Customer Reviews
Tasty but not filling
This is a fun game but not altogether the epic I hoped it would be. I like the new characters designs and the different fighting styles and all that. Being able to take on hundreds of people at once and rake up a thousand kills on a regular basis is pretty cool. The graphics are brilliant but, I don't know, it just seems to be missing a lot of the content that Dynasty Warriors 4 had. Not to mention characters. Not only does this game feautre no new Characters but it subtracts from those already existing. Where is Meng Huo? Not in this game. Granted I haven't unlocked every acheivement but still if he was in the game there would be a nanman level or you would see him somewhere. (And why even have a Zhuge Liang Storyline without the nanman campaign? It would be like a Robert E. Lee Story without the battle of Gettysburg. Kinda lame.)
How is it that this game has less characters than the previous version. Generally the series gets more characters as it progresses not fewer. Not only that but of the few that remain, only a handful have musou story modes which is kinda lame(sure it would probably be hard to make storylines and movies for each character but that doesn't mean I have to like it) You can play the less popular characters in free mode but it just isn't the same.I tried creating my own storyline for Yuan Shao by having him play through a bunch of free mode battles but realized I couldn't since the battle of Guan Du only has two sides in this game. Cao Cao's and Lu Bu's. (Lu Bu wtf? How did he get involved in that battle) Speaking of Lu Bu, unlocking him is the only reason to play through half of the musou modes. Some of the charcters aren't as cool as the other, in my opinion.
Getting over the characters, or lack of them, and onto the actual gameplay the game plays well. The new renbu system is interesting once you figue out what it is. Although the same basic attack, charge attack scheme is in play, charge attacks are separtate from your main attacks, meaning that you can't put together any super charge attacks like in previous games. The charge attack looks the same whether you press it first or use it as a follow up to a series of regular attacks. That means that once you get unlimited renbu you don't even need to use the charge attack. You can just hammer on the x button. The charge attack is only really useful for breaking enemies blocks. Speaking of enemies, they are a bipolar lot. On the one hand the regular enemies do almost nothing but stare at you while you hack them to pieces while the officers while hand you your buttchecks. Also certain officers will get angry and then they do tremendous damage, enough to kill you in three or four hits. When they get into this state they glow with a flame. I've come to refer to these powerhouse's as 'flamers'. When you see a deadly flamer you need to save the game unless you want to risk losing all the exp you have gained in the battle. Unlike some of the games in the series you can't save your exp from a failed attempt. Sometimes free mode is the only way to get your chosen hero past a certain point.
Really though, long story short, while I like the game I would have liked it more if more characters were in it. Maybe they will fix this when they come out with Dynasty Warriors 6: Xtreme legends.
Lay waste to 1000's on your way to victory
Dynasty Warriors returns with it's 6th installment and for fans of the series, it doesn't disappoint. There have been many versions of 3,4 and 5 but 6 is the first actually built for next gen systems and it shows.
Dynasty Warriors has been a very successful franchise (especially in Japan) that uses actual historical battles and figures from chinese history. The game has you re-enact these battles and largely pits you in a 1 vs 1000 role to decide which clan will dominate the land. You choose a soldier that's part of a clan, each with their own story lines, and even though there are other officers and soldiers at your side, you are the one to decide victory or defeat. Success of the clan depends on your skills, which improve with every battle. Life, strength, weapons, horses, combos and special attacks will all see dramatic change as you power up by defeating officers and claiming treasure left behind. These are huge scale battles that can take up to 45min to 1 hr. to complete, depending on how you go about victory. The accessable thing about DW is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. There's no blood or any of the other horrors of war to make us believe we're simulating reality. It's really the best way to go for a game like this.
Many criticize this series for it's AI which, in reality, doesn't really seem that intelligent. Most enemies and allies seem to stand around the battlefield while you do all the work. DW6 hasn't changed that much. There's a seems to be some more activity and chaos but not much over past iterations. Your fellow soldiers charge in and out and set themselves up for battle, but upon watching them, you see that they do very little to increase your chance of success. While foot soldiers are largely inactive, the officers are much more aggressive on both sides. Some are quite challenging. Lu Bu is a beast and more dangerous than ever.
There are some new additions here that are noteworthy. There are some new characters, new move sets for older ones, and new abilities like swimming and climbing ladders. I also like that you can start out with a selection of horses so you don't have to run everywhere like in previous versions. Not only that, but at anytime, you can hit the D-Pad and your horse will find you so you can ride to or away from any situation that calls for it. Most noticably are the improved graphics. While not mind blowing as some of the newer games, they are much better than before. The character models look very good as do the menus and cut scenes. There's still some pop up from characters but the framerate seems smooth and didn't slow down when many were on the same screen. The landscapes are still a little bland but in the heat of battle, you don't notice them much anyway. I also still like the hard rock tunes that jam out on the menus and during battles. Why ancient chinese armies and metal go together, I don't know, but it's always worked for me. The character voice acting seems a little better this time too.
I do wish we had been given more control over the armies. There are some tough battles where your officers are being killed and you have many squads sitting about on other places on the map. It would be great to be able to send them where they're needed the most. It's been a frustration in the series for years and I'd like to see it fixed. I'd also like to be able to charge my special attack while running. It was a great feature when implemented in DW4 but instead of having to stop and charge, I found many instances when it would've been alot more helpful to run while charging. I'm missing some of the variety from past titles too. Where are the native forces whith the elephant troops? Or the windmills that cause you to fight against the wind till you could destroy them? I'm not saying we need the same thing but I was hoping DW6 would give us more enemy and tactic types. Also, even though I know it'll probably never be done because it would take a ton of memory, I can't help thinking how cool it would be if all the bodies of the fallen from both sides stayed where they fell instead of disappearing. That would be very cool to see.
Nevertheless, I've been a big Dynasty Warriors fan since it began this formula with DW2 and I'm not disappointed here as I kind of knew what to expect. Fans know that each year is a slight impovement from before but that there's never anything drastic. I think this is a bigger leap beyond others though and don't see any reason for current fans to be disappointed. They should feel right at home considering the formula is largely unchanged. There's alot of playing time here with Musou mode. Solo or co-op Free mode and challenge mode extend the games life and give it legs. For those new to the series, I'd suggest a rent, or aquiring an earlier installment on XBOX or PS2. This series may not be for everyone, but it's for me.
A step backwards for Dynasty Warriors
Dynasty Warriors 6 marks the tenth or so game in this series by Koei, and it seems they're finally starting to make some changes. However, in this instance, they have largely been for the worse, and veteran fans like myself can't help but feel a bit dejected by the technical flaws, terrible story and characterisation, and complete lack of strategy.
As far as the story goes, most characters spend their time standing around looking broodingly into the distance, pretentiously pondering what all the carry-on is about and reluctantly going into battle only to discover their true selves and their destinies.
Although the graphics have improved a great deal (especially the environments) the gameplay seems to have regressed into an even more monotonous button-mash blow-out and still lacks any kind of strategy (unless you count "race around and do everything yourself" a strategy).
What's more is that everything slows down in big battles, which I didn't think would be happening on the new platforms. Another surprise is that the drawing distances of enemy soldiers are pathetic, which is really not good enough for the next-gen consoles, especially considering games like Dead Rising where you can have hundred of visible enemies on screen at any time.
Overall, I get the impression that someone new to the series might be quite delighted by their discovery of the Dynasty Warriors world. However, those like me who have compulsively been playing these games for some time will most likely be disappointed by what seems like a regression into even more mindless gameplay that completely lacks any strategy whatsoever.
