One of the newest games to the Three Kingdoms series called Dynasty Warriors 5. Some of you know about Dynasty Warriors 3 and 4 in my previous reviews, but this game far surpasses both of them put together. There are a few different types of armies, 3 main ones, which are Shu (Liu Bei's Army), Wu (Sun Jian's Army) and Wei (Cao Cao's Army). They are all as powerful as each other, and they have many generals and soldiers. There are others like... Yellow Turban which are these freaks, like catholic people. Then there is Yuan Shao which is part of the Han (Han is when Shu, Wu and Wei are allied together). There is these cave men type one, which are strong in their own way, as they use elephants to defeat their enemies. There are 6 new characters in total, and they are really good characters, they have decent combos, and decent new weapons.

This is the one player and main mode of the game, each character has its own storyline, and you unlock new characters by doing musou mode with characters, and going through the storylines. You can also do this with two people, and a second party can join in. Free mode is basically like musou mode, but you get to choose which map you want to play, and any character that you have unlocked can play. Also second party can join in.

This is for one player only, but is very fun, in Challenge mode, there is a set of challenges that you are able to do, there is time attack, when you have to kill 100 people as fast as you can, then there is bridge melee, where you have 10 minutes to knock off as many people as you possibly can within the time limit. There are loads more for you to do, which is also fun and challenging. This is where you can see how many items you have gotten, and which weapons you have found.

Here you will find information on every single officer in the game, even the ones that you are not able to play as. Also you will be able to find information of the Three Kingdoms, which allows you to find out more of the background of the Three Kingdoms story. When you are on the battlefield, you are able to find weapons for your character and items to enhance your characters ability. You can find them in Free mode, and Musou mode, but smashing crates open and killing officers. In Dynasty Warriors 5, you can only have one bodyguard at one time during battle, bodyguards get experience from killing enemies, and they rank up to become stronger and faster. Your bodyguard is able to learn skills, like hire and wall. Once a bodyguard has learnt the skill Hire, which means then you will be able to hire more bodyguards in your service.

The playability of the game is great; much better then its previous games. You have fun in killing enemies, even if it can get a bit repetitive, but the strategy that is involved within the battles will keep you playing. I enjoy this game very much, I have had it since it came out (24th June) and I have played it loads of times, and still play it. The game is very addictive, you will love the new and re-mastered maps, and the characters and their storylines will keep you going for ages. As every character has many maps for each storyline, then you will want to do more to unlock more officers, and get more maps. The game is not that original anymore, as this is the 5th in the series, yet the new features to this game makes is more original compared to the other Dynasty games.

This game is excellent graphically, the FMV's are awesome, and the graphics in general are really good, the detail in the characters faces, and bodies, the detail in the environments and the weapons. Really good graphics! The background music in the game is good, there is some hardcore rock music, and then some light music, that makes the game seam more epic, which makes the game just that better. This game is in English, but you can change the subtitles in options to different languages, if you need to.

The games sound effects are good, with the slashing of the weapons, and the deflecting of the swords defending against arrows, and the footsteps on the battlefield, very good stuff. The game has many difficulties, there is Easy, which is well… easy, and then there is Normal, which is surprisingly hard, then there is Hard, and then there is Chaos, which is extremely hard yet, a decent challenge. I bought this game for £29.99 from Play.com (pre-ordered), and I got it on the day of release (W00T). In stores this game is around £30 - £35, but you will find it cheaper on the internet, but at the moment the game will be fairly dear as it has not been out for long. It is worth buying the game at that price, especially is you are a fan of the Three Kingdoms story.

I really like this game, I play it as soon as I can get a chance, then when I play it, it is like I'm taking into the world of the Three Kingdoms, and then time just flies, but then I eventually have to stop. Very good game, in all I will give this top marks 10/10, in Ciao terms that will be 5 star * * * * *. I recommend this to all Three Kingdom fans, it is only 11+ because of mild violence and it's a strategically game, so might need some thinking to it.

THIS GAME IS

Great fun
Storyline Extraordinaire
Action Packed

THIS GAME IS NOT

Rubbish
Short
That Original