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Over the past four years, Koei has found itself in an interesting position, at least outside of Japan. The majority of their titles focus on ancient Chinese history, with a naval tactics game thrown in every so often. Of course, who can blame them? The Dynasty Warriors series of hack-and-slashes sells millions worldwide with each edition. Koei even started releasing expansions for the Dynasty games as of late. They also have a stranglehold on the closest thing consoles have to text-based adventure games, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series. So when gamers clamoring for some more variety start getting anxious, what�s a company to do?
Move east, of course, and use the Dynasty engine to tell a different history: feudal Japan. At first glance, Samurai Warriors seems like "just more of the same". And you would be forgiven for thinking so. Most of the screenshots look identical to those of the DW games, both series have Warriors in their titles, and the core concept is still "you against everyone else". But for the sake of variety, Koei threw in some additional features and fine tuned their already great combat engine.
One of those new additions in Samurai Warriors is the implementation of indoor levels. These levels are the "castles" of the various regions and are mostly comprised of running through hallways killing enemy officers while avoiding constant booby traps. I didn�t find these segments too bad, but others may cry boredom. Admittedly, the castle environments are typically bland (rarely consisting of anything but browns and whites), and having to slog through four floors of winding passages that make navigating a pain can frustrate gamers who just want to get back to cutting through thousands, but these flaws can be forgiven if you stick to breezing through the castles.
Most of the time, however, you will be playing as various historical Japanese figures hacking and slashing your way through hundreds, if not thousands, of bad guys. If you�ve played any of the Dynasty games, you know what to expect here. Among improvements to the game engine are improved AI (allied commanders aren�t as dumb as their Chinese AI counterparts and will actually escape in a straight line now!), further visibility, and a better sense of army-versus-army action this time around.
Missions during battle have also been given a new twist that makes playing the levels over again actually worth your time. Many goals have branching paths, and if you fail to accomplish a certain goal in time, your mission ranking will go down and you may not get the lucrative CG ending cutscene for your character. This new feature gives a fresh take on missions and replaying them with either the same character, or through another�s vantage point no longer seems tedious.
Outside of the Story Mode, Samurai Warriors includes a Free Scenario Mode, Time Attack Mode, and Survival Mode (which takes place in the indoor castle settings). Also improved over the Dynasty series is the Create-an-Officer Mode, which allows you to train a grunt soldier in many different tests of skill, all culminating in being accepted into one Warlord�s clan. This mode would be fine if it were actually worth your effort, but as it stands, you can do the same exercises in the Training Mode. Not only that, but selecting an officer�s class involves choosing which portrait looks good. There�s no status meters given until you�ve picked a class and started training. Even then, there�s not much difference between each class (they either prefer leather or kimonos from what I�ve seen), making this mode ultimately something to do if you�ve exhausted all the other modes of play.
Aesthetically, SW is somewhat of a mixed bag. Most of the environments seem to lack the buoyant color found in the Dynasty games, but all the drab browns, grays, and reds fit very well into the historical context of the story. Again, depending on your tolerance level, this can be a good or bad thing. Character models are well animated and provide most of the bright color during play. Some characters seem to walk on their tiptoes and others rather bullish, offering some annoyances when wandering about with a time limit. Weaponry is also muted, with flairs of purples, pinks, and greens popping up occasionally.
On the other hand, the music is a welcome change from the out-of-place guitar riffs found in the previous Warriors titles. This time there are more fitting Japanese melodies played along with various drum beatings, giving the atmosphere a more appropriate feel. Voices have also been stepped up for this game. Most of the voices are well done, except Okuni�s, which is one of the worst performances I have heard, in any game, ever. DIE! Ahem, anyways, when compared to the Dynasty games, the audio portion of the game has been toned down to match the setting and the voices no longer seem like cheesy 80�s rock star impressions.
As far as the story behind the game goes, if you�re into Japanese history or are already knowledgeable in the Edo and Meiji Eras of the country�s history, you will find much to love here. Naturally, Koei has taken some artistic liberties in developing the characters, but most of the big names of the Eras are represented here, including Hanzo Hattori, Yukimura Sanada, Akechi Mitsuhide, the previously mentioned Okuni, and everyone�s favorite warlord, Nobunaga Oda. For everyone else scratching their heads at the above mentioned people, you probably won�t find any entertainment in Samurai Warriors� plot, and should only give this a rent if you enjoyed previous Warriors games.
In the end, it all comes down to whether or not you liked the Dynasty Warriors series and if you�re interested in Japanese history. If you agreed with either option, then you�ll find plenty to love about the Samurai Warriors. If you find yourself bored to tears with *almost* mindless hack-n-slash games, SW will do nothing to change your mind. Getting enjoyment out of these games is all a matter of whether you like them., and if you�re just looking for an action game to dull the summer boredom, then this game will satisfy you�re needs with at least a rental. Which is what anyone with an interest in the game should do first.
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