Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires for Xbox 360 Reviews & Ratings by IGN

Most readers interested in Dynasty Warriors should recognize my name by now, because I've become the default reviewer at IGN for most KOEI titles since I joined up with the editorial staff. Having played and reviewed a good number of Warriors games in the past two years, it was no surprise that Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires came my way, bringing with it all the ancient Chinese battles and button-mashing that gamers have come to expect.



The original Dynasty Warriors 6 launched early last year and I wasn't a huge fan of the experience, even though developer Omega Force attempted to "innovate" a few of the game's aging battle systems. Now, Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires is here to add a strategic element to the formula in order to create yet another spin-off for Dynasty Warriors fans to gobble up. Fortunately, the strategy added to Empires really helps the overall experience and I must admit that this game is quite a bit better than its predecessor. But keep in mind that despite having several positive additions, Empires is nowhere near perfect. The fundamentals of combat are still repetitive and they're still unexciting.



In Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires, most of the content and gameplay systems from the original Dynasty Warriors 6 remain, but a Risk-like strategy element has been laid on top of the combat. In Empires, you can take the role of a Ruler or Officer. If you're a Ruler, you command your troops and attempt to occupy all the territories in China and unite them under your control. Playing as an Officer is very similar, but instead of deciding which territories to invade and which cards to put into play (cards give you special powers like increased attack and extra gold), your Ruler gives you assignments to complete. As you gain ranks as an Officer, you'll be able to suggest actions to your leader instead of blindly following their command.



Regardless of whether you're a Ruler or Officer, actual battles are very similar to the battles in Dynasty Warriors 6 (and most other Dynasty Warriors, for that matter). You run around in the third-person, slashing away at hundreds of soldiers with a mix of Normal attacks, Power attacks and the iconic Musou attacks. Musou attacks, as always, are only available when you fill up your warrior's Musou gauge, but they unleash tremendous damage and usually cover a wide area. Besides this standard set of techniques, you can also equip Special skills, ride on horseback and evade with a quick press of a button.



The battles themselves have also benefitted from a dose of strategy, as bases are now connected by supply lines and the conflict plays out as both sides jockey for more bases. Even though the combat still involves mashing away at one or two buttons, adding this base management really helps make the experience more dynamic and -- subsequently -- more enjoyable. While before the only thing you had to worry about was how many suckers you needed to knock down, now you have to pursue vital points of control on the map and prevent enemy officers from taking your own bases in the process. Had the original combat been more exciting, these additions would have made for a really fun game, but at the end of the day it's still the same Dynasty Warriors combat and that can be disappointing.



But another nice addition to this iteration of Dynasty Warriors 6 is the inclusion of custom characters, which can then be used in the Empire Mode to wage war. Although the character creation system isn't mind-blowing, it's still nice to see your own warriors show up in the main game.



And surprisingly, the "main game" is all you'll find in Empires, as there are no mini-games or challenge modes to speak of. This isn't a complaint at all, as the Empire Mode is enjoyable and there are varying Empire scenarios to work through if you're looking for replay value. These scenarios boil down to different rulers controlling different territories in China and giving you a tweaked "world map" to conquer, as opposed to just going through the same motions for each character. There's even a special scenario where you can custom build which Ruler/Officer you want and in which territory you want to start your campaign.



Besides the Empire Mode, there's also plenty of extra content to peruse at your leisure. There's a very extensive, cross-referenced encyclopedia full of background information about the in-game history, as well as things like a character model viewer and bonus wallpapers. Fun stuff.



Of course, being a Dynasty Warriors game, there are some technical issues that you probably saw coming. This game still looks awful for a current-gen outing -- these bland environments are almost inexcusable now and the character models haven't improved much over the years. Pop-in is still problematic and the camera can be a little jittery, but overall most of these issues won't ruin the gameplay experience -- they're just aggravating.



Lastly, in regards to the differences between the PS3 and 360 versions, I'm going to have to give my recommendation to the PS3 entry. Although the two games are content identical, the PS3 version seems to run more smoothly and even the local multiplayer ran nicely. This came as a surprise to me, as the PS3 version of the original Dynasty Warriors 6 was arguably inferior. It looks like the two of them switched places this time around.

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