With KOEI's track record of taking two steps forward and then one step back, that may or may not be the case.

All in all, if you are looking for a great hack and slash game with great game mechanics and is just downright, if not mindlessly, fun, then this game is for you. The game has a lot of replay value if you are only looking for gameplay and will sure to be worth the $60 you spend on it. If you are looking for a game loaded with content and unlockables, you will be better off renting this one. Either way, it's worth a play through just to see how you like it. It's a worthy addition to a very illustrious series. Just don't expect this to be the usual Dynasty Warriors game.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/20/07

Game Release: Shin Sangoku Musou 5 (JP, 11/11/07)