Just like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers only with more Awesomeness
One thing’s for sure, last thing Dynasty Warriors really needed was superpowers of a sort. That said, given the fact you KO thousands of troops in anyone level by yourself though it’s not all that unrealistic.
Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce was released by Omega Force and published by Koei over a year ago on the PSP. Since it’s port to the Xbox 360 it really has given a nice reboot to the franchise in many areas. The story as it’s Dynasty Warriors really remains much the same, adding a few other touches towards the end with cameo characters. The story element however has been removed even further for place of things such as side missions.
The game itself has many new welcome features, the main one being you now have a central hub where you can increase weapon strength, buy in-battle items to use, exchange components and most importantly obtain quests. Sub quests give you the change to earn other items or perhaps have a little fun unrelated to the storyline, much like Dream Mode in other Dynasty Warriors games. Prime examples are leveling characters up in weapon experience and actual stats themselves, giving a sort of grind element to the game. You can equip each limb with a ‘Chi’ as well granting additional resistances or skills to match your playing style as well as change the style of your weapon to focus on damage or speed.
- The Fish was thiiiiiiis big… Honest.
Additionally, being able to craft weapons using spoils and components you found on the battlefield is a really nice touch as it makes you revisit certain stages if you want to obtain specific parts or if you want to upgrade the stores to buy the parts from. Also, as there are challenges to the many quests you’ll get it gives you more to actually accomplish in the levels to obtain those few extra items. Sub weapons are another new feature, allowing you to change move sets in the middle of combos of to suit a situation, which I found perfect for juggling enemies. Bosses are a lot harder too, requiring you to fight them multiple times or very large monsters depending on the mission. That said the game itself really has lost that KO’ing mob mentality on favour of these single one-on-one boss fights. With ‘Awakenings’ you basically become superhuman and power-up, giving you the ability to jump and dash further and multiple times. This seems like fun however as you’re able to lock onto specific enemies it removes a lot of the challenge and simply becomes a officer assassination fest where you juggle them in the air for a minute. It really feels like Omega Force added so much to the game yet changed the core gameplay that people buy it for.
- How did James Cameron’s IKRAN’s get into this Game?
Graphically the game is much the same. Looks better than the PSP version of course but nothing spectacular stands out. Characters have had decent work on them done, especially in their Awakening forms. Level design feels a little flawed, especially as it’s in small blocks. Naturally as the PSP version wanted people to play in small timeframes this isn’t too surprising, but the fact slowdown occurs even in these small areas is concerning. Doesn’t really detract from the game experience though. The usual clean, wailing guitars return to the Dynasty Warriors franchise, honestly a game wouldn’t be complete without them as well as the tacky voice acting to go with it. It’s improved over the years however it’ll most likely always stay the same, near amateur level.
Multiplayer is a very welcome feature to this game, allowing you to play with three others to take on missions. In single player you can have three AI fight with you and in a lot of missions the extra helpers really are required however playing online was a brilliant experience, simply as human players know what to attack and what to do. AI can be issued simple commands but can still get in the way. Having the Xbox Live feature is extremely welcomed, and certainly gives the game a lot more replayability. DLC in forms of quests are also available to lengthen the gameplay.
- So this is where Lady Gaga comes up with her Fashion wardrobe
Ultimately, Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce is a very big reboot to the franchise. Old players will welcome all the new features yet should be warned it is very different to other Warriors games, perhaps too different. New players to the franchise would be advised to perhaps try a different game in the series, such as “Warriors Orochi 2” or “Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2” to get a feel for the franchise before perhaps purchasing this title.
Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce adds so many new and wonderful features to the franchise, however with the core gameplay changing too much also it really falls short of some of the other, more solid Warriors games out there. Definitely worth trying though. Here’s hoping Strikeforce 2 (Which has been announced) fixes a few core gameplay issues.
Dynasty Warriors : Strikeforce – Game Detail Page
*Originally written by Bradley Jolly (aka DYoshii)
