Dynasty Warriors 5
Genre: Third-Person Action
Platform: XBox
Rating: T (TEEN)
Publisher: Koei
Developer: Omega Force
Release Date: 9/13/2005

The Dynasty Warriors franchise has been a cash cow for Koei. I’d heard of the game, and knew people who swore by it, but I’d never experienced it myself. So when the newest iteration hit XBox, I figured I’d give it a chance. Was Koei able to make me a member of their DW cult?

1. Story

You’re a general in one of the armies battling to unite the Three Kingdoms. Each character has their own storyline, and a lot of them will interlock and overlap with other characters. But the basic story is you have to kill a bunch of motherf*ckers to bring peace to the nation. In other words, it’s basically the same story from Jet Li’s Hero. It’s a story we’ve all seen and heard before, and there’s nothing new or innovative about it.

Score: 4/10

2. Graphics

This is a rather pretty game to look at. The main characters are modeled very well, with an attention to detail. Each one has a distinctive look. The regular foot soldiers all look the same. There’s no real variety, except between classes. The foot soldier looks different from the archer, which looks different from the sorcerers. But all the foot soldiers look alike, as do the archers, as do the sorcerers.

The environments are also well done. A lot of detail has gone into the backgrounds, and it shows. There’s also very little fog present, and everything is visible to the horizon. Additionally, there’s remarkably little slowdown, even when there’s hundreds of troops on the screen fighting. A lot of care has gone into this game’s visuals, and it pays off.

Score: 8/10

3. Sound

Eh. There’s nothing really bad about the game’s sound. There’s just not anything really good about it. The game is filled with generic, cheesy background music you’ve heard a million times before if you’ve watched old chopsocky flicks. The voice acting varies from mediocre to downright laughable. There’s an option for those who are anal about it to listen to the game in its original Japanese, so if you prefer that type of thing then go for it. Personally, I found the level of emoting done on the Japanese track to be consistent with the English version. In other words, it was lacking no matter which language you listened to.

Score: 4/10

4. Control/Gameplay

The control scheme is fairly simple. X is your regular attack and Y is your strong attack. A is your jump button and B is your Musou attack, which can destroy hordes of opponents. You can block with the left trigger, and the right trigger will let you shoot projectile weapons.

One of the main issues I had with the control scheme is that the same trigger used for blocking is also used to straighten up the camera, and a lot of times it seemed that it wouldn’t do both at the same time. That is, when I would try to block it would correct the camera instead and I would get lit up. And, unlike most third-person games, you can’t use the right thumbstick to change the camera view, so you’re overly reliant on the left trigger. It was an annoyance that detracted from my enjoyment of the game.

The gameplay is fairly straightforward. You start out with 18 characters to choose from in Musou mode, which is the main story mode. As you complete a character’s story, you will unlock other playable characters. There are 30 characters that are unlockable, which can bring you to a total of 48 playable characters. Each character will have a storyline that encompasses 4-6 battles, so it shouldn’t take you more than an hour or two to play each one.

The game is basically your generic hack ‘n slash game. You’ll wade into battle with your bodyguard and troops and take on other generals and their troops. You can basically divide your opponents into one of four categories: regular troops, AKA cannon fodder; Guard Captains, who take a few more hits to polish off; other generals, who take quite a bit of work to kill; and army commanders, who take a lot to beat.

Each battle has a set, definable goal in order to win, usually defeating the opposing army’s commander before yours is defeated. The major problem is that there’s no real strategy necessary to win. I’m sure there are DW vets out there who will tell you that there is indeed a certain strategy required in order to achieve victory. Having never played a game from this series before, all I know was I was able to charge headfirst into battle, run around the map, and win with a minimum of effort.

The major reason for this is that the game’s AI is stupid. I mean, stupid enough to make Dubya look like a MENSA candidate. The opposing troops you fight will just stand there and take the ass-kicking you’re imparting on them a good 90% of the time, never even defending themselves. In addition, the troops you’re “commanding” will also stand around and do squat the vast majority of the time. I’ve yet to figure out their purpose, except maybe to look decorative.

The only real support you get is from your bodyguard, and even that only works maybe half the time. Really, the only purpose the bodyguard serves is to give you an ultra-powerful Musou attack. When you’re close enough, you and your bodyguard will begin to generate bolts of lightning between the two of you. Hit the B button, and you’ll unleash a powerful attack with explosions and whatnot. It’s visually cool, but in the end, you can take out just as many people by hitting the X or Y button.

Overall, I found the game to be lacking. Maybe I picked up the series too far into its run to be captivated by it, but I fail to see its appeal or popularity. There was nothing here that I haven’t played before in much better games.

Score: 4/10

5. Replayability

There are a total of 48 different playable characters. You start out being able to play 18, which means there are 30 more characters you can unlock. While most of the battles will overlap, there are 48 different stories to be told here, so there is a lot of replay value here.

Score: 7/10

6. Balance

It’s hard to call this game well-balanced. You go from fighting cannon fodder to tough-as-nails warriors. One second you’re threshing through waves of foot soldiers like a farmer cutting hay with a scythe. Next thing you know you’re getting your ass handed to you by some dude out of nowhere. I understand that’s how this game has always been, but come on. There’s basically zero strategy you have to employ here. There’s no thought into how you fight. You just charge in and mash some buttons. The game’s AI is retarded. It’s just not a very challenging game.

Score: 3/10

7. Originality

It’s number 5 in a series. And while they’ve spruced some things up this time around, notably the bodyguard system, it’s still basically the same game they’ve run out before.

Score: 2/10

8. Addictiveness

To be honest, not much. I mean, there’s absolutely no diversity to the gameplay. You charge in and hack up a bunch of faceless soldiers and then fight a general or two. There’s no variety. No matter which character you play, no matter which battle you’re fighting, it’s all the same. And after a while, it just gets boring. Each character’s story arc only takes a couple hours to complete, but there was never a point where I felt like playing multiple times in a row. Sometimes it was a struggle just to complete one character’s story, to be brutally honest.

Score: 3/10

9. Appeal Factor

It’s the fifth in a series. Obviously, enough folks are buying the previous games that they felt the need to make a fifth version. This is basically Koei’s tentpole franchise, and it has a sizable legion of fans.

Score: 7/10

10. Miscellaneous

Being the fifth in a series means that obviously there is a decent sized audience for this game. There’s nothing here I can really say to impact them or their opinion. It just seems to me that this game had opportunities to be so much better and missed the boat. It just doesn’t offer anything new or varied enough to recommend it to anyone other than a DW fanboy.

Score: 4/10

Story: 4/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 4/10
Control/Gameplay: 4/10
Replayability: 7/10
Balance: 3/10
Originality: 2/10
Addictiveness: 3/10
Appeal Factor: 7/10
Miscellaneous: 4/10
Total Score: 46/100

Final Score: 4.5/10 (POOR)