Dynasty Warriors

Game Description: The legendary creators of Dynasty Warriors, Omega Force, combines two classic series to bring you Dynasty Warriors: Gundam. Dynasty Warriors: Gundam brings the fast-paced action-filled excitement and epic, cinematic gameplay experience of Dynasty Warriors to the futuristic battlegrounds of the rich Gundam universe. Assume the roles of the legendary heroes and villains and get in the cockpits of your favorite Mobile Suits to fight across a host of battlefields of the future in both terrestrial and stellar at a lightning fast speed. Put your will and skill to the test to turn the tides of battles as you lead an army of Mobile Suits against impossible odds. Choose your favorite characters and Mobile Suits from more than 6 different epic animated TV series based on the Gundam universe and strategically strengthen their power, skills and abilities at your preference.

This review is for all the Dynasty Warriors-haters (which appear to be mostly people from the Western hemisphere). Dynasty Warriors 5 isn't all that different from part 4 which wasn't all the different from part 3.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Use of Alcohol, Violence

Game Description: Dynasty Warriors 5 is the greatest Dynasty Warriors game ever. All of the characters have their own story, and events will be viewed from the Warrior's own perspective. More powerful weapons, smarter soliders and battlefields that are 30% larger—all here to help you conquer. You'll be challenged to make snap decisions in the heat of battle—and keep advancing into enemy territory to complete your goal and build a Dynasty. Twice as many characters per screen, for the most devastating Musou attacks ever. The enhanced battlefield base system challenges your strategy skills in combat.

Chi has already touched on this in his main review, but I feel compelled to emphasize it even more. The amount of detail, especially historical detail that has gone into Dynasty Warriors 3 is simply mind-boggling. I can think of no other game that offers a database of information about people and events in the game as an option to select from the main menu screen. During the briefing before every battle, one of the options you are given is to read a brief historical context of the battle you are about to fight. The characters and battles in Dynasty Warriors 3 are based on a famous Chinese historical novel, The Romance Of The Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong. (It is worth noting that those of us used to the Yale translations of the characters names will be confused at first, as Dynasty Warriors 3 uses a more modern translation (Cao Cao instead of Tsao Tsao, etc.)) Not only are you offered an incredible number of characters to play with, but no matter who you choose, you will be playing as a historical figure from one of the most interesting periods in China's rich history. Quite simply, Koei has created a game that is not only addictively fun, but educational.

Game Description: The popular Dynasty Warriors tactical action series is back. Dynasty Warriors 3 has tons of new features and environments, adding 10 levels to the original eight and new troop types, including the terrifying elephant cavalry. You can command your bodyguards with squad-level commands, and take advantage of the improved Musou attacks. The game also features brand-new two-player cooperative and versus modes, along with endurance and time attack modes. And now, if players are caught in a combo, they can evade attacks midair. The greater variety of play modes amd moves means this version moves past the kill-or-be-killed approach of past incarnations, giving you more freedom to explore and pursue a wide variety of goals. And where in the past many scenes were available only with subtitles, the entire dramatic content of Dyanasty Warriors 3 has been dubbed in English, with an ear to psychological realism.

Dynasty Warriors 3 is, at its core, what many old-school gamers call a beat-em-up. In the tradition of coin-op classics like Double Dragon and Final Fight, a beat-'em-ups most distinguishing characteristic is usually the endless hordes of computer opponents a player must combat (usually with fists, weapons and anything else a player can get his hands on) and the repetitive nature of the gameplay which is usually tantamount to a wholelotta button-mashing.