In 2004 Koei and internal development studio Omega Force released the original Samurai Warriors. Including the Dynasty Warriors series, there’s been 12 games to come out thus far in North America. Amazingly they keep coming out, and amazingly, they continue to get lower scores from multiple reviewers. There seems to be a huge mentality going that more of the same is neccessarily bad. Unfortunately, most reviews you’ll see focus on why someone doesn’t like pressing buttons.While i'm not saying this isn’t a button masher, no one seems to mind the repetition of the Madden or NCAA football series. Don’t get me wrong, I love both series, but then again, i'm not here to complain about pushing the same buttons over and over again.

Samurai Warriors 2 revisits late 1500's & early 1600's Japan and put’s you in the role of a general who doesnt mind getting his or her hands a little bloody. You can Ensure the Tokugawa family rules over Japan for years to come, or change history as you see fit. The game has 26 characters with unique weapons and move sets. Almost all of these characters has their own story line which intertwine with each other. While historical accuracy isn’t always there, the game has a good background and a lot of theory which creates an interesting story for the player. Also, this game allows a few more ninjas as main characters. You can play through all the games solo, but it’s always more fun with a friend.

The main game itself brings many new features. In addition to the regular experience you receive from defeating enemies and finishing levels, your character can learn new skills or buy them at the shop. While at the shop, you may want to buy a new bodyguard, a horse, or maybe an upgrade for your weapon. You’ll find that the missions in Samurai Warriors 2 are much tougher, to a point of almost being frustrating. At times it feels like you’re babysitting the other officers, many of which can’t seem to take care of themselves. This can, however, usually be solved with gaining a few more levels. This does, however, add a bit of challenge that previous titles may have lacked. There’s a difference between difficulty setting and challenge, and I think the series is taking a step in the right direction, but still needs a bit of refinement.

Besides the main game there are a few other choices for game play. Survival mode returns with a new twist. Instead of mindlessly slaying X amount of enemies in Y amount of time, you have actual missions. Every 5 floors of an “infinite castle” you will pick a mission and climb your way up. The missions vary from killing bandits to steal their gold to investigating crimes and unlocking special characters and weapons. Think of it as Kung Fu for 2006, with less kung fu and more enemies. Maybe you need a break in the action. The Sugoruku mini game is new in the series. It provides a challenging distraction from the regular game. Basically, Sugoruku is a Monopoly style board game where you race the computer or your friends to collect a certain amount of money. You do this by buying areas across Japan, completing challenges, and collectin flags across the map board. This is a very challenging game and can take up hours of your time alone. Of course, no 360 game would be complete without Xbox Live. Compete with other players to try to get a higher ranking with everyone else. Unfortunately, most of the time when I attempted this, the waiting time was very long.

The game isn’t without its drawbacks. The gameplay can get repetitive and sometimes stale. Also, the game, at its base is Samurai Warriors with a few updates. And as already mentioned, some missions tend to seem like babysitting and can be frustrating.

For fans of the series, Samurai Warriors 2 is a sure bet, the best of the regular series since Dynasty Warriors 3. For newcomers, don’t be afraid to try this one out, it has a lot of new features and great replay value.