With the introduction of Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires for the Xbox 360 and PS2, KOEI has added yet another solid action strategy game to its long running series. While I'm not in disagreement with the thinking of many that KOEI's overabundance of Dynasty Warrior titles is beginning to get a little too formulaic, this particular title offers just the right amount of drastic improvements and changes to breathe a little life back into the series.
The storyline is relatively the same as it has been but there are definitely a whole slew of in depth activities to keep you intrigued. You’re still involved in the ultimate conquest of ancient China, fighting for the control of the "Three Kingdoms" with many of the leading historical officers of that time period – but the biggest change you're going to notice in this game is the role that you are going to play in just about everything that's around you. Not only are you fighting for control of the Three Kingdoms but you're also responsible for overseeing the activities that are in play around you including recruiting your officers and soldiers while being mindful of impending attacks and invasions. You’ll also be responsible for the development of the items you or your soldiers use. So being at the helm as either a representative of one of the three families or playing as a character you’ve created yourself, you’ll have to plan every battle with strategies while keeping mindful of what your underlings are doing.
DW5: Empires includes 4 scenarios that can be unlocked, a 2 player co-op in the Free Mode and Empire Mode with the ability to control over 200 officers. As I stated you can create your own character in the character edit mode where you’re allowed to change the shape, size and appearance of your character and the weight (which gives you even more of a range on the characters appearance). You also have the ability to assign different attack styles on your homemade character as well as change the voice your character is using.
The policy section of the game is relatively important, as it gives you the chance to use different political strategies, whether you delegate your power or choose what strategy to use or even consult your officers and tell them what strategy they should use. The Empires series is known for being a lot more strategic and deep than the Dynasty Warriors series due to stuff like policies and the whole "conquer the map in 100 turns" style of gameplay. This time out there are a lot more policies to choose from, which makes gameplay a lot more challenging at times, but certainly a lot more interesting as well.
Unlike the Dynasty Warriors series, DW5: Empires doesn't give you bodyguards. In this series you get generals, relief generals, Lieutenants and relief Lieutenants. Generals command forces and are major and formidable foes on the field just like you – but instead of tagging along with you and fighting alongside you, these officers battle it out on the map with enemy forces. Lieutenant are lesser officers that command forces. Relief generals and Lieutenants are there in the event you need back-up and can play a major role in turning the tide in a diffcult situation. The biggest change this time out is that now players can issue four important commands to direct these officers on the battlefield - a very important thing when you need support or want them to hold a position like your main base camp..
The enemies still attack you too many at a time, which is part of what makes the game great -- being able to get 100 KO's enemies in a matter of a couple of minutes is a pretty awesome thing. The Musou is still great and the character depth is just as good as always.
There are a couple of things that have changed that I didn’t like in the game like the way items have been distributed on the map. The game does allow you to produce the rarer items (which you must do often), but you can't find them on the battlefield nearly as often as before. Especially the energy items that used to be placed in most crates and containers - these came in real handy in those moments when you were running from the big boss and about 100 soldiers.. There are sporadic placements of these items and definite places to get them but you usually have to fight some very strong adversaries to do so, which is a real pain when your power bar is already nearly empty. Those minor complaints aside, Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires is still the classic button mashing, fast paced game we’ve all come to love, and the changes are mostly positive ones that show that this old series isn’t yet played out and that Omega Team may yet have a few changes left up their collective sleeves.
Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires offers decent visuals on both the PS2 and Xbox 360 (the only real major difference between both versions), interesting strategy elements and the button mashing action that fans of the Dynasty Warriors series will simply love. If you are a fan of this series and don't mind getting strategy in your action then you won't be disappointed with KOEI's latest endeavor.
