	Samurai Warriors 2
	Developer: Omega Force Publisher: Koei Release Date: Out Now Players: 1-2	Words By:
You have to think why KOEI keep bringing out games like Dynasty Warriors (their more successful but almost identical cousin game) when every year they seem to make minimal improvements and expect punters to part with their hard-earned cash for another 30-minute blister-thon. I sighed when Samurai Warriors 2 dropped into my lap but unlike the tired DW series it’s actually been tweaked since the last outing… Samurai is developed by the same people who made the DW series so you’re not really expecting anything particularly engaging from the outset; aside from being set in feudal Japan rather than China it’s pretty much identical to the DW games. Once you start playing however you’ll notice a few subtle differences in the gameplay… Instead of completely focusing on annihilating thousands of worthless foot soldiers by tapping the Square button repeatedly, Samurai throws in quite a challenging tactical element too. Granted, you’re still annihilating thousands of worthless soldiers with the Square button, but with added objectives it gives you more direction; one minute you’ll be supporting a diversionary raid on the enemy’s frontlines and the next you’ll be defending the base camp from a sneak attack. You’re so busy running left and right across the map that you almost don’t notice that you’re pressing the same button over and over. Almost. If even with the difficulty up (meaning you have pretty much no time to sit around) you start to get bored you can always get a mate involved for some tag-team peon bashing! Playing as a team makes completing some of the objectives a lot easier (especially since they’re always at opposite ends of the map!) and helps with double-teaming the harder generals, so helps you progress through the game as well as break up the gameplay some more. Although there are a fair few characters to play with the story mode for each character only runs for six stages and after playing through a couple of characters’ stories it starts to get pretty similar. The Free and Survival modes are the same as last time; arcade romps that won’t keep you interested for too long. The big surprise is something that snuck under the radar as a great simple sub-game that can keep you playing for hours: Sugoroku mode! Basically it plays a bit like Monopoly; you start at your base and roll dice to move around the map (a maze of squares rather than a board). You can buy provinces and challenge enemy-owned lands with mini games, with special squares like temples giving you more challenges or possibly hindering you with penalties. It seems a bit complicated at first but after about ten minutes you’ll be steaming along pretty quickly! You don’t have to play against the computer either; up to four people can get involved making Samurai definitely one to invite mates around to play. Strangely the graphics and sound aren’t as good as the DW series; you can’t have as many people on-screen at the same time and when they are they’re a damn sight uglier. The sound seems a little too subdued; you never get the feeling like you’re on a heaving battlefield like the loud clashes and shouts of DW create. Luckily you’re not exposed to the wailing synth-guitar solos of the DW games; in Samurai you’re treated to some pretty funky (if a little Musak-y) Drum ‘n Bass! The voice-overs are still a great source of amusement and obviously more money was spent on the office’s biscuit supplies than “quality” voice talent… One of the points I was happiest to see (since I’ve been moaning about it since the first DW game back when the PS2 came out) is that they’ve done away with the fixed camera and mapped it to the right analogue stick! Now no longer will you continuously get slashed in the back by unseen enemies with no way to see what’s going on! When I look back at Samurai Warriors 2 I’m unexpectedly surprised at how enjoyable and improved it is from other games of the same ilk. The dodgy camera problems and simplistic gameplay issues have been addressed and fixed pretty much as best they can in this type of game. You’re always going to be tapping square repeatedly in this type of game and the camera will always swing around when you don’t want it to. Thankfully mapping the camera to the right stick and the objectives make things a hell of a lot more interesting and little touches like the EXP skill shop and the Sugoroku sub-game make this a pretty worthy sequel.

Best Bits
- The camera’s been fixed!; gameplay a little more complex; co-op; cool sub-games.

Worst Bits
- Graphics aren’t too hot; story mode gets a little samey; my thumb still hurts…


by: Crazypunk