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Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires (Xbox) 5-hours-in impressions
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First off, I admit I have not played the previously released Dynasty Warriors 6, so I've had to research what Empires features to make fans come back for more medieval Chinese hack-and -slash.
I learned that Empire's most noteworthy selling point is the character creation mode, known as Edit mode. Overall, this feature is impressively deep, with levels of seemingly limitless combinations that you can find in sports games or when making Xbox Live avatars. Many will be amused that the selection of voices you can apply to your character, which can sound innocent, regal, or a dozen other personality types. When applied, the voice acting quality maintains the Koei tradition of 1970's kung-fu bravado dubbing.
After settling on a character design, I jumped right into the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the first scenerio in Empire mode. Other campaigns within the 'Romance Of The Three Kingdoms' are also playable if you wish to jump ahead. On a side note, this game features a hearty Encyclopedia section that taught me more than I ever wanted to know about this period in China's history.
When trying to decide on a ruler to serve under, I selected He Jin, who in retrospect, was not as negatively intense as the other rulers. I did appreciate the few times he gave constructive criticism.
So after tooling around a bit with the monthly cycle format of Empire mode, I tried out the actual battles, which are executed in typical Dynasty Warriors fashion. My character was versed in the Wushu arts and had enough moves that I didn't find the repetition a significant drawback. I also discovered a make-shift counter move: if an enemy pulls off a combo on you, you can stop your character from falling on the ground by pressing the LB button, sending your hero in a mid-air flip. Executing a strong attack while in mid-air will allow you to complete a powerful landing that will send nearby enemies flying.
I managed to try out a wide variety of assignments from bridge guarding to princess escorting to village protection. What does get old are the missions where you have to take on tigers or wolves, who have the humorous abilities of casting lighting, ice and fire spells.
By the fifth hour, I had managed to complete two years in the campaign, upgraded various skills, bought a horse, and unlocked a ton of bonuses. I even managed to befriend a few characters, and married one of them.
After the wedding, my new wife wasted no time in pressuring me into overthrowing my ruler, which I attempted, and failed at miserably. In my drive to having a blemish-free record, I reloaded my save. Surprisingly though, my wife did not make that ambitious request a second time. Clearly Koei made it so that no two playthroughs are alike.
Verdict so far - It's engrossing enough to keep playing. A full review will appear once I manage to beat all the scenerios.
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