Reviewed: October 28, 2007
Reviewed by: Arend Hart

Publisher
KOEI

Developer
Omega Force

Released: September 18, 2007
Genre: Action
Players: 1-2

5
6
7
5
5.5

Supported Features:

In those days, we saw a ton of cool game ideas emerge and then sadly, disappear; games like Airblade, Gitaroo Man, and GunValkyrie all made their appearance, and then disappeared into obscurity. And it was right around this time that a series appeared which wowed both critics and gamers with its massive battle scenes and weapons-based combat. While it was technically a sequel of a simple one-on-one fighter, Dynasty Warriors 2 was lauded for its amazing visuals and action.

It is ironic then that seven years later, the series has thoroughly outworn its welcome to the tune of a half dozen or more sequels and spin-offs – most of which (save the Tactics games) feature nearly identical gameplay and production quality of the original release. What was once the amazement of the gaming scene has become the series that makes most reviewers cringe with its mindlessly rehashed gameplay.

Koei has recently released a new addition to the series, Warriors Orochi. While not technically a Dynasty Warriors game by name, it is in every other facet. But does Orochi offer anything new to bring gamers back to the failing series? Read on.

Ponder for a moment the following paragraph:

Slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, slash, power move, slash, slash, slash, power move, slash, slash, slash, power move, power move, mower move, slash, slash, power move, power move, power move, slash, slash, power move, slash, slash, slash, power move, power move, power move, power move, power move, power move, power move.

Ok, now for the question; how many times did I “slash” in the previous paragraph?
The answer, naturally, is “Who the heck cares!”
Am I right?

The previous paragraph is dull and repetitive, and probably a bit too confusing and tedious to study at enough length to answer the question. And sadly enough, that paragraph – in all its confusing complexity – pretty much sums up 90% of the gameplay of any Dynasty Warriors game. The series is built upon mind-numbing button mashing, and that is all you get, hours upon hours of slashing.

Other than the obvious franchise crossover, Warriors Orochi does try to switch things up a bit from the previous games, by making the combat a three-person tag-team affair. The gamer can choose three characters of differing styles and specialties, and then cycle between the three on the fly. The result is a sensation similar to Panzer Dragoon Orta, in which gamers could cycle through the three different dragons (power, speed, agility) in the heat of battle.

While this mechanic does allow gamers to switch between character with particular specialties for power, technique, and speed – most gamers will simply exploit the health-restoring effect that comes when characters are not in use. The result is that most gamers can breeze through levels on the first attempt with little chance of dying. And by breeze, I mean in terms of difficulty only, since most levels seem to drag on forever as hundreds upon hundreds of enemies advance into battle.

As with any Japanese title of this ilk, the storyline is convoluted and confusing, especially to those gamers (like myself) who have little background, much less any interest, in either the Dynasty Warriors or Samurai Warriors series of games. A sensible storyline might not have saved this game in the end, but it definitely could have helped develop some level of emotion that could have lent a bit more meaning to the mashing.

The backgrounds are lifeless and unexciting, with plain-Jane objects, buildings and foliage scattered around. Pop-up is a major issue, with not only background structures suddenly appearing out of nowhere, but also the throngs of enemies – while this may actually be a result of spontaneously spawning AI, it just looks bad.

I will say that the playable character models are fairly detailed and fluid – but for any gamer who has laid their hands on one of the similarly themed Otogi games in the past few years, Orochi just does not measure up.

As one would expect from a button masher that tasks gamers with slashing hundreds of onscreen enemies, the sound effects and quotes tend to get recycled heavily. And by heavily, I mean hundreds of times throughout each scene. Still, if you can look past all the cheesy one liners and goofy dialogue, the thematic background tracks fit nicely with the action, and the sound effects are actually quite decent.

But for those gamers who seek a deep gaming experience, Warriors Orochi just doesn’t cut the mustard. There is very little in the way of variety, and poses very little challenge overall. Really, the only reason the game last so long is that the levels are so darn time consuming – just one of the battles might last upwards of an hour. It would not be bad if the hour at least involved something other than slashing, but it just goes on and on.

The Dynasty Warriors formula has served us all well over the years, now it is time to move on.