Dynasty Warriors 7 – Review – PS3

Koei has come under flack the past few years for its constant releasing of the Dynasty Warriors series without any reasonable changes to gameplay or story. Dynasty Warriors 7 may not be the complete switch up but it is possibly the best Dynasty Warriors game that has been released in years. As another member of the series, the story doesn’t change up much from the past games; it takes place during the time of the three kingdoms – Wu, Shu, and Wei. Jin has also been added which is a nice touch. Based partially on the novel “Romance of three kingdoms”, each story follows the kingdom instead of a character like the past games. It mixes actual events with mysticism and fiction which creates a good blend of a real story with fictional game play, which can keep you hooked.

Gameplay: Many fans may be excited to hear that this game has returned to the roots of its charge combat system, where during a combo attack you can press the strong button to alter your combo. This is very much a hack-and-slash game which can be okay, but it does get a little excessive. Each kingdom’s story takes around 3-4 hours roughly to complete which isn’t bad at all. A mission usually runs about 20 to 30 minutes depending but they always play the same – you storm the enemy, they usually attack your base and you have to rescue your commander, then you attack the enemy again. The difficulty doesn’t ever really increase and your allies are worse than useless because half the time you will be on one side of the map when they decide to start sucking and need help. To say you are a lone soldier may be a stretch sometimes as your allies assist you, but overall they are just fodder like the enemy.

The gameplay may not be very original but there is some fun to be had for sure. Conquest mode has also been added to increase the longevity of this game. It is sort of a ‘tell your own story’ mode for the lesser characters that do not really get a chance in the three kingdoms mode. It isn’t at all a free range game though; you are on a grid and have to move in a certain direction. I wish they had a little more freedom. I will give game play a 6/10.

Graphics/Audio: Dynasty Warriors has always been a bit of an ugly game, but DW7 has improved quite a bit. It is much closer to looking like a next generation title; unfortunately it still falls kind of short. It feels to me that it should have been released a few years ago early when the next gens came out because the graphics are a little awkward. The draw distance and overall look of the game is pretty solid. The scenery looks a little bland but stretches quite a ways which is a nice touch. Things don’t look bad but they just don’t look that great either. However, the cut scenes do look quite nice which draws you into the story quite nicely. One major problem this game suffers from, which is kind of understandable is pop in. You could be a foot or two away from a whole bunch of ally soldiers and then bam there they are appearing out of thin air. The number of characters on screen in the more heated battles is quite impressive and it doesn’t slow down the game at all, which is a bonus. I can see the direction they may be heading with the graphics if they just tune it up a little more, it will be more on par. One interesting note is that this game is 3D compatible which is pretty cool; in some instances you can imagine that it would probably add more of a sense of depth while fighting the enemies. 6/10.

The sound in DW7, like its gameplay, is quite repetitive; you hear the same things every time you defeat an enemy and the voice acting, while not horrible, can be kind of cheesy at times. The sound effects are pretty good bringing a sense of actual combat to the game. The narrator is good for holding the story together and, overall, the sound is pretty decent. The music in this game rocks; it definitely does not fit the time, but it sure gives you a great want to fight. More so the main characters are voice acted quite well and you can understand their emotions sometimes; other times you may just be confused since some of the actors seem to just read their lines and put no effort in to it. Like the rest of the game there is nothing particularly wrong with the sound, it’s just not anything you haven’t heard before. 6/10.

Conclusion: I think that DW7 may be a welcome return to its roots. The gameplay, though repetitive, is addictive and the story progresses well. I think if you want to try it rent it, otherwise this game is probably more for the fans of hack and slash games and of DW7. I personally did enjoy it but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t want more. Everything just kind of felt excessively repetitive and it would have been nice to have more control of my troops.

Overall Score: 6.5/10

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