Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires (Xbox 360)

Graphics

The graphics of Empires are fairly nice, there’s little in the way of pop-up and there’s certainly no slowdown when you’re knee deep in enemies and officers, battling with an impressive display of pyrotechnics and effects. All the textures are bright and colourful with the costumes being particularly excellent, flowing cloaks and shining armour are the order of the day here.

The scenery is good if a little bland but in a game of this kind when you’re battling to slaughter enemies, left right and centre, you’re not really too bothered about the surroundings. It makes good use of light and shadow and the special effects are impressive especially when you perform an incredible combo and wipe out a lot of enemy units in a single hit.

The frame rate doesn’t seem to take a hit when things get too insane, although there is one huge annoyance in 2 player mode where the characters seem to suffer from pop-up as well as the scenery, this has plagued the series for a while and on the next gen one would have expected this to be fixed to be honest. Seeing your companion vanish into thin air in front of you when you’re trying to follow them is somewhat disconcerting.

Models

The most detail is given over to the various legendary figures from the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms, these are superbly modelled and each one is a definite character, from the mighty Lu Bu’s two plaits of long hair and his heavy armour, to the faster characters and their lighter armour and various outlandish hair styles, it’s all a wild ride of the imagination.

There are fewer details lavished on the generic enemies but they are in essence just that, mooks, to be beaten in droves and walloped into the air as part of an impressive sky-borne combo attack.

Animations

The level of animation in the game is fine, it does the job and some of the combos are beautifully executed. Each attack swing is timed nicely and nothing seems off as you leap and hack around the map sundering enemy after enemy. Even the droves of enemy soldiers are well animated and they move without stiffness or any kind of jerkiness.

AI

It’s not terribly sophisticated and the AI in the game doesn’t use a wide variety of tactics, it often rushes when it should hold back and it can sometimes take a less experienced player by surprise by leading them into an ambush or two. On the Risk-style map it will play a cagey game of watch and see, until you make a mistake and you’ll find those hard-won provinces are now the colour of the enemy.

It will block an awful lot and on the harder difficulty levels landing a solid blow can seem to take an age. It does provide a fun opponent however and that’s all I can really ask for in a game like this.

Sound

The clash of steel in the game is nice to hear, the weapons clattering off each other when you’re caught in a deadlock with an enemy officer. The sweeping nature of the battle around you and the whoosh of a special attack, such as fire, they’re all well realised and match the theme of the game perfectly.

Music

The games have a typical score that fans of the series should immediately recognise from the opening, it has been reworked numerous times but remains a solid piece of music and along with the other pieces match the theme of the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms nicely.

Voice

As the games have progressed the voice acting has been getting better and better, in this instalment I’m pleased to say that not all of it is bad, there are still some very dodgy performances by some of the character actors but the majority of the vocal work has life and soul to it.

Multiplayer

There’s no Xbox Live element to this game but you can play split-screen in both Empire and Free mode with another player, teaming up cooperatively in a battle or in Empire mode is great fun and the good old double Mousou is back when you are next to a team-mate. It is also satisfying to see that in the game’s in-engine cut-scenes your friend often makes an appearance if they’re set to one of your Generals.

Final swing

I’ve long since been a fan of the series and this game is a refreshing change for me compared to the straight, hack and slash action of the previous titles. To see it on the Xbox 360 is a joy but I wish they’d have taken a little more time to refine their 2-player graphics engine and give the game some more polish. It would have been nice to have more content as well as a few more game modes, having just Empire and Free mode doesn’t quite make for an experience that has much longevity beyond the first month or so of play.

That said it is a good strategy/action game with tight controls and even more fun with a friend, I hope they continue to refine the series this way and add even more content to the next game.