Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires

"Good game, but still not strategic enough"

Well, if you've played one DW game, you've played em all. Except maybe this one. It was good overall, but there was VERY little improvement in terms of the actual battles over DW5.

-Graphics-
From what I'm looking at, the graphics are no better than DW5's, which had only average graphics. But it still looks pretty good, just not as good as an Xbox 360 game SHOULD look.

-Sound-
Hah, this is a joke. Although each character has their own voice and says dozens of different phrases, each phrase is used for a certain reason ove and over. For example, if someone needs help, they will say the same thing every time to request help. As for the music, it's still terrible, try getting some new music that people might actually like for a change.

-Replay Value-
Not too replayable at all, but with dozens of stages and over 200 officers to play as (though some have the same weapons) AND the create a character feature, AND the multiple Empire Mode scenarios, you could play this game for a while.

-Gameplay-
It plays just like the previous DW games, except that you can now give orders to each of your units, as you play as the commander of the battle. The Empire Mode adds in some strategy as well, but you can't really use advanced tactics, so the game still fells like more of a fighter than a fighter/strategy combo.

-Multiplayer-
Well, there is no multiplayer, but there are (of course) Gamerscore points to get, though getting the last 40 or so proves to be very difficult and time-consuming. A multiplayer mode in the future for this series would definately add to the entertainment value.

-Balance-
With over 200 officers to play as, and after a handful of DW games, you'd think that the designers would FINALLY balance out the stronger characters but noooo, Ma Chao still is the best character on horseback and Lu Bu still dominates the ground with an unblockable attack and his godly range, even if he is a little slow...

-Overall-
This is a fun game, will last you a while, just gets old and pretty boring and repetitive after a while. DW fans should definately get this, but probably for the PS2 since its cheaper and both systems have lmost exactly the same graphics.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/05/06