Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires  Preview for Xbox 360

Friday, March 24, 2006

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Title: Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires .............................................. System: Xbox 360 .............................................. Genre: Action/Strategy .............................................. Publisher: KOEI Corporation .............................................. Developer: KOEI Corporation .............................................. Release: 3/28/2006 .............................................. Online: No .............................................. ESRB: Teen (T) .............................................. After playing Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires for the past few days, I can honestly say that the game isn’t revolutionary. Of course, anyone who has followed the series knows that there is a great deal of similarity between the titles. However, that doesn’t stop it from being a fun game. Because it is an Empires game, DW5E is slightly different from the Dynasty Warriors some people may be used to. While there is a free mode (which is the normal “run around and just fight people with a selected character” mode), the majority of the gameplay is centered on the Empire mode. For those of you who have never played a Dynasty Warriors: Empires game, think of an interactive game of Risk utilizing the Dynasty Warriors characters and gameplay. When you start the Empire mode, you’ll pick which leader and nation to play as. Each nation starts with its own unique generals and lieutenants. When you decide to invade a territory, you can select three generals and three lieutenants to take with you, along with several reinforcements. You have the option to invade or defend, though you’ll most likely never (or very rarely) defend. When you invade, you’re placed in a map where the enemy is holding all of the bases except for two or three (including your main base), and you win by either capturing all of the bases, or defeating the enemy leader in combat. What this means is that if you really want to, you can just run around until the ruler shows up, then kill him and be victorious. After each fight, the officers you used will gain stats, items, experience and bonuses to certain stats. If you’re like me and tend to use a certain leader on a constant basis (you can pick who is stationed where between the battles), he’ll quickly shoot up in level making it almost impossible for anyone but an opposing officer. This can make it extremely easy later in the game, and at times makes it a little boring. Along with the Empire mode, there’s also a Free mode (where you just fight, ala traditional Dynasty Warriors), an Encyclopedia which is a great source for new people to learn about the Three Kingdoms and an Edit mode where you can create your own character. Because I’ve spent most of my time playing the game itself, I won’t expand upon the creation mode until the actual review next week. There is one thing I’d like to touch upon as a potential problem. Twice while I’ve played this game, after I’ve shut the console off and turned it back on my gamer profile was deleted, along with my saved files. Bad copies of a game corrupting saves are nothing new in the gaming world, but since it happened twice to me in a span of three days, it may be something to look at more closely. It’s very likely it’s an isolated problem since my copy isn’t a retail copy, but it may be wise to wait a day or two after the game is released to see if it’s a regular problem. All in all, so far Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires is a fun game to play. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but as an old school beat-em-up fan, these types of games are always fun to play with friends. I was disappointed it didn’t utilize more of the 360’s power (the graphics are subpar, and there’s only two players in co-op) but despite those shortcomings, I would still recommend it to Dynasty Warrior fans. Look for a more complete review early next week. Until that time, I’ll be slaughtering more opposing forces in hopes of expanding the empire of Cao Cao.

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