Dynasty Warriors 4

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Product Features

• Conquer over 50 stages across 17 unique maps. More than any other Dynasty game!
• Fierce new one-on-one duels with enemy officers.
• Giant siege engines, essential to battlefield victory, include catapults, battering rams, bridge layers, flame-throwing tiger tanks, and more!
• Create your own officers and bodyguards. A Dynasty Warriors first!

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00007KQE9
• Item Weight: 8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: March 26, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (123 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,574 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: PlayStation2

Amazon.com Review
There's no logical reason the Dynasty Warriors series has such a devoted fan base. The makers have mined the same plot for four installments, based on the same few heroic tales of ancient China. The dialogue is as stilted as ever, and no real surprises unfold. But think of the zealotry people have for goofy, unrealistic kung fu flicks, and you'll start to see Dynasty Warriors' lasting appeal.

If you've never touched an earlier version of the game, here's what to know: Dynasty Warriors is a fighting game series played from the third-person perspective, where you pick a military general as your avatar and fight through across sprawling battlefields. The generals all have distinct personalities, and there are a few women characters included, too. As you campaign, you collect special items--such as the Dragon Amulet, which increases your Musou gauge (Musou allows you to enact special, prolonged attacks on multiple enemies.) You have bodyguards, you kill enemy generals, and along the way your new skill points increase your weapon's power.

With DW4, there are many new additions, only some of which are successful. Charge attacks and items are souped up and truly improved. For example, equipping a magic orb can cause you to freeze enemies in a block of ice. You can edit characters, but with so many good preset ones to choose from, chances are you won't spend a lot of time working on your own. In addition to a better game engine, there's also the option of one-on-one-duels. The maps are immense compared to previous editions, with a lot more variance in what can happen by the end of your mission.

Even with a significant number of new features, it's debatable whether Dynasty Warriors 4 is a true overhaul, or just another release to cash in on the massive popularity of the franchise. Regardless, it's addictive for reasons that almost defy explanation. You just want to clear this act, to get to the next stage, and to reveal the goodies you've received from killing that big boss. It's as simple as that. And at the moment when you can knock down an entire platoon with a couple hits, well, then you'll join the ranks of the dedicated. --Jennifer Buckendorff

Pros:

• Many more (and much improved) maps
• Complex and compelling charge attack functions
• Improved fighting AI makes enemies noticeably trickier

Cons:

• "Siege engine" function mostly a novelty
• Still tedious retracing of steps, even with speed boots
• Disappointing officer customization

Product Description
Battlefield action game allowing players to take-on multiple opponents at once and fight against impossible odds.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Fun Like Always, June 4, 2003

By	Fates Puppet "lifespuppet" (NC United States) - See all my reviews

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.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Non-stop actions, too addictive., June 9, 2003

By	NDMac "ndmacrox" (Laurel, MD United States) - See all my reviews

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.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun game!... but..., June 4, 2003

By	Zack (Jersey City, NJ) - See all my reviews

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...

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