Customer Reviews

Dynasty Warriors 4

5 star:		(88)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As an avid fan of the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms games, I am fairly biased towards the Dynasty Warriors series. However, where these games excel is not in the strategy department, but in the pure excitement they generate for knowledgeable fans.

Don't get me wrong, inexperienced players can easily understand the stories contained in this game, but its the wealth of detail that pulls in us old-timers. Besides the great in-game cutscenes, the countless enemies in each battle, and the ludicrous amount of discoverable items and generals, there is also the wealth of history.

The 3 Kingdoms story revolves around one of the pivitol times in Chinese history. The Han dynasty was in collapse, and numerous warlords were attempting to carve themselves an empire. Among the many, there were 3 whose skills at diplomacy, combat, and treachery allowed them to stand above the rest. Dynasty Warriors 4 places you as a general in one of these empires. Will you help your sworn leader conquer, or will you let his enemies succeed.

Choose from approximately 9 starting generals, and with each successive victory gain new choices. Unlike past games, you are free to change your chosen combatant between each battle. Unlocking items, generals, and new stances and weapons for a general you created. That's right old-timers, Dynasty Warriors 4 allows you to create your own general, just like the old Romance of the 3 Kingdoms games. The only unfortunate part is the small numbers of choices for weapons and outfits. Given the large array of uniforms and designs, I only wish they had given these parts to build with.

All in all, Dynasty Warriors 4 is more of the same, but with more options, more generals, more battles, and lots more fun.

I haven't had so much fun playing video games for a long time. Although there isn't too much difference between DW4 and DW3, it's still worth a buy. DW4's graphic has improved compared to DW3. Enemies AI has also improved, they now like to backstab you. Duel system is also fun, allowing you to fight one-on-one with an officer. Officers costumes are nicer than before, and many of their moves are slightly improved too. The most important thing is the way you level up your weapon is so much better than before. You now earn better weapon by earning experience points during gameplay like RPG style instead of picking up weapons with random features in the stage. the 10th (max) level weapon is now easier to obtain than DW3. There are also 3 new characters and their moves are unique. Voice acting has improved, but still not good enough, they need to correct their pronounciation of the officers' names - like Cao Cao should pronounce Zhao Zhao, NOT Cow Cow!!! The cut scenes and the movies are also well done. Also, you will need to fight with strategy, mashing buttons will not help much, which makes the game so fun to play. The stages are much more fun than before. Also, now you can get on any horse regardless of your rank. Edit mode allows you to create and customize officers and bodyguards, but the customization is too plain, not much you can do. The new features like siege ramps and catapults and stuff are just eye candies...you don't get to see them too often, and you cannot command them, they will just tell you to protect them from being destroyed by enemies, pretty disappointing. enemies still become invisible sometimes. game is in slow motion when the screen has too many actions, i guess the processor can't pick up the busy actions fast enough. anyway, even with these minor flaws, the game is still very fun. If you've been a fan of DW series, you should give this a try. If you've never played it before and you like this type of game, you should try this out too.

DW4 is a great game. I would recommend it especially if you haven't played the previous titles.

Pros (compared to dw3 and dw3xl)
1. Better graphics... more details and colors...
2. Music is more fitting to the story line... (I favored some sort of asian music to go along with the Chinese storyline)...
3. Some of the worst characters in the 3rd game (Zhuge Liang for instance) have been improved... though some have been toned down... (like Cao Cao)
4. Enemy AI is more interactive... sometimes too much... will almost always try to knock you off a horse when you try to get onto it...
5. Many more levels...
6. Enemy archers are less annoying.. even on the harder boards...

Cons:
1. too bad you can't control where the other officers should mobilize/advance/attack/defend, etc... so the game is still a lot of beat em ups... and watching your own officers die on harder levels...
2. there should be more clues in the game on how to acquire special items and level 10 weapons... instead of having to look them up on the net
3. gameplay is still the same basically as the other games...
4. many more levels.. but many of them are basically the same levels with different sections cut off... for instance if you play a level located in one scenario/province... it is basically laid out the same way as another level in the same scenario/province... but maybe with some parts cut off the map...
5. just 3 new characters... and only one of them is actually good (Zhou Tai)...
6. should be more time to duel... should be a full minute... why 40 seconds???
7. can't do multi-juggle combos... computer will always recover when launched into the air...
8. some pretty useless orb attachments... like blast and poison... and death has been toned down a lot so it doesn't always work... just a percentage of the time...
9. overall ... the game is very easy for someone who can and know how to take advantage all the features...

DW4 puts you in the shoes of a general during the three kingdoms era in ancient china. You basically just run around huge battlefields and hack away at advancing columns of enemy troops. Those who have played previous installments will notice a lot of new imorovements but nothing too innovative. the souped up charge attacks, and increased number of combos are cool,but the best improvement is the weapon experience system is probably the best feature. no longer will you have to run around chasing supply captains trying to get certain weapons. So to sum it up

-pros
1.weapon experience system
2.better charge attacks and combos
3.improved maps
4.more detailed storyline into the three kingdoms era
5.more scenarios w/ different armies including lu bu
-cons
1.weak voice acting
2.seige engine isn't that great

Let me start by saying I totally love this game. Everything about it sucks you in, and keeps you hacking away. However, while a great deal of problems were fixed from it's predcessors, it plays as almost the exact same game, just buggier. My tohughts are Koei rushed to develop this one, and thus left a lot of things unfinished.

Story/Characters: This is kind of a split for me. While they managed to give us greater background to the story it was done so in a text basis. Most of the previous cut-scenes that added flavor to DW3 (Guan Yu maiming Yan Liang and Wen Chou, or the Triangle Duel against Lu Bu) have been replaced by a simple phrase, "Lord Yan Liang, I have come for your head". Also, those familiar with the Romance Novels will find Koei takes a great deal of liberties(Guan Yu fighting at Yi Ling... it was his death that triggered Yi Ling). But this really shouldn't deviate too much from the gameplay esspcially if you are new, so in that respect I give it a 4-.

Graphics: Firstly, the resolution was reduced, so everything runs smoother, a nice touch. Second, the levels are incredibly re-vamped. My biggest problem with the old games was the large flat areas of nothing, but most of those hvae vanished from this game. The characters are better defined, and Ma Chao has a face! However, DW3 had pretty much pushed the PS2 to its limits, and unfortunatley these great graphics have drawbacks, mainly in the 2 player mode. The biggest problem is if you and your buddy get to close and theres a mob of 15+ guys, you lose your interface screen, and thus have no idea what your health is. Dual Musou and True Musou's are pathetic, and the drawing distance is still pretty bad. Again, somewhat minor, but things that really could have been fixed had they spent an extra 6 months, so again a 4.

Gameplay: They added some nice touches. The AI has made a big step, learning how to block(maybe a little too much) and hit you back. Leaders will make a break for it if their moral is shattered, and can ocme abck in a Gaiden Stage. The first and third Charge moves have been altered, altohugh I was dissapointed half the characters have the same first one. These are nice, but when you come down to it, the basic objective will always be "Kill the Enemy Commander". Siege Engines are practically non-existant(except for the damn Juggernaughts, which are totally unbalnced by having lighting speed, and massive damage). There was 1 new item added(none of the items form XL are in it), and your final weapon is pitful(no stat bonuses, all it does is allow you to use your orb when your musou isnt full). O yes, the orbs, well Ice and Posion are pretty much ineffective(excpet for a few characters), and you'll find that your best bet is Lightning and Fire for damage. All this was meant to balance the game better, but many hcarcters end up falling short(Pang Tong w/o his Tornado Staff from DW3 can't do his Super Musou Charge, Lu Xun is quite slower, and lackes his excellent Death Attack which made him an equal for the Likes of Guan Yu). Not to mention we only got 3 new Characters, and a ... Create a Warrior. While the same concept enthralls me, it just dosent deliever what it's predcessors had.

Audio: Wow, the sound is definetly better. Crisp with wooshes, block breaking, crunching action. The music once again goes into the "Love it or Hate it Category". Some tracks like Yi Ling and Chang Ban have excellent adreniline pumping, yet mood set music. But then we have Yellow Turban Rebellion(whoever composed this needs to be shot, esspcially since every character plays the freakin level!), Nanman, and this one song that sound like a Reject 80's band. And finally the dubbing... I'm used to watching Anime, so I know good dubs and totally awful dubs. Thank heaven this isn't an awful one. For one, the lip synching is done rather well, and we don't have people stretching or trying to speed up there voices. Second, most of the voices fit, Dian Wei, Guan Yu, Sun Jian are really good. Some like Zhao Yun, Sima Yi, and Zhang He could use work, but aren't anything as bad as DW3..."You Flaming IDIOTS!". I big improvement, so this earns a 5.

Replay: With 50 levels as opposed to like 18 you'd think "Wow I'll never get tired of this!" unfortunatley, everyone has the same Musou Mode(One for Shu, Wu, Wei...) Ending( 1 basic Cinema for all Kingdoms, then 4 Indivdual ones for Each Kingdom) and, some levels are re-used(Yellow Turban Fortress and Guan Du). Without Weapons to collect, or a plethora of new characters to try out, there just doesn't seem to be as much to do as there was in 3. Lu Bu is a pushover (aside from dueling, which is rigged anyways due to the enemeis unlimeted msuou, life recharging, and the bug that turns off your items during the duel, but forgets to reactivate them afterwards!). With less events, and smaller maps its some what of a let down, getting a 3.

Is Dynasty Warriors 4 a good game. Yes, infact it's worth the 50 dollars. Is it for everyone? Probably not. Is it a major Improvement? Not really. If you enjoyed the past games, pick it up, and you'll probably still have a blast. If your new, try renting it first, you may become bored within 2 days.

I've been playing this game for two days, and have only seen about a third of the levels (and probably less than half of the events on those levels), and all I can say is WOW!
Having read ROTK and played DW2, DW3, and DW:FW, I'm simply amazed by the amount of detail that went into this game. While DW2 and DW3 did a good job of portraying the conflicts, DW4 does that PLUS telling the story and getting into the details of the conflicts. The saving of the infant Liu Feng in the blaze of battle; the cowardly burning of the capital by Dong Zhuo; the treachery of Yuan Shu at Hu Lao (which was only touched on in DW3); it's all there.
Story-telling is MUCH stronger in this game. Instead of a single battle against the Yellow Scarves (for example), there are three, and they're tied together logically. Additionally, the mid-battle one-on-one Duels add a LOT of the original cinematic/dramatic flavor of the novels.
If you're a ROTK fan and you've played all of Koei's games, remember the difference of the experience in Kessen II to Dynasty Tactics? It's about the same going from DW3 to DW4.
If you're been playing the DW series all along, I'm sure you've already got and love this game. If, on the other hand, you've been a casual player, this is one you should not miss.

I know its embarrasing to say that one has played one videogame for 50 hours...but the truth is when you are referring to DW4 you have to put in 5-10 hours to see the true *GLORY* of the game. If you want repetitive beat em up action look elsewhere (you also have to pay attention to the strategies your unit employs and you don't always have to follow orders yelled out during battle)...one of the reviewers said that the AI was redundant (this individual probably couldn't get past one of the stages). I was in Free mode and played the same easy stage over and over again and took different paths and yes the AI reacted slightly differently each time. Some tips for the beginner...DO NOT create your own character first. What you should do is pick a provided general complete the story for that kingdom and unlock as many characters as you can....as soon as you unlock characters for all 3 kingdoms THEN create your own character. The game will then allow you to incorporate moves from the unlocked character into your unique character. For example you can actually create a female character with Ma Chao's moves...so I was not disappointed with this feature at all...

Let's face it: Koei has habits, and they just aren't going to break them. The game mechanics for this are just about identical to Dynasty Warriors 3. Is this a good thing? Well, it depends on which habit. I'll get to that.

For those who haven't played it, Dynasty Warriors 4 is a non-stop "kill 'em all" game. You fight and fight and fight until you or your enemies are dead. Oh yeah, try to keep your commander alive.

What draws me to this game (and, I think, a lot of people) is the combination of frantic fights at the lower levels, and the Sauron-esque sweeping attacks at higher levels. Something about one swing dropping five or six enemies at a time, swinging the tide of battles and an entire war and dueling enemy generals from time to time is very compelling to what my wife would call "the boy side".
Well, yeah... but look how the weapons glow...
Some things, you just can't argue with.

As a consumer, when a new version of a game comes out, I want to see *improvements*, not necessarily a revamping of the game. The first (okay, third; but you see my point) version was fun enough for me to buy the next version, so why change things drastically? Folks just do things we can't explain sometimes. So we have some good, some not-so-good, and some bad.

The Bad
1.) Voice acting and scripting. Koei is hiring voice actors and writers of professional quality right now.
Well, no... they're not. But they should. It wouldn't take a whole lot of effort to get some solid scripting, and it seems a little odd that they put so much effort into the feel of the rest of the game, and skimped on the voices. Wey Yan sounds like Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget, after all...

2.) Still no clear instructions on how to get the items in the game. It's fun to stumble across one, kind of like finding money in an old jacket. But it is incredibly frustrating to be SEEKING these items and have no clue how to get them, like losing the money you hid in the jacket. Koei, frustrating players too much = BAD.

The Not-So-Good

1.) The music. It's less painful than the music from DW3, but I still find myself tweaking the music sound options to low and turning on the cd player. Maybe we as consumers should expect awesome soundtracks with our videogames, but we don't. So it's not so bad.

2.) Stingy on the rewards. Increasing stats like Life and Musou aren't possible unless you find the magic elixers that do the job, and there just aren't that many of them. Means you have to play the same level over and over and over and over and over to really improve. Fair enough, but not thrilling.

The Good

1.) Presence Attack. This is really a decorative touch. Press R3 (yes, it's really a button) and your character makes a presence attack which stuns the people around him. Not super-effective, but adds feel and takes nothing from the game if you don't use it.

2.) Powerhouses have special effects. Bad guys smolder, smoke and have energy coursing off of them. When they're just standing around. That's pretty cool.

3.) Same combat mechanics. If you've played 3, you can play 4 and not lose a beat. Learning the basics takes all of three minutes, max. Simple, straightforward, decently versatile. I approve.

4.) Art. The characters really do look more impressive, better costuming and much better motion. Solid upgrade there, too.

5.) Battles. More campaign-style, you have to win a series of battles to move on to the next plot development. Definitely moving in the right direction, Koei.

To conclude, I think Koei moves slowly so they don't put out a trashy product. That's fine, I'm anxious to see the final result, and I don't mind waiting a little while for it.

If you like smash 'em ups and (mostly) non-stop action, DW4 is something you'll enjoy. The replay value is solid, as you can come back to the game after a few months away from it and still have a good time.

If you liked Dynasty Warriors 2 and loved Dynasty Warriors 3, you will adore Dynasty Warriors 4. Yes, it's more of the same. The graphics are slightly cleaner, the draw distance is greater, and you get some fun new toys like siege weapons. But what will make you plunk down $...if you already own previous incarnations of the game are the extra stages and characters. The gameplay is good as ever, with a combat system simple to learn, but difficult to master. Each character has his or her own fighting style, which only adds to the challenge. I recommend this game to both the casual and the dedicated ancient Chinese warrior gamers.

Well, I have sunk some solid time into DW4, and I am quite impressed. No, KOEI didn't deliver as much as I expected, but when your expectations were as high as mine, you can't expect perfection (notice I still gave this 5 stars!).

What's good about DW4 is actually great. KOEI decided that it would finally have normal enemies do damage to your character and attack you en masse, rather than wait for you to kill off whoever you were fighting at the time. This has the effect of making the game much more exciting; you must constantly change your perspective so that you don't get ambushed by another officer/grunt. Also, it is no longer possible to immediately run through and get every character's most powerful weapon (as was the case in DW3 and Xtreme Legends). Instead, you must play with one character long enough to power up his initial weapon (via a weapon experience system) before the fabled level 10 weapon can be obtained. Also, officers sometimes duel with you, and these duels are immensely fun, and are often times just as nervewracking as a 30-1 battle! There are multiple storylines, multiple movies, and hidden Musou missions for Lu Bu, Yuan Shao, Dong Zhuo, etc. The graphics are very nice (although this was never a problem with DW3), and the gameplay is top notch.

Where the game disappoints is in its use of its advertised Siege Engine. KOEI had promised a more strategic element, where the player could use catapults, battering rams, etc. in order to get a tactical advantage over his opponent. However, this fails to deliver; really, the only advantage of using the Siege Engine elements is the ability to see some cut scenes. I mean, this is nice, but it isn't strategical. I was a bit disappointed here.

However, this game continues to be the best hack-n-slash battle simulation on the market. I strongly urge any fan of the original to buy this, as well as anyone who just wants to have some mindless fun. However, if you were intrigued by the possibility of a more mental engagement, this game isn't for you. I hope that KOEI does better with the Siege Engine in the next installment.