Lawrence.com

Longtime Dynasty Warriors fans are no doubt familiar with what this game is all about. You play as a lone warrior, running around a battlefield killing hundreds upon hundreds of enemy combatants. As always, there is a huge host of characters to pick from (48 this time), and a giant assortment of hidden items. Dynasty Warriors has come a long way since the original one-on-one fighting game for the PSX.

Like the previous installment, Dynasty Warriors 5 offers several different modes of play. There's Free Mode, Challenge Mode, and the main campaign -- Musou mode. The single-player campaign lets you initially choose from three different factions: the Shu, Wei and Wu. Each of these three factions has its own individual story progression throughout the missions, which are told using CG cutscenes. Each individual member of the clan has their own story as well, although these are told through voice-overs with a simple background screen.

One of the best aspects of the Musou mode is that a second player can join in before any mission for co-op. It's not necessary to go into a separate mode to do this, it's just a matter of hitting Start if a friend wants to play. Co-op is fun, but suffers from the same problems as previous entries in the Dynasty series. Namely, the entire mission ends if your partner dies. There's no option to revive your fallen friend, and you can't continue the mission by yourself. This can be particularly annoying on some of the longer missions. Another problem is that the notorious framerate and draw distance issues are made doubly apparent with two players.

The sheer number of enemies on screen has always been taxing on the PS2 and Xbox hardware. Thankfully, the draw distance and framerate have been significantly improved for the single-player mode. More enemies than ever appear onscreen, and the framerate stays steady even when there's an insane amount of activity occurring. It really is impressive to be surrounded by 30 opposing soldiers, then send them flying with a giant Musou attack. More than anything, this game really makes you wonder what the Dynasty Warriors series will look like on next-gen hardware. This game would be the ultimate tech demo for Sony or Microsoft if they really wanted to show off their new systems' power. It would be absolutely amazing to see this game with no restrictions on draw distance or number of enemies onscreen.

I've always found the audio in Dynasty Warriors games to be hilarious, and this one is no different. The same cheesy voice-acting is back, along with extremely questionable historical vernacular (I'm not sure any high-ranking general ever screamed "Look out, wimps!" in feudal China). Perhaps even more funny than the voice acting is the music. Imagine watching "The Last Samurai" if some cheesy '80s rock band like The Scorpions or Twisted Sister were doing cheesy riffs over the battle scenes. Picture that, and you'll get a good idea of what Dynasty Warriors is like. Honestly, it's part of the goofy Dynasty Warriors charm, and longtime fans of the series will be very familiar with it. Despite the huge cheese-factor of these audio aspects, the actual in-game sound effects are fine. You'll hear plenty of war cries, yelling, sword slashing, etc. All of it sounds good, and adds to the warlike atmosphere.

At first, it may seem like there weren't many changes made to the gameplay, but they become apparent as you progress through the game. Some enemies (and bodyguards) now have magic abilities, while others now carry shields. There are several magic abilities, including fire, ice and confusion. These abilities are especially handy if your bodyguard is skilled in magic. Fighting through a horde of enemies is made easier if your bodyguard is freezing them one by one. Dynasty Warriors 5 also includes a new "Interim Save" function, which allows you to save in the middle of a long battle. The number of these saves available varies based on difficulty level.

The basic Easy, Normal and Hard difficulty settings are back. Easy mode is far too easy, as enemies are a total joke. You can literally kill enemies by touching them while you are on horseback. It's hard to want to fight on the ground when you can just hop on a horse and run through every enemy. Your best bet the first time through is the Normal setting. It's actually very challenging and might make you wish there was an option between Easy and Normal.

Most missions require you to kill an opposing officer while simultaneously protecting one of your own. The game offers you many options on how to go about this. Some players might want to charge straight for the objective and end the mission. More meticulous players can take their time exploring the levels and defeating all the officers. You have the option of killing enemy Gate Captains, which seals off the flow of enemies from certain locations.

Killing high-ranking officers and breaking certain crates will unlock new weapons and items. The item system is one of the best aspects of the series, and this game is no exception. As you level up your character, more spaces become available to equip these items. Some will upgrade your life max, while others will raise various stats. Unlocked items carry over across the board and are permanently available for any character once you find them. Thankfully, the crates are packed with more items than ever, meaning less wandering around villages hoping to find something.

Most of the fighting occurs on-foot and will require you to constantly be doing slash and charge attacks (Square and Triangle, respectively). Unfortunately, arrows are as useless as ever. Musou attacks are back, and will save you in countless situations. As you slash your way through enemies, your Musou meter fills up. When completely filled, you can hold in the Circle button to unleash a giant combo attack that can easily clear out entire groups of soldiers. If your life meter is in the red, this meter is constantly filling itself up, and you can do a True Musou attack, which is even more devastating. Unfortunately, this lends itself to an old flaw in the gameplay of Dynasty Warriors. Inevitably, you'll find yourself in an endless loop of "Run away from everyone. Turn around and Musou. Run away from everyone. Turn around and Musou" until you find some health. It becomes tedious, and generally takes forever to find the health you need.

There are two new variations on the Musou attack in Dynasty Warriors 5. If your bodyguard is ready for a double-Musou attack, lightning will connect you to him if you're close enough. Hit Circle when you see this lightning, and both of you will simultaneously destroy anything in your path. The other new addition is the Musou Rage token. If you are in possession of this token, clicking R3 will make your character virtually invincible, as well as upping your speed and attack stats. It's recommended that you save these for the more powerful enemies in the game, as they'll help considerably.

Because of the huge amount of items and stats to level up, Dynasty Warriors 5 offers almost unlimited replay value. The gameplay can get fairly repetitive at times, but the game more than makes up for it by offering tons of characters (all with unique attacks and Musou combos). For fans of the series, Dynasty Warriors 5 will not disappoint. For those new to the series, it's a great way to see what it's all about.

Graphics: B-

Sound: B

First Play: B+

Last Play: B

Gameplay: B+

Overall: 87% B