Deadliest Warrior: The Game (XBLA) – Review – Xbox 360

Spike TV and Pipeworks Software bring the Deadliest Warrior show from your TV to your…TV!

Story: Deadliest Warrior does not have an over-arching narrative like some fighting games. Instead you are treated with game-play tips and historical information about your warrior during loading screens.

Gameplay: Deadliest Warrior is a fast paced fighting game that focuses on the realities of blade-based combat. Arms and legs can become injured and useless or even dismembered, causing your life bar to drain away as you bleed to death. Before you get to thinking that you’ll be hopping around like the Black Knight in Monty Python’s The Holy Grail, losing a leg causes instant death, as does losing your right arm or your head (this one should be obvious). Each round could potentially last only seconds should a projectile attack catch you in the head. These take-downs are very satisfying, as long you’re not the one falling to the ground in slow-motion.

Eight historical warrior types are represented in the game, ranging from the heavily armored European knight to the threadbare Apache who’s only “armor” options consist of different types of war paint. The remaining antagonists in this quest to answer the question of “who is the deadliest warrior?” are the Centurion (an ancient Roman soldier that led 100 men in battle), a Spartan (a warrior from the ancient Greek state of Sparta, you might have heard of them…), the quick and deadly Ninja and Samurai from Japanese antiquity, a Viking warrior, and the dreaded Pirate.

Each fighter comes equipped with three different weapons designed for different ranges of combat. Your primary weapon is for close range fighting. This will vary from the Pirate’s dagger to the Knight’s broadsword. Medium range weapons go from the Apache’s relatively modest twin tomahawk axes all the way up to the Samurai’s Naginata. Each warrior also features a long range weapon with varying quantities of ammunition based on how much damage each projectile does. By playing through Arcade mode for each fighter, you can unlock alternate weapons and armor that have advantages and trade-offs compared to the default equipment. Two of these upgrades are acquired by beating bonus rounds that channel the spirit of the car demolition bonus round in Street Fighter II.

Fighting is fast paced (sometimes too fast) and fairly well balanced, although the pirate tends to dominate more than other classes due to his powerful and hard to dodge pistols. While the combat system is nowhere near as intricate as the Bushido Blade games that Deadliest Warrior pays tribute to, each fighters’ move lists are somewhat unique, with different combos for close and medium range weapons. Due to the speed of the combat, and the inherent delay and inconsistency of internet transmission, Deadliest Warrior is a bit difficult to play online. Deadliest Warrior is great if you have friends that can come over to play. You could easily recreate the atmosphere from the famous NHL ’93 on Sega Genesis scene from “Swingers”, as there will be plenty of boastful cheers and jeers, especially during the slow-mo dismemberment and decapitations.

Once you beat Arcade Mode with all eight fighters, you will unlock the Challenge Mode, which features the bonus round challenges, as well as Survival Mode and Survival Slice Mode. Survival mode is just what you would expect. You choose your warrior and your equipment, then face an unending stream of random opponents while you try to stay alive without health regeneration or any resupplies for your projectile weapons. Survival Slice mixes this up a bit by combining Survival mode with the Slice challenge, where almost every hit will take off a limb. These two modes remind me a bit of the mode in the original Bushido Blade which challenged you to fight through 100 enemies, although Deadliest Warrior only features one-on-one combat.

Graphics/Audio: Pipeworks Software focused on the warriors when it comes to graphics. The character models are detailed and each fighter’s animations give them a unique identity. The slow motion effects for dismemberments and special attacks add a bit of drama to the fast paced game-play, highlighting moments of intense violence and gore. Weapons leave (usually) subtle trails which helps with keeping an eye on the lighting fast action. This attention to detail in the fighters may have caused the levels to suffer a bit graphically. The levels themselves look well enough, but I feel like the ground textures feel a little flat, at least the levels that have grassy areas.

Overall: I’m impressed with Deadliest Warrior, and I think it came in at the right price (800 MSP / $10.00 US). I found myself wishing that the game had come in at the next-higher price-point and offered a more in-depth experience with a deeper fighting system, more alternate weapons and armor to change up the way each character plays, along with more challenges, levels, and fighters. Hopefully we’ll see some DLC from Pipeworks with some generous content that will take this already fun game over the top

-Taste of the classic Bushido Blade recipe
-Good variety of warriors
-Pick up and play fun
-Blood

Pros:

Cons:
-Less filling than the classic Bushido Blade recipe
-Only four different stages (each stage is shared by two different fighters)

Score: 8 out of 10

A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purpose

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