Dynasty Warriors DS: Fighters Battle // Leaving me hungry
I am a swordsman, my sword is my weapon and my honor is my pride. I forge throughout the land to reunite the three kingdoms into one nation. I must eliminate enemies by the thousand to reach my lofty goals, but a wise man once said, that peace cannot be forged without a little blood.
I move ahead, making my way from one area to the next, vanquishing my enemies. They fall before my blade. Without a moment of respite, I move to the next area to repeat the same task. The evil generals send legions of their men after me but they fall so quickly on my sharp steel. When finally I reach my adversary, he barely put up a fight and I slay him to conquer his land. One more piece is mended to reform my broken land…
My introduction to the Dynasty Warriors series was odd. A couple of years ago, I met a girl who invited me over to her place to play video games. I asked her what we were going to play and she said something along the line of: “I don’t know, something multi player.” She asked me if I like fighter games “Yeah, sure. Sounds good,” I lied. I have pretty much always despised the whole idea of having to whack people one after the other in order to end the game. Too much violence. I’d rather slay dragons really. But damn was Dynasty Warriors 4 fun! I was instantly hooked to the series, and ever since that first dose of gaming goodness have I been left with an unfulfilled appetite.
Many players will criticize the series for being the same basic game with revamped graphics. And honestly, it pretty much does feel like that. For nearly each DW game, there will be an expansion called “Extreme Legends” followed by another called “Empires“. I was hoping that the KOEI venture on the DS would be somehow different, that the game makers would be innovative and use the touch screen to all its potential, but no, I’m still left hungry.
The game set in ancient China has some new things such as a battle deck system which allows you to chose which general will be protecting each temple and castle throughout you half of the map. The game is set in a versus mode, where you face an opponent who is trying to capture all your bases. Repeat, repeat and repeat some more. I clocked my run through the game at slightly under 3 hours on normal mode. I have to say, I was rather disappointed.
The game still has all the combo and musou attacks that players of the franchise have come to expect. Another of the new features of the game is the ability to collect coins which allow you to launch obstacles at your opponent such as rocks from the sky or darkness.
The game gains slightly more life when used as a multi player game. Get up to two of your friends to join you for game, and battle each other out over wi-fi. One important thing worth noting: ALL PLAYERS MUST HAVE A COPY OF THE GAME.
The final verdict is this: unless you have a multitude of friends willing to shell out some cash to play with you, don’t bother buying this game. All you will end up with is conquering China with enough time to make it home for dinner.