Review by: Brendon Lindsey

It's that time of the year—time for a new Dynasty Warriors game! This time around, it's Dynasty Warrior 6: Empires. The strategy-imbued spin-off of Dynasty Warriors 6 is, for the most part, exactly what you'd expect. There is one new addition, though, that may make it worth it for the Dynasty Warriors faithful.

If you've played a Dynasty Warriors game before – especially a recent one – you'll find that there's not much new in terms of the core Dynasty Warriors gameplay. Players select (or create) an officer from the Three Kingdoms period. These officers have a variety of weapons, and you still fight by mostly using one or two buttons, with the occasional third or fourth thrown in for good measure. It's still a button-masher, and it's still the same repetitive combat that has become almost an inside joke among the gaming community.

But combat isn't what makes Empires different from the original Dynasty Warriors 6 release. The element that makes Empires different is the inclusion of more strategy, in a Risk-like metagame of taking control of the empire. Rather than have a “story” driven string of fights, there's an overworld map, with different selectable areas. Beat someone, you take over their area and troops get divvied up among the two spots. (Just like Risk.) The button mashing, overly simplistic martial arts combat is still in Empires, though, so don't let its description of being a “strategic” Dynasty Warriors fool you; the only real strategy comes from deciding which group of people you want to attack next.

The big new feature is the ability to pick whether you're a Ruler or an Officer. Rulers are the same as they were in the previous Empires titles. You'll pick territories to invade, defend your own, and be the point man when it comes to controlling the growing empire. Once a battle is initiated, the game will switch to the traditional hack-n-slash fighting mode. As you defeat enemies, you'll be able to recruit defeated officers, and earn “cards” to use in the post-/pre-fight menu. Unfortunately, cards are more limited in scope this time around, focusing almost entirely on invasion, with the political-oriented cards apparently being lost with other relics. The ability to form alliances is also not what it was, and as a whole being a Ruler feels more stripped down, and even duller, than it has been in the last Empires.