Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires (Xbox 360)

You can also purchase items here to aid you in battle; these must be made and are dependant upon how much of the map you have taken control of and which kingdoms are under your thumb.

Each order takes one command slot as well as sometimes costing gold and you gain more command slots as you progress in Empire mode. Once you have used all your command slots, you can then skip the battle and see how things pan out or find an enemy to invade and attack them.

During this mode you might also need to defend one of your provinces or enter into an alliance, the ally might also request your help in dealing with his or her enemies.

Eventually you will be called to battle and this is where the series hasn’t really changed, the maps have been definitely altered and the type of gameplay is different compared to the older games. But it is still a matter of battling vast amounts of troops, defeating enemy officers and commanders – although the enemy officers will return after a while allowing you to defeat them once again – until eventually you can capture them and put them out of the battle for good.

The battles are timed and the max time is 30 minutes, unless you play a time-extend card before in the setup screen (where you can alter your items and weapon) as well as take advantage of any special cards you want to play.

Your army is made up of yourself, two generals and three lieutenants. You have a number of troops at your disposal and must keep an eye on your armed forces via the strategy screen to make sure you have still got soldiers should you loose a battle or take too many losses.

You can give orders via the D-pad directly or switch to the tactical map and give orders to individual generals and lieutenants; this allows a greater depth of tactics than previous games.

Button mashing is the order of the day however and winning fights comes down to the knowledge of when and how to block, even against some of the more powerful types of guard you can quickly end up dead on the higher difficulty levels (Chaos level especially). Various flashy combos are all easy to pull off and as your character levels up during the course of the game you’ll be given access to more powerful attacks, chained combos.

As you battle you build up Mousou power and this can be unleashed in a spectacularly stylish attack to wipe out hordes of enemies in a blaze of glory.

Once you have won the map you are transferred to a de-briefing screen where you’re given a tally of performance, experience earned and items/upgrades gained from battle. Your character’s stats can be altered quite significantly from attribute upgrades and certain items will give you an effect that can be applied to your current weapon, each weapon has a set amount of slots and better effects overwrite older less powerful ones.

You are also usually given an influx of gold as well as a choice to hire any captured officers to your army, once this is over you’re taken back to the strategy screen and it’s time to give out more orders and move troops. At the end of a year there is usually an event or two that can change the flow of battle, a flood might prevent you from taking your enemies province for a while, or even worse there might be a plague that ravages through the provinces you control and wipes out some of your troops.

Do exceptionally well in the story and you’ll find a promotion awaits from the Emperor himself, this grants you an additional command slot and proves to the other enemies that you’re not just there for show.

Items that you make in Empire mode are available in Free mode, and this is the only way to get items for that mode of play, as well as upgrade your weapon. Sometimes you’re lucky enough to find an Evolution orb that can be applied to your weapon and allows you to make a powerful Evolution attack, chaining with previous combos to deliver massive damage and destruction.