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Dynasty Warriors 6 Review for PlayStation 2 (PS2)

Dynasty Warriors 6 Review for PlayStation 2 (PS2)

Time to Rebuild the Dynasty

This PS2 version of Dynasty Warriors 6 comes nine months after the game’s release on the PS3 and 360. While it’s only right that PS2 owners would anticipate something special with the extra time KOEI has taken to release this version of DW6, it is in fact not the case with this rehashing of old graphics and gameplay – something fans of the Warriors series have seen far too often.

Dynasty Warriors 6 screenshot

The biggest feature exclusive to this version of DW6 is the inclusion of bonus stages and challenges in Musou, the main story mode of the game. Expectedly, Musou takes you into the Three Kingdoms era of China through a loosely put together storyline linked with mildly entertaining cutscenes. You will start off selecting one character out of the 15 available at the start, with an impressive cast of unlockable Warriors as incentive to play the game. Typical of any Warriors title, your character of choice is thrust into battle on large grounds swarming with enemy warriors, as you will have to take their bases and complete various tasks such as rescuing another character or defeating a more difficult officer. Essentially, the game doesn’t stray from the expected fighting off of endless reinforcements as they do little to defend themselves from your attacks and simply slow you down as you try to progress. Free Mode also allows you to revisit all of the tasks from Musou and includes different tasks set in the same scenarios such as timed mini-games that add little in the way of variety or ingenuity.

Anyone familiar with the Dynasty Warriors franchise won’t be in for any major surprises here. The generic button-mashery is still in place with Normal and Power attacks boasting a variety of combos to unleash on the hordes of oncoming attackers. What’s introduced as a new feature, the Renbu Rank system, is essentially a power-up earned by successfully beating enemies for a period of time. Building your Renbu gives you stronger attacks and allows you to string longer combos together as your character flails around in a heated rage.

Dynasty Warriors 6 screenshot

The new feature is, in a nutshell, nothing special. There is nothing really added to the way you play Dynasty Warriors, though those who enjoy the button-mash style of gameplay will be able to pull off longer combos that look even more devastating onscreen while not taking any gaming skills to pull off. Even with the amount of unlockable characters, the feeling of variety in gameplay is lost in repeated use of the same two attack buttons. New functions, such as the ability to climb a ladder, are not exactly groundbreaking, and they seem more like quick add-ons while not fixing problems gamers have been asking developers to right for years.

Dynasty Warriors 6 screenshot

Beating off hordes of enemies is incredibly easy, as the A.I. is absolutely horrendous – a tradition in all Warriors titles. While they can move quickly, it seems as though they approach just to be beaten, as they welcomingly take the punishment you unleash on them by hitting both attack buttons non-stop. The lack of enemy designs also limits the feeling of variety in this game, as you are constantly confronted with about 15 or 20 different clones. While officers are much more difficult to defeat and offer stronger, more smoothly animated attacks, the amount of same-looking characters that pop in from out of nowhere make DW6 feel extremely repetitive.

Dynasty Warriors 6 screenshot

Though many games build on graphical achievements and improve with each installment, all games in the Warriors franchise have been traditionally out-dated visually. Prevalent in DW6, environments look angular and lack great detail. Flickering is ramped in oncoming attackers, making them look more like two-dimensional projections on the screen. Combined with the unintelligent A.I., attackers tend to feel like minor annoyances than any real threat to be taken seriously. When there’s a lot going on onscreen, slowdown is too noticeable to pass off.

When surrounded in a swarm of enemies and unleashing attack moves, slowdown, flickering and blurring are combined for a confusing visual experience of what is actually happening. Split-screen co-op is even worse, as it seems the amount of slowdown was either deemed insignificant by developers, or DW6 was simply rushed even though it was released months after the PS3 and 360 versions. Though next-gen versions of the game have gone over a significant improvement visually, for the PS2 this is the same Warriors game those familiar with the series would expect.

With the amount of Warriors titles on the market (Orochi, Samurai, etc) anyone familiar with the series should know how similar each one tends to be from the next. If you love the series, you will enjoy the development of the storyline in Musou as well as the inclusion of Renbu in the midst of gameplay. Those who don’t enjoy the series aren’t going to like this, and casual fans simply aren’t given enough reason to do away with an old copy and purchase this one.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 2.2 Graphics
All levels and characters appear graphically outdated, while mid-action flickering and slowdown is far too constant. 2.3 Control
Addition of the Renbu Rank is a poor attempt at adding more variety to the repetitious button-mash style worn thin long ago by the series. 2.3 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Voiceover work is dull and monotonous, while in-game sound effects have gone unchanged from previous installments. 2.0 Play Value
Hardcore Dynasty Warriors fans will probably get this title for the storyline alone. More casual fans of the series stay away! 2.2 Overall Rating – Poor
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • Includes all 41 playable characters of the original.
  • New weapons and moves plus never before seen Musou mode stories.
  • Includes all 45 scenarios of the original plus five new stages and ten new scenarios.
  • Spectacular motion-captured fighting techniques.
  • Lightning-fast, intuitive combat system and breathtaking environments.

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