Customer Reviews

Dynasty Warriors 3

5 star:		(82)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Some would claim that Koei's Dynasty Warriors 3 doesn't advance all that far beyond its predecessor. They point to the similar action-oriented gameplay, and graphical presentation that's fairly familiar. I dismiss their arguments with a wave of my hand, pointing my finger firmly toward the sight of Liu Bei striking down the ranks of his foes atop an elephant. Yes, you can now ride elephants in Dynasty Warriors. This is extremely cool.

There are more additions to go along with that, naturally, although the overwhelming coolness of the elephants dwarfs most other improvements -- even the new two-player split-screen mode. There are new characters, including Meng Huo and Princess Zhen (who is looking exceedingly fine, thank you), and much longer combo strings for taking out large groups of enemies. Basic combos now stretch out to as many as six hits, and you can chain the triangle-button charge attacks into regular combos for as many as eight or more. Other special attacks include passive maneuvers (indirect defensive attacks like the back-elbow in Double Dragon), and the "Power Guard" technique, which responds to attacks with a strong riposte. The key to victory is still teamwork, though, relying on support troops to back you up as you charge through the bad guys.

The environments are more varied and interactive in the sequel, to go along with the improved graphics. Textures and effects are brighter, especially when heroes finish off combos with big special moves (Zhen cuts loose an explosive energy halo), and the new attacks mean a wider variety of character animations. The battlefields are presumably bigger, although that kind of scale is difficult to judge, and there's much more variation in terms of scenery and elevation levels. There are more constructions like walls and bridges, trees and other background elements filling space, and more different landscape themes -- the effect is to provide both greater variation in strategies and more interesting backgrounds to look at.

The new split-screen multiplayer mode allows cooperative play in the main Musou mode and the kill-everything-that-stands Free Mode, as well as a variety of one-on-one Vs. modes. The Musou mode has also been spruced up with a variety of character development elements, whereby players can earn new items and weaponry for their characters. Defeat an enemy general who wields a famous sword and you can take it for your own, earning an attack bonus in future battles. Other items improve speed, defense, and the like. Items can also evidently effect your luck in finding and using a mount, be it equine or pachyderm.

New characters take the field as part of an entirely new army, although it will take someone with a bit more familiarity with the Three Kingdoms cast to peg them precisely. Sun Shang Xiang is one of them, though, and like the other characters, she's sporting at least two different costumes and weapons options (in this case, a long sword to go along with her old weapons from Dynasty Warriors 2).

The cast is likely to greatly exceed the original game, and there will be plenty of fighting to set them all to, especially in the multiplayer mode. Dynasty Warriors is still about the kind of fun you can have as a one-man army -- or perhaps a one man, one elephant army. Later this year, we'll be sure to make some time for a little more stomping across the battlefields of third-century China.

First of all, this game deserves more than five stars. It is a fun, highly addictive game. It is literally possible to play it for very long amounts of time without realizing it.

Anyways, enough about the fact that it is good, let's get into why. If you've played Dynasty Warriors 2, nothing major has changed, it has only gotten better. For those of you that haven't played it, I will try my best to describe the game. This is a game where you enter battle in campagin (Musou) or one mission at a time (Free) modes then you choose from a list of historical generals from China's Three Kingdom era.

Before entering battle you can choose what your bodyguards are equipped with and you can equip your general with better weapons and items that increase have special effects, including raising your stats.

During the real-time battles, on a variety of battlefields, you fight hundreds, or if you choose, thousands of enemies with your primary weapon, bow, and special move. Your special move has a bar below your health that charges when you grab items, defeat enemies, and get damaged yourself. When you defeat gate captains (enemies who allow an infinite amount of enemies to spawn until they are killed) and enemy generals, you can gather objects that turn out to be weapons, equipable items, objects that permanently raise your attack, defense, max health, and max musou.

After battle your general calculates the experience he gained increasing the number and strengths of your bodyguards.

Other interesting points to this games including new additions from the previous include: you can ride a horse and an elephant, a new multiplayer function, more generals and if you use a memory card with old DW2 saved games, it transfers over some of your unlocked generals. The last good thing about the game I am going to say is that it is virtually only violence.

The bad parts about the game are small. First and foremost it starts harder than DW2, almost impossible, even on easy difficulty. Once you get better weapons it becomes easier. Another downside is you can only unlock generals and best weapons on hard mode. This can take hours, for hard is nearly impossible, even with maxed out characters.

I purchased this game about a month ago, and I still enjoy it. With more than 40 characters and 20 maps, it has very high replay value. This game is based on famouse old Chinese story "Three Kingdoms", and if you read that novel, it will be easier to understand storyline and whom each characters are. It would still be fun to play without knowing story, because game itself is very fun and storyline in the game is good enough. For graphic, it's better than average although not on par with games like MGS2 and Final Fantasy X. Since this game usually displays about 20 characters on one screen, better grahic would cause more slowdown, or it might be impossible. Although not amazing, you will be satisfied with it's graphic. Cutscenes are very clean and real-like. Most fun part of this game is Musou mode, which is basically a storyline mode. You can enjoy it with variety of characters and it is also available with 2 players. Each character have different weapon and fighting style with different musou attacks. As you play more battles, you will get more powerful weapon, items, and your characters will become more powerful. I also have some part that I don't like in this game. It's voice acting is horrible, and some missions are as long as 90 minutes!!
Overally, I would recommend this game to anyone, especially for those who want different style of action/fighting game.

Gameplay: 10
Fun-factor: 10
Graphic: 8
Sound: 8
Value: 10

Overall: A-

Basically it's like Gauntlet/Jedi Power Battles/Command and Conquer, all rolled into one. You fight epic battles where you pretty much single-handedly demolish hundreds of enemy troops- that's why you're a hero- heroes do that you know! But unlike games like Gauntlet, you can chose where on the battle map you want to concentrate your attention, fighting. For example, if one of your ally generals is about to fall, he will issue a warning, and you can either allow him to get slaughtered or you can rush to his aid. Allowing him to die results in the diminishing of the overall moral of the troops, which in term translates to a reduction in fighting ability.

Fighting is with very simple button sequences, which are pretty much the same with every character. During the course of the game you collect items that improve your character's performance.

The plot in the game is based on The Three Kingdoms (also availabe on Amazon), a well known Chinese novel. I think this is the first time a video game might actually encourage someone to read a book! (Actually Kessen is also based on the same story- surprise, Koei also makes the Kessen game!) Unfortunately whatever the story is amongst these kingdoms, it's completely incomprehnsible in the game. But that's really not important anyway, as jumping in and killing lots of people pretty much gets you through all the game campaigns.

Pros:

- simple controls to master
- provides light strategy that is manageable in the thick of a battle
- can switch to Japanese mode so the characters speak Japanese. Sounds cooler at least.
- graphics are good

Cons:

- game gets a bit repetitive
- major hand pain from stabbing the game controller buttons for too long. A campaign can last as long as 40 minutes!
- awefully stilted English voice acting
- rock sound track does not really fit with the theme of the game. Needs more of a Gladiator or Lord of the Rings soundtrack in the game.

The Three Kingdoms era of China is brought to life in this game. I haven't heard anything about Dynasty Warriors 3 until my cousin showed me it. At first, I thought the characters and battles were made-up. However, my cousin has told me he has read about some of the men who lived back then.
In the game, you can play up to 40 different characters, each with a different weapon and so on. Most people are unlocked and you have to do something special to unlock them. Doing a "Musou Mode" usually unlocks some new people and get thier 2nd and 3rd level weapon. You also get bodyguards, starting with only 2, but you get more bodyguards as you level up.
The toughest guy in the game is Lu Bu and he is very dangerous to low-level characters. So, take the advice someone gives you: "Don't Pursue Lu Bu!"

This game is highly addictive and a lot of fun!

If you have played Dynasty Warriors 2, then you have a basic idea of what this game is about. Choose one of the famous generals from the Three Kingdoms era, and fight your way to total supremacy. Every character has its own animations and fighting style, as well as special attacks and combinations, to use against the countless enemy warriors you will encounter.

Using these skills you must fight your way around the battlefield helping out where and when your force is in trouble. Fans of Dynasty Warriors 2 will note that there is a nice increase in the number of generals that are playable, as well as a HUGE increase in the number of playable levels.

One of the neatest features of this installment are all the in-battle additions. Fans of this historical period will take heart at some of these mini cinemas. One that comes to mind is the fight between Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Lu Bu. If you, as the player, are in the right place during the Battle for Hu Lao Gate, you will see these 4 generals engage. As a fan of this series, as well as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms games, touches like this bring a tear to my eye.

So, if you loved the first one or are looking to get into the series, this game pulls through with hours of button mashing fun. Take out your frustrations by beating up a few hundred soldiers, or even better, a general or ten.

Nothing quite spells relief like kicking the crud out of thousands of on screen enemies. Even better is the fact that you get to do it with a giant sword. Add to that the forty playable characters, and you have a great game with almost limitless replay value.

The instant appeal of this game is the afore mentioned beat up factor. The genre that was perfected with Final Fight is still strong with this game, due in part to the minor RPG character building elements added by Koei, and a much needed two player mode (this was greatly missing from DW 2).

There's really no way you can go wrong with a game like this. If you got a kick out of Streets of Rage, Final Fight, or any of the other hundreds of games in the same genre, you will love this game.

Having never played Dynasty Warriors 2, I was able to pick up Dynasty Warriors 3 and take an objective look at it. I have seen complaints of it being just the same game with a few more characters and stages. But then again, aren't most sequels the same game with a few more characters and stages? I do however agree that Koei needs a new angle though, as the "Three Kingdoms" are becoming quite old.

Graphically the game is on par with other PS-2 titles. While you won't see any groundbreaking visuals, you won't see any ugly glitches either. The animations all have a fluid motion and many of the fighters are fun to watch as they pull of their moves. The enviroments have some details, but is basically nothing more than ground to fight on. Don't expect to be bouncing off walls or hiding under bridges. There is however some pop-up as well. It seems that the game can only handle a certain number of characters on screen at once, so very often you will see soldiers appear out of no where or vanish into thin air. But the soldiers closest to you are always visible, so this never really becomes a game hindering problem.

The gameplay is where DW3 truly shines. While a nice variety of characters is already offered from the first time you turn on the game, those initial 6 characters will turn into a list of 41(!) playable characters as you progress. Each character has a different weapon and fighting style. Although some characters are quite similar you will notice certain differences. For one, most characters have an individual look to them that seperates them from the others.

Another aspect of gameplay that really makes this game shine is the ability to build your characters. As you fight (either in Free Mode or Mosou Mode) your character will gain experience and be promoted through the ranks. You will also find numerous stat-boosting items on the battlefield when slaying certain enemy officers. Each character has four weapons which can be found somewhere in the game (the fourth being a unique and extremely powerful weapon). But with a little bit of time you'll be able to build your normal character into somewhat of a god on the battlefield. Another great thing is that any items found with one character can be used with all characters.

The game does however have some really REALLY annoying flaws. One of my biggest complaints is the menus. You'll notice that once you make your decision you have to either stick with it or reset the console. There is no "back button" on any of the menus. While this might seem minor, it will frustrate you quite a bit when you select the wrong mode by mistake and have to reset.

You'll also learn to hate the saving system in the game. The ability to save during a battle is great since many things you just don't ever want to have to deal with again, but the process of saving during a battle is absolute torture. You'll have to pause the game and select "QUIT", which brings up a prompt to "Quit and Save". Now you're back to the main menu. Your game has been saved, but if you'd like to go back to playing you have to reload the game and wait for everything to boot back up. Once again, it sounds minor but it'll have you wanting to kick the Playstation.

The biggest plague on this game however is the HORRIBLE voice-acting. The lines are spoken with NO enthusiam whatsoever and most of the cutscenes actually hinder the gameplay rather than get you more excited. I'd actually advise putting the voices in japanese and just reading the english subtitles, it helps make the story more exciting. Although I have to wonder why there is no chinese dialog. I highly doubt that english and japanese were spoken in 2nd century China.

Although Koei is known for their strategy games, that element is almost non-existant in DW3. While you might be a general on the battlefield, you can never really command your troops. In fact, you can run in a completely opposite direction from them and abandon them altogether. You are sometimes given specific orders of where to attack, but you never have to follow these orders if you don't want to. Basically you'll just be running around hacking away at whoever you wish. And no matter what the game tells you, you are all alone on that battlefield. Also, don't believe that hype about the elephants. There is only 1 OUT OF 18 battlefields where elephants are present. And while riding them is fun, it hardly constitutes a feature that should be mentioned repeatedly and praised so dearly. It just doesn't happen enough to matter.

So why do I give it 4 stars? Bottom line... the game is fun and it has very high replay value. With 41 fighters, 18 battlefields, a slew of weapons and items, and the ability to build your characters and move them through the ranks this game will have you playing for weeks. The enemy AI is great as enemy officers block, pull off combos, and even use special moves. And while the game might seem like a button masher (which it kinda is), there are combos you can pull off and fighting strategies you can use if you actually want to learn how to play. Sure the menus are annoying and the voices are the worst I've ever experienced in a video game, but DW3 has a lot of depth and is extremely enjoyable.

(...) I went to the local Gamestop yesterday where I like to hang out because the guys who work there are awesome. Anyhow, they just recently received DW3. I played the 2nd one a bit and thought it was a little above average. Well my friend, who played DW2 before, and I gave this game a try. He tried a little of the 1P mode. Then we tried the VS mode which was pretty cool. We weren't totally positive if there was a co-op but when I found out there was we figured out how. This game is fantastic. I personally enjoy multiplayer in any video game and this one does it very nicely. There were a few "bugs," but what can one expect from a game that is so huge and running on the limits of the PS2. "Bugs" you say? Well actually I noticed one bug and two annoyances. The one bug was the spawning and de-spawning of characters on screen basically randomly. Enemies would just appear in the middle of the screen randomly. And they would disappear just the same. One annoyance was that the game REALLY slowed down, probably 10 FPS (frames per second), when at one point there was too much going on the screen. The other annoyance was the "fog." I don't mean programmed weather fog, like rain or snow or fog. I mean the system cannot handle all the polygons, so it fills outside a small radius of the player "game fog" - where one cannot see because it's just grey. Many other games experience this, especially console games. If you ever played Turok... bad fog too. Other than all that, this game is so darn awesome. It's fun running around just smashing opponents and watching them fly across the screen. The 2P "Mosou" mode is just great. Get this game now!!!

I bought this game over two months ago, and I STILL play it all the time. Having read and reread Romance of the Three Kingdoms many times, and having played other games in the series (including the earlier Dynasty Wariors titles, as well as the RTK series, as well as lesser known titles such as Destiny of an Emperor), I was quite excited when I finally purchased this game.
I've read quite a few reviewers say the game plays like a historical Gauntlet, but this isn't entirely accurate. Yes, at the easier levels, you can take your officers into the fray with reckless abandon, slahing away until every enemy soldier is dead. However, it is far more satisfying to play this at the harder levels, where you need to wait for backup from your army and fellow generals, and also where you must rush to the rescue of fallen comrades on the field of battle. The action is so frenetic, I often forget how long I have been playing.
The in-game cinemas are pretty cool (getting them to appear can be difficult, however), and the idea of the hidden fourth level weapons is fantastic (although thumbs down to some of the ridiculous hoops a player has to jump through to get them; for those of you who have played, I never really figured out WHAT I did to get Dong Zhuo's weapon!).
One thing I don't like is the fact that, after you have played through the game with the main generals (Liu Bei, Cao Cao and Sun Jian), they will ALWAYS lead their armies, even after they have seemingly died. Also, the English dialogue is poorly voiced, and so many names are mispronounced ("Cow Cow?" Learn the pronunciation rules, you dolts!).
However, these are (very!) minor flaws. I would recommend this game to anyone; you will NOT be disappointed. Oh, and by the way, this is CHINESE history, not JAPANESE!!!