Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce – 360 – Review

It’s common
knowledge that the Dynasty Warriors is a “love ‘em or hate ‘em” series. Majority
of the media feels the following way about the series: A – doesn’t understand
the excitement for the genre, B – have grown tired of the series and the little
innovation it has had over the years, C – don’t find the appeal in the setting,
characters or storylines.  Well, I normally fall into the B category, but with
Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce, it was a whole new ball game.

You see, Dynasty
Warriors: Strikeforce introduces a new element that normally isn’t found within
the series. This feature originally sounded outlandish and out-of-place for the
series, but in the end it was so crazy that it actually worked. What is this
feature I speak so highly of? It’s the ability to fly. That’s right; Dynasty
Warriors: Strikeforce has players and the enemies flying, floating, and
double-jumping all across the environment.

On top of that, DW:
Strikeforce permits players to go “supernova” (or in nerd-talk, Super-Saiyan) to
take down enemies in a flash. What I like to call “supernova” is actually Fury
Mode in Dynasty Warriors lingo. Filling up the bottom gauge underneath the
health allows players to burst into a rage and use lightning quick attacks to
dispose of enemies on the fly. Even without these supernatural elements – flying
and the using the Fury Mode – there are several new gameplay additions.

Among the new
additions are an online versus mode, cooperative play for up to four players,
and building up hub cities full of NPCs (and playable characters). The online
versus mode is just as it sounds – players square off against one another. The
online cooperative play was never supported in the original release on the
PlayStation Portable, so the addition to play with friends online is a huge
addition. The online play supports both text and voice chat. As for building up
cities, players start off with a small camp and gradually progress to a large
city with vendors to buy upgrades such as: weapons, orbs, chi, equipment and
items, a fortune teller and a few others. On top of that, players are able to go
to a quest board to find and accept quests to partake on.

So while all these
additions are fine and dandy, the repetitive gameplay still remains at the
forefront. Hacking and slashing through waves of enemies that look all too
similar isn’t breathtaking by any means; it’s droning to the bitter end. Having
up to three AI-controlled officers to join on the quests aided in spicing up the
gameplay, even if they are emotionless zombies on the battlefield.  If players
have avoided the Dynasty Warriors franchise in the past because of the
monotonous gameplay, Strikeforce won’t immediately win them over – but it should
help with slowly change the image of the stagnant series.

As with any other
entry in the series, the graphics are still substandard. But then again, this
was a port from PlayStation Portable, so lackluster graphics are to be expected.
The animations often are lost in the shuffle as there are so many characters on
the screen at one time. The character models aren’t highly detailed and enemy
units are replicated to the point that you’ll be fighting the same enemy at
least a hundred times on one map.

The audio work was
even less impressive than the graphical output. The voice acting is atrocious;
it’ll make players cringe to the point that their hair will stand up on the back
of their neck. The soundtrack was nothing memorable and left no lasting
impressions. On the other end of the spectrum, if players are interested in ‘so
bad that it’s good’ voice acting, Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce may be right up
their alley – it’s the equivalent for a “B” movie that goes to extra lengths to
be appalling.

Dynasty Warriors:
Strikeforce is an oddity. It’s much better than I ever expected, but due to the
shortcomings of the franchise for so many years, it lags behind blockbuster
titles in the HD era of gaming.

Gameplay: 7.0
Aerial combat
should be the way to go from here on out for the series.

Graphics: 5.5
Dynasty Warriors
needs a graphical engine overhaul to look modern.

Sound: 6.0
It’s almost so bad
that it’s good.

Difficulty:
Easy/Medium

Concept: 7.5
The changes are a
blessing to both naysayers and fans alike. If the team can move towards more
entertaining elements, then the Dynasty Warriors may end up in the spotlight
with critical praise.

Multiplayer:
7.5
It’s about time
that cooperative play was added.

Overall: 6.5
Back on track,
Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce is a huge improvement over what the past
installments have offered.