Dynasty Warriors 4 Empires Review (PS2) By Sleipner

9 / 10
12 May 2006 at 11:44

Review by: Sleipner

With Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires due out shortly, the DW franchise might be getting a little more attention. Yet does the previous Empires addition provide any opportuntiy to snap up a bargain? this DW fan certainly thinks so!

The Idea of the game;
The traditional dw battles have gone out of the window in favour of a more strategic game which focuses on a risk style map in which kingdoms use turns to perform their actions. The combat itself is also changed and will be detailed below.

Combat and battles;
The big additional is the inclusion of the strongholds which act as small bases where troops gather. The combat is the same as any previous dw with a mulitiple of weapons and charge attacks meaning a good variety of combo's can be pulled off with ease.

The combat has always been a massive good point of the dw series and empires is no difference. Even though i have played the last games a huge amount, getting virtually everything available, i still find the combat and moves just as good as ever. However a few new moves would have been nice - or perhaps a couple of new playable characters just to add the feeling of something new to the game.

The strongholds this time force the player to guard and attack certain areas. It is a disappointing feature as i've always liked the freedom of being invovled in a battle - battles are much more streamlined and only have 30 minutes per stage. That may sound quite a lot but it doesn't offer enough time to experiment in battles or defeat all troops and generals.

Ultimately it tries to add some strategy but the lack of control on those elements does let it down.

Map phrase;
You start off with either historical or fictional scenario. This is either as it was in history or just totally random. Once onto the map you have 24 regions to conquer. This may sound a lot but in practice it is far too small. Often you can play through the game in around 4 hours on normal difficulty (3 diff's - easy, normal and hard though none are challenging for any dw veterans) This is not helped by the fact you take over anothers land by defeating the ruler - this cuts out a lot of strategy.

There are a number of good minor features - such as individual income prices and item production for each region, the proposals the generals make (you choose 1 each turn and they heal troops, entice officers to join you, bring in more income etc - they all cost money to perform these tasks) and which region to attack/which generals to send to battle.

Gameplay modes;
Bar the main empire mode (1 player only) and the versus mode (small engagements against com or 2nd player) there are no other modes of play. There is an archives section but this was a big disappointment with little included. What is included is character bios (very short and nothing new) all the sounds in the game and a gallery of pictures. For completists such as myself this provides the reason to play through the empire mode the 2 dozen or so times it takes to unlock everything. There is also an ending edit whereby you can edit the ending depending on if you have met the requirements - a pleasent diversion.

Overall;
A difficult game to rate as it mainly boils down to how much of a dw fan you are. Though the advances aren't great there are some new tactical elements to the game and just about enough replay value to see all the game has to offer. Ideal for die-hard fans or newcomers who want to see what the series is all about. Budget price does help its rating also.

Better then - dw2,
Worse then - Dw3/4, kessen 2

Review Score - 9/10

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