Dynasty Warriors

"A battlefield in your pocket!"

When I heard about this game I was amazed. Dynasty warriors in my pocket! To those that don't know it is a hack and slash adventure were you play as a general on a battlefield slashing away at hundreds of enemies.

Story: 9/10
The game is based on a book called Romance of the three kingdoms. It is believed to be the oldest novel in China. It concerns the struggles of three kingdoms- Wei, Shu and Wu. I love the story and recommend the book but I feel in ways the game doesn't stick to the story, which I don't like.

Graphics: 10/10
This game shocked me. When I heard about the power of the PSP I never realized how powerful it actually was until this game along. It looks amazing and the detail is incredible for a hand held. It is almost identical to the PS2 version and that isn't a bad thing.

Gameplay: 8/10
This is the area I felt should not have been touched from the console versions. Unfortunately it was. The new battle selection system controversial you either love it or hate it. It works by the battlefield being divided into squares and then you picking the square, which you want to fight. It then goes to a mini battlefield were you fight and try to reduce morale. If you win you choose the next square and so on. There are also forts and supply bases, which give you bonuses as you, fight. A factor I do like is the new deployable officers. Instead of bodyguards you can select officers that you unlock. The amount you can choose is based on your command points to stop you having say Lui Bei, Cao Cao and Sun Quan! Each officer gives a bonus such as health, fighting strength or morale. The battlefield is like classic Dynasty warriors and such the score is high despite my personal dislike the deployment map.

Sound: 9/10
I am not much of a music man but I feel the sound works well and is catchy. Rock and war has never sounded better!! The only flaw is that there are not many tracks but it doesn't matter too much.

Controls: 10/10
I felt the controls were spot on with this game. I was worried that the controls would be adjusted but they haven't been and are simply to use. All the attacks are easily pulled off and blocking is also effective. The analog takes a little getting used to but to PSP players it isn't much of a problem.

Lifespan: 8/10
This is an area that has got mixed reviews from all. On the plus side there are many officers to unlock and many more deployable ones so you will be kept busy getting them all and unlocking them. On the other hand there are no replay items such as horses, weapons or items that I love trying to unlock on the console versions. Also I find the leveling up of characters difficult to understand in comparison to the far simpler console version.

Plus points:
Good music
Good graphics
Effective controls
Lots of characters and deployable officers to unlock

Negative points
Battle system (Why touch it why!)
No items
Some characters are similar which reduces playability

In all I gave this game 9/10. I feel the battle system lets it down but its Dynasty Warriors a classic game and amazing to play. To those that like Battlefront on this game instead of averaging 30+kills a game you average 150+! If must say rent or borrow if you can first to stop you buying the game if think what I have said is rubbish! The last thing to say is thanks a lot for reading this review and I hope it was helpful for you!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/23/06