For me, Koei's games should be classed as a controlled substance – dangerously addictive, as every time I try to drag myself away from one I always find myself needing just one more hit. Be it horse racing in the G1 Jockey series, or battling cartoon aliens with a guitar in Gitaroo Man, I'm yet to play a Koei game that hasn't had that magical 'one more go' hook. I thought things would change with DW4:E – it's essentially DW4 with a slight change to the campaign mode, but how I was wrong.
For those that have not been touched by the Dynasty Warrior series’ particular charms and foibles, I should explain. Basically, the heart of the game is picking a hero and then taking part in a battle fought between thousands of soldiers. Well, it's not really much of a battle most of the time, because the soldiers mostly stand around, while you are a legendary warrior that tears through all but the generals of the opposition with consummate ease, leaving behind you a trail of bodies (up to and beyond 500) in a battle that will last up to half an hour. While doing this, you have to watch what is going on elsewhere on the battlefield, and use your skills to reinforce or lead the attack wherever necessary. The combat is simplistic – you have a basic attack which can be tapped for a short combo, as well as a charge attack that can be used to finish off a sequence of attacks with a bigger move, but leaves you briefly vulnerable. You can block, although the button serves better for (a) getting up quickly from being knocked down, and (b) moving the camera behind you (more on that one shortly). You also have a 'Musou' attack that is a huge flurry of blows, often with accompanying flames, during which you are invulnerable to attack. The series is known for being a button bashing dream, with a camera that can't be bothered to help you at any time – whether you run toward or away from the camera, and wherever the action is, the camera stays where it is, and will only move around behind you when you block. This wouldn't be too bad if your character wasn't set so close to the screen, but unfortunately they are, so anything that appears in the foreground has probably already hit you…
Aside from the camera issues, DW4:E looks more than reasonable – you get a good 30 or more characters on screen, and they are all reasonably detailed, with the fog plain set back a reasonable distance. The scenery could do with a good bit more detail, but you don't get much time to look at it anyway. The sound isn't so good – you get a bit of rawk during the menus, the odd bit of stilted, strangely delivered speech during battles and cutscenes, and, while you're fighting, the sounds of thousands of soldiers’ war cries (before your blade slices through them).
The reason for the 'Empires' suffix in the title is due to the addition of a small strategy element into the game. The main campaign mode sees you trying to take over the whole of China, piece by piece. The strategy is played out in rounds – first of all, your generals will suggest plans of action to you. These plans will gain you money, add/modify a special item for use in battle, upgrade your forces, recruit troops etc – many will affect your next battle in some way, others will give you a long term advantage. After choosing an action, generals may offer you trades, or alliances, and then to finish your turn you get to choose if you want to attack an enemy's area, defend an area, help an ally (if they have asked for help) or just go onto the next round. As your campaign continues you will also find that your generals and lieutenants will increase in power, and be able to command more troops, dependent on them achieving certain simple goals of progression.
The strategy/rpg elements of DW4:E, although small and not particularly deep, are a nice addition to the game – the need to capture your next section of the map will keep you going past the time when you might have given up with just the battles on their own. It is very debatable as to whether the game is worth getting into if you have played Dynasty Warriors 4 or Dynasty Warriors 4: Xtreme Legends (unless you are some kind of Dynasty Warriors devotee). Having said that, I thought that I might have had enough of the hack/slash repetition of the Dynasty Warriors series, and wouldn't find myself playing the game at 3am when I have work the next day at 8. Alas no, they add in one little feature and I'm completely hooked again. Bastards. The trouble is, it's a nagging, dangerous addiction – I can see the flaws in the game, and quite often will be feeling a mite bored while hacking my way through my 500th body in a single battle. But then comes the end of the battle, and by the time my next strategic choice has loaded up I'm all ready to go again.
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