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Dynasty Warriors 5
The fifth instalment of the legendary saga
of Dynasty Warriors has finally arrived on the PlayStation 2 and once
again reunites ancient Chinese mythology with awesome tactical action
that can only be found in this series. The storyline behind Dynasty
Warriors 5 is set in 200 A.D. and revolves around the struggles between
three powerful warlords. If the storyline sounds familiar, than that is
because it is based on the highly popular novel, "Romance of the Three
Kingdoms" that is steeped in Chinese mythology, heroics and action.
Probably the most noticeable different in
the current incarnation of Dynasty Warriors 5 is that the gameplay
revolves around a more character driven storyline that not only allows
for increased replay value but allows you to play a variety of different
characters who all have different motives and battle techniques. The
main drawcard of the game is the musou mode, which follows the exploits
of your selected officer as he or she engages in specific battles that
are loosely based on actual historical events.
Once a character is selected, the story unfolds through a combination of
static pictures and voice narration that assists in drawing the player
into the wondrous world of the "Romance of the three Kingdoms". The
storyline also progresses nicely during the real-time battles that is
assisted with various cutscenes and voice overs that allows the player
to not only know what is happening on the battlefield but also the
overall storyline. This method of storytelling is extremely vital,
especially when there are literally hundreds of characters on screen at
once, not only does it give the gamer a slight pause for them to catch
their brief but it also allows them to rethink their tactics.
The battles in Dynasty Warriors 5 are quite simply phenomenal and
fortunately the A.I. of the title assists in controlling none core
characters, so you don't have to worry about every individual soldier in
the game. The gamer also has access to a plethora of battle tactics that
include quick charge attacks, fire arrows, initiate normal strikes and
also special muso attacks that are extremely reminiscent of spells in
Final Fantasy. Each character also has their own style of attack and to
keep things fresh and interesting, characters can also discover new
weaponry and equipment.
Dynasty Warriors 5 offers the gamer great replay value with multiple
difficulty settings that influence the type and quality of items you can
outfit your troops with. For example, playing on the harder difficulty
levels can earn you special items such as collars or saddles, which let
you fight alongside tigers or mount powerful horses. New weapons,
40-plus characters, and costume variants can be unlocked, and bodyguards
can be equipped with different weapons to assist in healing, increase
the chance for items to drop, or provide boosts in defence, attack
power, and morale. There's also the excellent cooperative mode carried
over from the last two games, a so-so challenge mode that has you
performing various tasks within a time limit, and a free mode that lets
you revisit battles to further develop officers and bodyguards.
Graphically, the visuals have improved since Dynasty Warriors 4 and
probably the most noticeable difference is that the developers have
managed to up the ante of how many enemies appear on screen at once
without any major impact on gameplay. All the characters have been
professionally designed that contain a rather high polygon count
that move with a human like grace and match that with some beautiful
texture details and it's almost as if you have travelled back to ancient
China.
Musically, Dynasty Warriors 5 features a very intense heavy metal
sounding guitar riff that unfortunately doesn't mend too well with the
storyline of the title. The game does feature some awesome sounding
sound effects that go hand-in-hand with the storyline such as the sounds
of spells, swords and death. The only other disappointing thing about
the sound in Dynasty Warriors 5 is the sometimes flat and mediocre voice
acting that almost starts to grow you on as the game continues.
In conclusion Dynasty Warriors 5 is a rather adept game that does take
the franchise to another level of exciting realism that can only be
gained from this series. With a beautiful game engine that is littered
with wondrous graphics, a very engaging storyline (provided you like the
mythology of ancient China) and a very sturdy gameplay mode that truly
emerges the player into this entertaining series. Dynasty Warriors 5 is
worth the admission price alone!
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