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First "Next Gen" Game for PS3

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: February 21, 2008
Author: Amazon User

First I will say, I truly believe this is the first "Next Gen" game to be released on the PS3. CoD 4 was a good attempt, but the lack of AI ability was disappointing. This game really starts to utilize the raw power of the PS3.

So, after a 5 1/2 hour run through here's what I've noticed:

A prior post commented the graphics were so-so. They are actually quite good. Its the little things you don't look for that enhance the image. For example running through water, the ripples you leave, your reflection can be seen, the way the water splashes up. Going through a forest leaves are falling from trees and the trees have distinct texture. Open fields the tall grass moves when you run through it. The colors are rich (playing on a 1080 LCD TV), outfits have a high level of detail. The opening video is incredible.

The controls are a little more cumbersome than prior DW games. Not sure why, but controlling the camera angles while trying to fight is a little more awkward in this game. Takes a little getting use to, but there is the usual options menu to change. This menu cannot be accessed in game though, you have to do it before loading a campaign. Doesn't make sense.

Actual game play: I like not dealing w/ a group of personal guards. I dont think they added much in prior games. The horse option is a nice feature. Fairly easy up the rank of your horse, but they are really only good for sprinting across the map if the battle goes wrong.

Instead of items you can pick up a myriad of weapons w/ different attributes. Some may increase the power of your attacks, increase rate you fill your power, etc. Much better than scrolling through 4 menus of items trying to mix and match.

Skill is similar to FFX in that spending a point here or there will up defense +5 or attack +10 or give you a new skill, etc.

The fact that you can climb up ladders, certain walls, swim through rivers etc. adds a new element to the game. instead of having to run half-way around a map sometimes you can simply climb up a rope or swim down stream to get to the next area. Simple but adds a lot.

What really sells this game is its use of the AI power the PS3 can provide. Yes it can be a hack an slash, but your enemy starts to think for itself. Your allies will call for help if they are struggling. The AI can and will do the same. The AI will also adapt somewhat to your attack. If you run head on into a column of troops they will split and try to surround you. Corporals, Lieutenants, Majors will try to rally the enemy and reorganize them in battle.

So this requires some strategy beyond hacking and slashing. If you always sprint into battle slashing officers, mini-bosses and main bosses will stand and block your attacks then direct their soldiers to attack you from behind.

Finally, I found this game to be fairly challenging. Normal difficulty can provide quite a challenge if you're not careful because there is a lack of health (a lot fewer boxes to break open). Also you have limited number of save points you can use. There is more depth to this game. You can run through the quests and finish the game but then go back and complete challenges in each quest (kill 500 guys, capture point A and B in 10 min, etc.) to gain skill points. I have heard there are more characters to unlock and then play through the game with than any prior DW.

DW6 is starting to use the PS3 to its full potential. Its a great game, and I think it will have a high replay level down the road. 2 player mode works very well and of course even after you beat the game w/ every character in every mode, there are still the mini challenge games. These have been expanded a little and offer more variety than prior games.

Fun, but a little less of more of the same

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: February 21, 2008
Author: Amazon User

***Short review***

Good: Hack-n-slash fun still abounds, fans will not be disappointed, smoother game play, higher body count possible, Renbu combo system allows for high hits, leveling up horses
Bad: Hard to see individual battlefield map, small amount of lag still present in two-player, no real major innovation (skill system is arguable), no body guards (arguable)
Ugly: Zhou Yu in thigh-high boots ; Most ignored item in the game is a comb.

***Regular review***

The lack of any major innovations does not hamper this game from being entertaining. You still play as some warrior from China's Three Kingdom's era, making your way across the land by cutting down scores of nameless soldiers along with their named Generals.

You build up your warrior's abilities by participating and winning in battles based on several criteria, such as number of men killed, targets acquired, etc. Your rank as a warrior increases based on the experience you earn at the end of the battle.

Furthermore, at the conclusion of a successful battle, considering how well you did, you might have the option of getting skills. Each skill slot on the skill tree is worth one acquired skill point and will give a boost to your warrior in various ways like more attack/defense power, more health, or some special attribute. I believe this is the same way you level up in one of the later Final Fantasies, cannot remember which. This skill-tree system is one of the new features in Dynasty Warriors.

The gameplay itself is very similar to the previous 4 dynasty warriors (the first one being a one-on-one fighting game). There is a newer way to fight, the Renbu system, that has replaced the weapon as being what determines the length of a combo. Essentially, the Renbu system gives you the option of making ridiculously long combos. It is not unheard of getting combos up to and over 200, whereas something like that would be far more difficult to do in previous editions. I find it less personal than the old way, but that is more a preference; it does not at all detract from the fun. Perhaps thanks to the PS3 hardware, it is much easier to get insane body counts. I was able to get over 2200 in one battle, which I have never done before in any other Dynasty Warriors. I suspect this will be the norm for larger battles, though I averaged out around 1000 (this is when I am not looking for enemies to kill).

Health boosts are harder to come by in this game. Towns, gates, and other bases are more crucial in this game to recover your energy. These places are captured based on the body count needed to capture it; the body count falls faster when you kill corporals or generals associated with the base. Larger bases, larger body count. In order to get into an enemy base, you have to knock down the gate. For larger walls with larger gates, you may get the option of climbing up a ladder. Another new thing not seen in previously. And health boosts in bases do regenerate, as long as the base remains on your side.

There are also no body guards in this game, them being replaced by a more detailed horse component. You begin the game with the option of riding a horse or not. You can choose one of several horses, and level them up by taking them into battle. Most horses on the battlefield belong to the more major generals, and not all of them will have one. This makes picking a horse before the battle begins a good idea You will be able to win more horses by picking up saddles within a battlefield. These can give you access to more powerful horses (though, I have not found out yet how to gain more famous horses like Red Hare). Gaining a new weapon is the same as the previous editions; find a weapon box and there you go. The strength of a given weapon is based on the difficulty of the setting and battle.

Technically, the game is of course superior to any of the previous installments. The music sounds as good as you expect from a Dynasty Warriors. It is not great, but it does the trick. Thankfully, the voice-overs are not as bad as the series is known for. But it looks like the sound effects have taken a hit; musou yells and other dins of battle were not as apparent.
The PS3 does a great job in putting bodies on the screen to be knocked down, which is great on single player. Two player, though, there is some lag when you or your partner are within large groups of soldiers. Although, clearing out the bodies will return the speed of the game to normal. The graphics are pretty good, though for some reason the characters seem a little smaller than on previous editions. Even on non-HDTVs, the graphics are decent. I was not impressed, however, with the musou attacks. They did look as devastating and battle-turning as some of the previous editions were. The crunch of laying a musou out on a large group of enemies was not as satisfying as I wanted it to be.

One major gripe, however, is the lack of a bearing point when you flip your battlefield map from the whole field to what is around you. You will constantly be switching to the start menu to gain your bearings. It is easier to see your arrow on single player, near impossible on two player. This may change with a larger screen tv.

In conclusion, if you are a fan of the dynasty warrior series like I am, then you will buy this game and enjoy it. It will be worth the money just to get through the story of each of your characters, and it hardly gets old (at least for me) to constantly cut through throngs of hapless, ill-paid soldiers. Even though the game did not blow me away and regardless of some of the minor drawbacks, this is a must have for the hack-n-slasher PS3 owner.

Solid Title, and it's about time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: February 21, 2008
Author: Amazon User

DW6 is unique for many reasons. It's the first really major 3rd party title to hit the PS3, in this reviewers opinion. The DW series has been a huge selling point for Sony for quite some time, and its nice to see its first foray into the "next generation." Most of the games for the PS3 are still rather mediocre, so its nice to see one breathe a little life into the system (which I just managed to purchase today as well).

It's also unique due to its revamped and overhauled gameplay. And let's face it - the DW engine, while fun, was incredibly tired, having existed since around 1999, with few to no upgrades. Here, however, we finally see some differing gameplay.

No, it's not completely different, and that's good - DW has been fun. But now, the ability to defend and attack nearly simultaneously has been added to the system. Moreover, the combo meter really racks up - you can pretty much swing your weapon infinitely often, with few to no breaks in attacks. Koei has finally made good on the promise of Siege weapons from DW4, and it is a blast to build rams or destroy ballistae. Also, the character now has the ability to swim in water, or climb castle walls in pursuit of more kills and glory.

Not everything is peachy, however. The graphics are pretty lousy. Yeah, they're an improvement over those found in, say, "Warriors:Orochi", but you won't be wowed at all. The sound in the game is fuzzy - you don't hear that satisfying smack when you hammer someone with a sword or spear as in old games. Some of the characters from DW5 have been removed, for no good reason. I have heard that even Jiang Wei fails to make an appearance - an interesting move, since Jiang was essentially the commander-in-chief of the Shu forces in the latter part of RTK. Items have been replaced by a "skill tree," which has good points and bad, but I find it generally weaker than in previous offerings.

But anyway, I've yammered enough, so let me end with this. If you like DW, you're going to love this. It is significantly better and more exciting. If you've never played the games (all eight of you), I would suggest this as a nice starting point.

Finally, a Dynasty Warriors worth buying and playing through!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 22, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Finally, KOEI has done it! They've made a DW deserving a new number! (6)
Keeping with the original Romance of Three Kingdoms (hai shi DW Three Kingdoms' new book The Greatest of Heroes) novel, they've made a game that brings incredible feelings of joy in playing through its characters in a totally new world to which say only Dynasty Warriors 3 can compare.

The new fighting systems, graphical environments AND their details eg shape of the land and interactivity, and enemy AI, all make the game something we've been waiting half a decade for.

It is truly beautiful - with 3rd gen console quality cutscenes (and real voice actors now!) the story is vividly retold, threading together the historical battles of ROTK (half the reason for the games' popularity and KOEI's success!). With this formula reinvigorated, KOEI should now win over millions more to its series with the Chinese story, which have complemented each others fame in recent years.

The combo "Renbu" system is a nice change, allowing more powerful attacks as you show your skill rather than button mashing ability, and the game allows enough foes on screen for it to become worthwhile.

Having a new skill system, although copied from other games, is one of the wisest ideas KOEI has had. The warhorse and weapon development are some of the ways that makes the games' time consumption feel more worthwhile, but the only critisiscm is still just that - time consumption. It's a long game (but based on a very long story! - ROTK is 3x as long as Lord of the Rings!) and with dozens of characters to play through and level up, its one that can accomodate the casual player but even better the DW/ROTK addict.

So overall, an incredible game - the kind we've been waiting for.

I'd give it 9/10 - the best since DW3.

The chinese online version is still the kind we are waiting for however - where the mechanics and joy of Dynasty Warriors can be applied against HUMAN opponents - but until then this will suffice.

In the meantime however, DW Three Kingdoms has also released their new book, based on the same story as Dynasty Warriors, and is a great compliment one of the best games of 2008.

Not too shabby

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: February 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

At this point, you either like the KOEI "mass battlefield" games, or you don't. Dynasty Warriors 6 picks up right where the others left off, with more of the same. Once again, we're thrown back into what sort of passes as Chinese history, taking up the roles of one of the Three Kingdom warriors and hacking our way to glory.

First off, the game has never looked better. DW6 is a clear jump up in graphics from even the recent Samurai Warriors 2 for the PS2, and the battlefields are familiar while looking much, much nicer. DW6 does a good job of making use of the PS3's heavy graphics horsepower, filling the levels with flowing water and leaf-dropping trees that actually are cool to look at.

Second, the combat is just as fun as ever. As always, one is able to slaughter entire fields full of enemies, collecting dropped bags of weapons and experience to crank up one's stats. Some of the weird DW affectations remain, such as squads of troops that mysteriously appear out of mid-air around you. All in all, however, the combat system holds up well even though it has basically been reduced to pure button mashing even compared to earlier versions.

Each iteration of Dynasty Warriors seems to add some good things while unfortunately removing some old standbys. For example, DW6 retains horses and even lets you level them up, permitting one to obtain strange steeds such as one that freezes anyone it runs over, or gives you a free weapon at the end of each level (presumably carried off in its teeth). Loose horses even run around on the battlefield smashing into people, instead of just standing around like idiots. Another new feature is a skill tree that is filled up with little skill points based on levelling, although there's really not much thought put into it. However, other items from earlier versions are sorely missed: new weapons do not appear upgradeable with money (indeed, there is no gold to be found) but instead are simply found as-is. Nor does one receive a bodyguard hireling who can level up; it's a horse or nothing. Having a bodyguard bomb thrower or monk who hands out life foods is sorely missed. Harkening back even further (DW 4, if memory serves), the inability to make a customized character or use a first-person bow and arrow still rankles. DW 6 adds the ability to climb up ladders onto walls or archer towers, but no ability to then use a bow to shoot people below. It's kind of silly.

Lastly, it's worth noting that the game is quite challenging. Even at the historically cream-puff "Normal" setting it is pretty easy to get murdered, notably by the over-juiced "fury" characters. I had an 18th level character with pretty good weapons get killed in two hits by some commander who wasn't even legendary tool Lu Bu. Interim saving is key even on the lower difficulty settings.

All in all, DW 6 is a good addition to your PS3 game library. I just dream of the day that KOEI puts good features into a DW game and DOESN'T remove all the good ones they'd added the prior time around.

Well done

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 01, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is the first Dynasty Warriors that is actually fun to play. No more running back to your horse (you can whistle for it now), no more having to tediously kill all the gate guards to stop enemy reinforcements, no more having to kill hundreds of enemies hunting for meat buns (if you take a base now, it spawns food on a regular basis), mounted combat is now a feasible way of killing enemies, randomized loot, a fun levelling and advancement system, etc.

It's still all about mowing through waves of enemies and fighting enemy generals, but it's actually fun now, instead of tedious. I'd recommend it for anyone that got turned off by the older Dynasty Warrior games.

Old and New

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: March 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

As someone who has every Dynasty Warrior game(Empires and Xtreme Legends included) as well as the Samurai Warriors, Warriors Orochi, Dynasty Warriors Gundam, and even the two PSP games. I think I can comment with some authority on this game. I like the visuals first of all. This is a big step up. The frame rate seems excellent as well. I encountered no slow downs in play. The addition of climbing ladders and swimming is nice. In turn the makers took out a few elements that I liked with leveling up weapons and bodyguards. The gameplay itself is basically the same thing you have been playing for years. If you are a fan of the mass battleground slaughtering enemies kind of game, then this is still going to be right up you alley. For me the story is getting a bit stale. I have seen the same time frames and characters a little too much now and I wish they would try something new. Still it is fun and I can easily recommend it to any Dynasty Warriors fan.

new elements, more fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Got this game last night. couldn't stop playing it. New elements such as war-horse, special attack, skills, dodging and counter attack make the game so much more fun. It is not a game of tapping sqaure and triangle anymore. There are still a lot more to explore in this game. Bottom line, if you are a fan, you will love it!

The only thing I don't like about this release is that they changed the characters so much that they don't look like the legendary Chinese generals anymore, they are more like those Japanese comics characters. Plus they removed some of the characters and maps........WHY?

Decent fun, if you are a fan, you'll want to play this. Much improved from Legend

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Playing DW5 and Xtreme Legend was a real let down. Almost gave up on the series. After reading nice reviews from fellow fans on Amazon, thought I would give it another chance.

After playing for 2 weekends, no regret for the $60 spent.

1. Graphics - a big improvement
2. Sound - about the same as before
3. Gameplay - There's several changes here:
a.) leveling - now it's like a final fantasy X style skill points board where you pick the skills you want to get after each level. Nice addition. Though it could of been a bit deeper like Diablo where it's more character focused.
b.) Even more characters to unlock and choose from - this I thought it was really not necessary. Doubt anyone has the patience to level all 50 or 100 characters. Rather they concentrate on make 10 or 20 characters more distinctive.
c.) Difficulty - This really got raised even on EASY. Can you say NO MORE BUNS! Yes, practically all the health-ups drops are gone, only at the bases and a few barrels you can find health-ups. Lot of extra backtracking.
d.) Horse Leveling - Here the horse actually is pretty powerful if you level it. Also being able to "call" your horse to you is helpful.
e.) Magic / Intellect characters - In the books, Zhuge Liang is literally the #1 character, most powerful due to his intelligence, but in DW series, the brain characters are really weak to play. That hasn't changed in #6.

If you are a fan or enjoy a good beatdown to get some stress out after work, this is a good workout. If you want fresh new / deep gameplay, look elsewhere.

How can they still not have improved on the 3rd game?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: March 05, 2008
Author: Amazon User

If you like Dynasty Warriors, chances are you've already bought this monotonous piece of work. A series that used to be brilliant in it's simplicity and worked well within it's own story, the game has become far beyond as tedious and monotonous as a game should get. The series has never been genius to begin with, but it becomes increasingly clear with each cheap expansion pack that KOEI doesn't care about it's fans; only their money. The graphics are below average and the gameplay is the same and yet worse then it's predecessors... the combat system has been arranged to make it even more of a brainless button masher. Rental at best.

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