Dynasty Warriors 5 Review

The Dynasty Warriors series of games needs few introductions. It is a love it or hate it type of game. There are those who absolutely fall in love with the repetitive but action-packed gameplay and there are others who just can't stand how bland it is. Really, I have never found an "in the middle" for Dynasty Warriors fans. Nevertheless, the fifth game is now upon us. How does it fare?

No different than any other games, but here you go. You choose to fight as one of a broad range of warriors in ancient China, hopefully leading your character to being the leader of your country and defeating your foes in battle and uniting the different kingdoms under your rule. In your way stand tens of thousand of enemies just waiting to have the chance to hack you down.

The gameplay is Dynasty Warriors is both renowned for its strange ability to get gamers addicted because of its simplicity, however it is also very basic at its core. There are two basic attack buttons, one a weak and one a strong attack, and by mixing them together some sick combos can be formed to depatch enemies for good. There is also a musou attack that first has to be charged up by either dealing out or receiving a certain amount of damage. This attack is used to demolish enemies and is great for getting out of tough spots. Fans of the series will no doubt recognize this basic hack-and-slash setup, and for them, this new game is set up practically the same way. However, the game does feature new, revamped musou attacks for each character, which are pleasantly refreshing.

All of this simple gameplay is used to take down literally tens of thousands of enemy warriors in the quest to become the leader of ancient China. It's a long, tough battle, but it is weird how fulfilling it is to take out 600+ enemies in similar fashion each time per level. For people like me who love this simple yet fun setup, you can repeat this process tons of time as this game features 40+ characters to fight with over countless levels. Also, there are new items and weapons thrown in for good measure to keep veterans of the series happy.