Dynasty Warriors 3

Written by Tom Clare in PS2 Game Reviews, Monday 6 February, 2006

Repetitive Strain Injury returns triumphantly!

In the games industry, technology advances at a frightening rate. It is accepted that as technology evolves, so too must gaming series to remain popular - Sonic and Mario making the transition from 2D to 3D platform adventures in the late nineties being a case in point. There are many more examples of this, but in recent history at least, it's Dynasty Warriors that has changed the most radically.

Some may remember the original Dynasty Warriors, though you could be forgiven for not having given it a second glance. It was released on the PSOne way back in early 1997, masquerading as a Tekken-with-weapons kind of affair - it was solid enough, though utterly unmemorable. Then followed years of silence. Not until 2001 did the brand show its face again and this time it was on the PlayStation2, and if the original was forgettable, the bright, bold and significantly grander sequel was anything but. The 3D beat 'em up of old had become reborn into an epic, free-roaming war/strategy game - the rethink from developers KOEI was clearly inspired and the series success has been immense; there have already been more than ten Dynasty Warriors games or related spin-offs that have graced the PS2 thus far. Dynasty Warriors 3 was the first PS2 sequel - how would it fair?

To describe Dynasty Warriors 3 (DW3) as a war/strategy effort would perhaps be slightly misleading, as it has found its own unique brand of arcade action; a hint of tactics and planning that plays second fiddle to the general slaughtering of anyone who opposes your army, and the kind of button-bashing mayhem not seen since the classic Track & Field days of the nineties. From beginning to end, the levels are frantic and jam-packed with action - the back of the box simply says 'One Warrior Worth A Thousand', and by the end of some of the longer levels, you'll find this is to be taken literally.

The setting is second and third century China, in a period known as The Three Kingdom's Era - the three in question being the confusingly-named Shu, Wu and Wei. It's a third-person, over-the-shoulder hack 'n' slash battler whereby you assume control of a single general (of your choosing) and have the opportunity to fight for and against each respective Kingdom across giant battlefields, often containing thousands of troops. At your disposal is a weapon, a selection of bodyguards and any ally soldiers who happen to be travelling in the same direction. The layout and appearance of each environment couldn't be more varied, though the ultimate target for each level is the same - defeat the enemy's commander; what steps you take to get there is generally up to you.

DW3 is unashamedly a case of style over substance, but for once, this turns out to be a real positive. It's not hard to see why it has become so popular in the gaming mainstream - the technology is utilised to obvious good-effect; the level of activity that can be witnessed on screen with very little slow-down is superb, with several dozen soldiers able to get in amongst the action at any one time, with you right in the thick of it. Another plus-point that comes with simplicity is accessibility; whilst it has many classic elements that point towards the Strategy genre, it doesn't fall into the trap of forcing the player through overly-complex, menu-trawling sessions, which is great for less experienced gamers.

Basic gameplay doesn't require much brain-power to grasp - you'll have lost count of the number of times you've bashed the square button by the end of your opening level, as this delivers the simplest but most important attack - the combo, which effectively acts as a hub for the various secondary moves you have at your disposal. Damage you deal out and receive in battle goes towards building up your 'Musou' bar, and when it reaches maximum capacity a quick jab of the circle button will launch your chosen battler into a frenzied special-attack, and though it only lasts for a few seconds, a carefully timed Musou attack can devastate all who are in its path - very handy for defeating the tougher generals too. Elsewhere, DW3 boosts its credentials with the crossbow ability that allows you to take out hard to reach enemies, plus you can ride a horse into the warzone (very dashing) and reign down blows from a (relatively) safe standpoint. You can even trample foes with an elephant - a feature new to the series. It manages to cover all its bases with beautiful ease - all of the above ideas fit into the action like a glove and are all equally easy to grasp.

Upon this solid foundation, KOEI have including an extensive Musuo Mode, which essentially amalgamates a wealth of memorable battle scenarios with a huge selection of flamboyant heroes in the guise of a story mode. Depending on the prominence of the character, the Musuo Mode lasts between six and ten levels; the latter number reserved for the likes of Sun Jian, Cao Cao and Liu Bei, each a leader in the Three Kingdoms. What's especially nifty is that you get to take part in the most important battles several times albeit from a slightly different perspective each time; depending on your choice of character you will have different sections of the map to attack and cover and even fight on opposite sides - though be aware that this can become repetitive if you do wish to complete the game with all thirty-odd characters, even if the fighters themselves are pleasingly individual in their method of control. Upon completing a level, you are rewarded points that go towards improving your character, as well as the strength and number of bodyguards you have at your disposal, which can increase from two bog-standard privates (if you'll pardon the expression) to anything up to twelve elite majors. But perhaps the most outstanding (and surprising) feature is the split-screen mode; whereby two players can team-up in the same battle, and it is truly fabulous, as the gameplay appears to run just as smoothly, plus there is only a slight loss in the draw-distance and quantity of enemies on screen at a time; multiplayer fun at its absolute best.

It may not be especially original, though there are hints of real cleverness in Dynasty Warriors 3. Meat buns can be found scattered around the battlegrounds, and are used to replenish life. Nothing unusual there, but cleverly, rather than going to waste if collected when you have full-health, it goes instead towards replenishing your bodyguards health. Items can also be located, and up to five can be 'attached' to a character at the start of a level - they range from simple attack and defence boosters, to special items that allow power-ups to last longer or the ability to begin a mission with a coveted red horse - it isn't just the humans who have RPG-like levels; whether you can successfully mount a horse or elephant depends on their level too, with the red horse being the quickest and most difficult to acquire.

There are however a number of small but somewhat needless flaws that will hopefully be ironed out in later instalments. Whilst taking out enemies with your crossbow, you generally have to remain in the bow's first-person perspective until the shot has reached your foe for it to be registered as a hit - this can be especially irritating when a single hit from an enemy will unceremoniously dump you out of this view. Also, given that some enemy generals and commanders are especially tough to beat, I didn't like their ability to seemingly heal themselves on the spot, with the only way of countering this being to continually bombard them so they never get the chance to heal. Upon charging at an enemy general, the game promptly cuts away to a brief cut-scene introducing your foe, and this is highly inconvenient, as when the cut-scene ends you have invariably been surrounded by said general and his guards, no chance of a surprise attack. The developers were relatively successful in varying up the characters - each has different moves, attributes and weaponry that includes swords, spears, lances, fans and staffs, though as you end up playing the same missions over and over again, repetition starts to set in and the satisfaction upon completing them starts to diminish. Elsewhere, the camera system works quite well, though it doesn't automatically remain behind the player, essentially creating a blind-spot when facing towards the camera, where enemies may be just out of shot - it would have been nice if you could have manually operated the camera with the right analogue stick, but again, it's a small gripe. Alone these problems are undeniably meagre, but they are areas that need looking at in future if the series is to step up that extra level and achieve classic status.

Visually though Dynasty Warriors 3 is great; as well as its technical triumphs it conjures up a vivid and detailed array of landscapes, occupied by characters that move fluidly and are superbly animated. You'll battle in peasant villages, fortresses surrounded by snow-covered mountains, aboard massive flaming ships, giant castles… the environments really capture the imagination. The cut-scenes and ending sequences absolutely ooze class, and thanks to some smart presentation, the game scores highly in this respect.

Whilst the gameplay itself may not take long to master, it will take many, many hours of playing to uncover all characters, secrets and missions - there are more than thirty characters to play as in the Musou mode (and over forty in total throughout the game) and as each has at least six battles to play through, there are many hundreds to be fought in total, though realistically only the die-hard fan is going to persevere right to the very end. The two-player mode adds fresh longevity to the package as any points you gain for completing missions with a friend will be added to your characters in the one-player mode; another stroke of genius.

The nature of the game is obviously pretty violent; you'll be slicing 'n' dicing over a hundred troops every five minutes, though there are no rivers of blood, detachable limbs or cries of obscenities (except from the player) - the only other thing that can be considered inappropriate are the gawd-awful dubbed voices. Honestly, a subtitled version of the original would surely have been better, plus it would help the youngsters learn a few new words, rather than giving them the impression that Chinese heroes of the distant past spoke as if they had learnt their language from the back of corn flakes packet. Fortunately, its one of a diminishing number of games on the modern consoles that never really requires the use of sound to progress, so I find it I can enjoy it as much on mute, with the radio on as with the sound.

All things considered, Dynasty Warriors 3 is a very good game indeed - what it lacks in complexity it more than makes up for in accessibility and good old-fashioned fun. Its simple nature does inevitably become repetitive over time, but the well-realised levels, eye-catching visuals, and diverse range of characters means there's plenty to be positive about. Recommended.

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