The Dynasty Warrior (Dynasty Warriors 5 (PS2))

Member Name: seanb-v1

Product:	Dynasty Warriors 5 (PS2)
Date:	09/05/07 (127 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Play Time, Plenty to unlock and to do

Disadvantages: Sound effects arent the best, Graphics may not appeal to some

The Dynasty Warriors series continues with this newest edition, Dynasty Warriors 5. Each of the Dynasty Warriors games are very much the same as each other, with subtle changes and extras.

General Overview

The storylines as you would expect are very similar to those of the earlier games, with the battles having the same ideas from the previous games. However each character has their unique musou storyline. Meaning that you may do the same maps as another character, due to being in the same dynasty, but the storyline will fit itself around your character in particular. Characters will even have their own unique cut scenes and ending cinematic which look quite impressive at times too. This also makes the storyline more interesting as it has you at the centre of it and adapts to make you look good.

Speaking of the characters, most of your favorite and not so favorite characters are back from the previous games to fight with or against. In total there are 48 playable characters, which when you think about it is a huge amount of choice considering you can only use one at a time. Here is a list of characters that you will be able to play as. Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong, Wei Yan, Jiang Wei, Pang Tong, Yue Ying and Guan PingXing Cai for the Shu Dynasty. Xiahou Dun, Dian Wei, Xu Zhu, Cao Cao, Xiahou Yuan, Zhang Liao, Sima Yi, Xu Huang, Zhang He, Zhen Ji, Cao Ren, Cao Pi and Pang De for the Wei Dynasty. Zhou Yu, Lu Xun, Taishi Ci, Sun Shang Xiang, Sun Jian, Sun Quan, Lu Meng, Gan Ning, Huang Gai, Sun Ce, Da Qiao, Xiao Qiao, Zhou Tai and Ling Tong for the Wu Dynasty. Finally Diao Chan, Lu Bu, Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, Zhang Jiao, Meng Huo, Zhu Rong and Zuo Ci which aren’t in one of those 3 dynasties.


All of the characters have had a little remodeling, whether this is in appearance, voice or in clothing. All characters have alternate costumes and these look really good for some people and the costumes are just one of the nice unlockables that are available in the game.
Like the older games the only way to unlock maps to play on in the free mode is to actually have completed them in Musou mode and even completed that characters Musou mode in some cases. This will allow you to unlock some of your favorite maps on the game and enjoy hours and hours of fun.
As usual you have to unlock the final weapons for each character by taking part in a battle and meeting certain requirements (mainly event based), this is fun and challenging on Dynasty Warriors 5 as it seems to be a little bit harder than in the other games.

Speaking of weapons, Dynasty Warriors has gone back a step from the 4th edition as they have gone back to the weapon collection system that I personally liked but some people may not. With this system you are collecting weapons that will have different attributes and you have to decide which ones you like better. This is a lot better than just leveling and getting new weapons that way in my mind. Whilst you are collecting your weapons, you can store up to 4 weapons but then have to discard weapons once you go over that limit. Having this system really does remind of Dynasty Warriors 3 and how much I loved it =]. Also this system adds to the game length as you go in search for the perfect weapon, once you get your 4th weapon it won’t matter so much, however until then it does add play time on.
Another thing that I really liked about the weapon system is that whilst you have your attack and speed bonuses and so forth, they now have the nice weapon weight system. With this weapon weight system it makes the attacks more realistic. Heavier weapons are more powerful, however they are a lot slower than other weapons, whereas the lighter weapons are a lot faster with the swing whilst not being as damaging.

Bodyguards have been improved on a lot since the previous versions. The strength and defense on the bodyguards is quite amazing compared to the old ones, these bodyguards actually help out a lot more and help defend you. Like with your character you also have collect weapons for your bodyguards, this is quite impressive I think as it means not only are you looking to improve yourself but also your bodyguards, working together as a unit. Again there are only 8 slots for bodyguards, but with these guys having an improvement you do not need any more, unless you are actually creating your own army =].

Two nice little additions to the Dynasty Warriors series are Musou Rage and Evolution Attacks. Musou rage sends your stats way up, also doing a musou too. You become almost invincible whilst you are in this state and your attacks become more deadly. This state only lasts for a little while so you should make best use of it. To actually use the musou rage option, you have to pick up a musou token first, which can be picked up on the battle field in boxes or from soldiers you slay. Once you get this token, just press R3 and you are good to go. Evolution attacks don’t actually improve any of your stats, they just are just simply 3 extra attacks that you get if your musou bar is full and you have a blue sphere next to your weapon. This allows you to have 9 normal attacks instead of the usual max of 6. Having evolution attacks allow you to do more damage and also make you more defensive in a way as you have more attacks to evade with. These two new additions are very useful in their own rights.

There are 38 completely redesigned maps in the game and have the most expansive battlefields ever in the series. I was very impressed with the maps as they were different that the ones from the older games and it is always nice to have a change. Not only was it nice to have a change but it was nice to see that there is more of a tactical edge to the game this time around as you have to battle for bases and teams actually go at each other. Also with the space that you get in the maps it is a nice touch to get to roam but it also means that if you go too far out in to the space your team may start struggling and it is a long way back. This is what makes it so interesting and makes every battle unique, which in my mind is what a Dynasty Warriors game has to have, or else it would get repetitive and you would just want to say “Stop!”

Graphics

I personally thought that the graphics in this game were very nice, could do with some improvements but on the whole were impressive. The cinematics looked excellent, they were very details and very well colored, they looked rather awesome I thought. Another thing I liked about the cinematics/cut scenes is that the characters actually look like they’re speaking when you hear them instead of seeing a mouth move and sound in time, this is always a nice touch =].
I do know that some people do not like the graphics, but I would imagine if another Dynasty Warriors game is brought out, it would most likely be on the Playstation 3 now and would look really impressive and then those people would like the graphics.

Sounds

I wasn’t too impressed with the sounds in Dynasty Warriors 5 however I don’t think that it is a large part of the game and so does not really affect the playing experience. The sounds were unrealistic at times, the characters would be dying and they would sound casual or almost non-existant. It does not sound great but if you choose to ignore it then you will not notice it too much and will concentrate on the main part of the game. I do not think this is a strength in Dynasty Warriors games anyway but I think that this time around it was quite poor. This is something to improve on in the next game.
That was the sound effects, however the music in the game is impressive. Again the music does sound a lot like the ones used back in the good old days of Dynasty Warriors 3. The music in my opinion makes up for the sound effects as the music gets you in the battling spirit when you hear it and some of the music that is used in cinematics sounds really nice and well timed. I would have to give a thumbs up for the sound as it is a really big improvement on the let down of Dynasty Warriors 4.

Game Length

This game has an incredible game length as there is so much to do and unlock. To unlock every character you will have to do a lot of musou campaigns and this can take quite a long time to do all of the required ones. After unlocking the characters, you have to unlock maps and weapons. This can take quite a while, especially the weapons area of unlockables as most are event based on the hardest mode available and this can get quite frustrating, a lot easier with a second player. Speaking of second player, if you have a friend that is really into Dynasty Warriors then you can play forever in the normal battles and even musou modes with your friend. Another thing that adds to the game length and my favorite is finding your favorite character and getting used to them and trying other characters. Unlocking all of the outfits and weapons for your favorite character and then moving on to your next can add game length but is also enjoyable.
Game length is always one thing you can depend upon with the Dynasty Warriors series and this one is not a letdown.

Overall

Overall I think that this is a fantastic game and a fantastic addition to the series. Being a fan of the series myself I would give a slightly biased view but I still think that this is a great game and a game that should be played. It is a game that fans of the series will absolutely love. If you were once a fan of the series then it may be worth just trying the game and seeing if you like this one, it may not make people fans again because of it being a lot like the previous versions, however this one seems to be a lot better in some areas and also seems to have had a lot of work go into it. Again I would say that fans of action games should try it too, as it is a highly appealing game and enjoyable, it just depends on how much you liked the previous games to be honest.
With Dynasty Warriors 3 being my favorite, this game would have had to be something special to beat it. I think its on par with Dynasty Warriors 5 and possibly better, I say on par because I loved 3 and so I think it is the best ever but if I was honest this game has taken the ideas from 3 and the mistakes from 4 and made this the best Dynasty Warriors game out there.

This game can be picked up for around £14.47 on Amazon and that is a pure bargain, you get all of that game time, all of that action, all of that excitement for such a little price. I definitely recommend this product to anyone who plays games and likes these types of games. 9.5/10.

Final comment: This game requires a minimum of 150KB on your Playstation 2 Memory Card.

Thank you.
Seanb-v1

Summary: The Fifth Of The Classic Series