Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2

These days, a fall without a Dynasty Warriors game is about as unlikely as Intellivision returning to the hardware industry (burn on YOU, Intellivision!). Unfortunately, most of these are not terribly different whatsoever, utilizing the same gameplay formulas and elements as Dynasty Warriors 2, a PS2 launch title. Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2 is one such title. Vol. 2 is a sequel to the PSP Dynasty Warriors game that came out back when that system launched. While it does add a few new elements, like ad-hoc multiplayer and branching stages in the Musou mode. However, when it all boils down to it, Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2 is just another Dynasty Warriors game with little to set it apart.

Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2 puts you in the shoes of ancient Chinese warriors pulled from history and pits you against hordes of enemies as you fight though the battlefield. You generally win through two ways, you either kill off all the enemies in an area, or you kill off their leader and the rest will back down.

The new stage branching system in the Musou mode works well in theory, as it switches things up by allowing you to choose where you’d like to go after a battle, giving you some choice in the matter. However, the choice is severely limited by the gameplay itself. Choosing between fighting this clump of guys and fighting that clump of guys doesn’t really present itself as “choice” in gameplay.

The other addition to Vol. 2 is the new multiplayer element, which lets up to four people play together in competitive ad-hoc games. For what it is, the multiplayer matches are a good inclusion, but the lack of an infrastructure mode and, perhaps more importantly, a co-op mode make the multiplayer feel very limited in scope.

My main gripe with Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2 is pretty much my gripe with the series as a whole. The game is extremely repetitive, just hacking and slashing your way through countless scores of enemies with no real change in the formula. It would be bad enough if the game felt this way on it’s own, but the entire series has been troublingly stagnant for years now. For too long, new entries in the series have been little more than more characters and areas. While the new additions in Vol. 2 are certainly welcome (the multiplayer is a nice extra, albeit very limited), they just aren’t enough to bring the series up to snuff.

Graphically, Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2 is an improvement over it’s PSP predecessor, but not by much. The draw distance has been cleaned up a lot, so it doesn’t look like the London fog is descending over the battlefield. However, the game still has framerate issues and gets really boggy when the battle gets hairy.

Soundwise, Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2 is on par with the rest of the series. Expect guttural war cries to the tune of 80’s butt-rock.

Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2 adds a new multiplayer element to the series’ foray onto the PSP, but adds little overall to the overall scope of the series.

Gameplay: 6.5
The game feels like every other Dynasty Warriors game out there, with repetitious hack’n slash. While the stage-branching element is a nice thought, the battles are diverse enough to make it interesting.

Graphics: 7.5
The draw distance has increased a bit, meaning that you’ll be able to see the scope of the battlefield a lot better. However, the game still has framerate problems.

Sound: 7.0
The cheesy rock soundtrack is identical to what you’ll find in any other game from the DW series.

Difficulty: Medium

Multiplayer: 6.5
The game’s multiplayer element is very limited. The ad-hoc for four players is nice, but there is no infrastructure mode or co-op. Plus, the multiplayer side-games that are here feel too similar to each other.

Concept: 6.5
Of all the Dynasty Warriors games out there, this is another one!

Overall: 6.5
A half-baked multiplayer mode and the same ‘ol gameplay mean that the Dynasty Warriors series is showing its seams.