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Dynasty Warriors 4 |
by Chad
9/19/2003 |
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The three kingdoms of China have decided it is time to unify the country. The Kingdom of Wei, Led by Cao Cao, have let their desire to rule all of China drive them to fulfill the ultimate conquest through glorious battles. The Kingdom of Wu, led by Sun Jian and his sons, will attack from the southeast. The Kingdom of Wu uses veteran skills and experience to become victorious in their crucial battles. The Kingdom of Shu desires the return on the Han Dynasty. From the mountainous regions of the West, the Kingdom of Shu is Liu Bei in their steadfast quest for the return of the Han glory.
Dynasty Warriors 4 holds true to the theme of its predecessor's style and energy, which means you better make sure your thumbs are in good shape. While there are several combos, weapons upgrades and special attacks, the main focus of the game is pressing the X button as quickly as possible while eliminates hundreds and hundreds of enemies. The beauty of the game is that this limited playing style is a whole lot of fun. There are some strategy elements to the game, and you have to take the proper course of action in order to defeat the enemy officers, but along the way you will be strengthening your thumb muscles to unbelievable proportions.
There are 50 stages in Dynasty Warriors 4 that cover 17 unique maps. Each map features its own terrain and there are specific nuances you have to deal with. Overall, the depth of the game is just about perfect. KOIE has also produced a new one-on-one fighting feature. Player can now engage in one-on-one duels with enemy officers. These mini-battles offer a different fighting style than the dash and slash of the overall game, and they are a nice change of pace.
 
Character specific attacks are incorporated into the game by giving each character a set of special attacks that can be used in combat. You can also increase your ass-whooping ability by gaining weapon experience. Weapon Experience increases your characters weapon level. What the hell does that mean? When you gain an increase in weapon level, it raises your attack level and possible combos. Still wondering what it means? You'll be able to hurt people better. You will be a killing machine, stacking body upon body on the battlefield until you can no longer see the horizon because your view is obstructed by the piles of enemies you have obliterated. Or something like that. Another way to increase your power is to collect orbs. Orbs add special elemental abilities to the characters attacks. If an orb is equipped and the Musou Charge bar is full, a charge attack becomes a special attack, which will inflict more damage and look really cool.
Another added element for Dynasty Warriors 4 is the Siege Engines. The Siege engines include catapults, battering rams, bridge layers and flame throwing tiger tanks. These weapons can be used to overtake an enemy's fortified defense position. Again, these add a nice change up from the dash and slash pace of the rest of the game.
 
Dynasty Warriors 4 also has a new Edit Mode, which allows a user to create your very own officer. After customizing and creating your officer, you then get to create some bodyguards for him/her. Soon you can have an entourage that rivals that of P Diddy, only P Diddy's guys probably have more weapons than your guys. This is the first time customization has been offered in the Dynasty Warriors franchise.
There are several different modes of play in Dynasty Warriors 4, which add depth and replay value that is sometimes overlooked in the franchise. The different modes are as follows:- Musou Mode - Wei, Wu and Shu each have their own Musou Mode. If you choose to use Kingdom Play, you can select a different general for each Musou Mode stage. Musou Mode also includes a pretty cool two player coop.
- Free Mode - Free Mode allows you to jump into the middle of any battle. You choose from 50 different scenarios, pick one of the 17 maps, and jump into the middle of the battle.
- Versus Mode - Versus mode includes all of the two player battles. You can choose one of four different situations.
— Showdown - One on One combat.
— Encounter - A Seek and Destroy game where you hunt your opponent in the dark.
— Influence -Use your clout and the Imperial Seal to gain allies to help you win the battle.
— Escort - You army must defend a carriage you are escorting while trying to destroy the enemy carriage. - Challenge Mode - The object of Challenge Mode is to complete the various tasks/challenges within the set parameters.
— Endurance - Defeat as many enemy soldiers as you can before being killed
— Time Attack - Defeat 100 enemies as fast as possible
— Bridge Melee - Standing on a bridge, you must knock off as many approaching enemies as possible. The game is over when you are knocked off the bridge.
— Demolition - Destroy as much stuff as possible in a set amount of time. - Encyclopedia - This is a summary of all of your possessions (weapons, etc.) as well as the story of the Three Kingdoms and the Generals who appear in the game.
- Edit Mode - Here is where you create your own officer. You can select different body types, gender, motion sequences and name.
 
Graphics - 8
The graphics in Dynasty Warriors 4 are very nice, but the most impressive aspect of the visuals is the sheer volume of renders happening simultaneously. When you can see literally hundreds of enemies on the screen at the same time, each wielding a weapon of some sort, you can't help but be impresses. There is the occasional slow down due to the machine being overwhelmed with instructions, but these are few and far between. Overall, Dynasty Warriors 4 is probably the best in the business at creating epic battle scenes while keeping complete and total user interaction in the scene.
Sound - 9
The one Xbox enhancement for Dynasty Warriors 4 is the Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. This game begs to be played with the surround sound cranked up. Hearing the battle raging on around you adds an element of realism to the game that you won't find on any other system.
Gameplay - 8
The repetitive nature of the game just seems to work in Dynasty Warriors 4. It is so fun and intense that you don't really notice and/or care that all you have been doing for the past 10 minutes is pressing the X button. There is enough depth in the game to keep you playing for quite a while. The inclusion of the one on one battles, and the player editor add to the overall experience in a positive way. The energy of the game is excellent, and the fun-factor is high.
Overall - 8
Dynasty Warriors 4 is a classic arcade style game that is a pleasure to play sitting at home. The action is intense and happens at a furious pace, allowing you to immediately feel that you are part of the game. There is not much time to wonder aimlessly around the maps. If you find yourself trotting off on your trusty steed to see what is happening over by the bridge, chances are your troops will get obliterated before you get back. The Morale factor is still present in the game, and you must fight hard to get your troops to fight hard.
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*Grampa Game*
X365 Member
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what say you ?... players,.. has anyone actually played this game other than the staff, if so what do you think????
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Dionysus
Heckler
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I got this game on opening day, and had been waiting for it. I am a big fan of the series, and this is a slight improvement on Dynasty Warriors 3. You could get either and be satisfied.
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IP: 68.101.68.130
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Mr. Big Black Box
X365 Member
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I dont know about this game, but this is for Gramps and anyone else that likes "Ragdoll Physics" in their games.
I read your post in another forum about your like of "Ragdoll Physics" and I did not want you to miss this one.
Go to Gametrailers.com and download Conflict Desert Storm 2 "Ragdoll"! = Nice Ragdoll Physics! =)
Game on everyone!
ONLY ON XBOX!
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*Grampa Game*
X365 Member
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Thanks Mr box I´ll check it out, and I do like ragdoll effects, but to be honest, many developers dont tweak the effect and the effect looks over exagerated,...its strange to see your fallen enemies body contorted in such a way that he has his head is stuck up his arse. but when its done right it offers a very emersive experience.
Try downloading the demo Of Dread vs Death,.. I played it last night. plenty of death, blood and ragdoll graphics, and you can play 3 levels, 2 arcade modes and 1 story mode. get it free at gamershell.
Thanks Dionysus for you opinion!
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Shaitan
X365 Member
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Yeh.. I´ll definetly be havin a look at this one... After playing DW3 it´s a must for me.
And it will help keep my interest till Kingdoms Under Fire:The Crusaders comes out.
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rob
X365 Member
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i´m still trying to beat Dynasty Warriors 3 with all the characters!
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SilentNinja
Heckler
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I´ve been playing this for hours now...
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Posts: 0
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IP: 67.114.229.75
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080780
Heckler
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Just got Dynasty Warriors 4 after playing number 3 on my mates PS2, it´s everything no.3 was and more and I can´t express enough how fun this game is, it is a pure arcade game that makes me reminice about how fun some games were back in the coin-op days of the early 90´s, no real serious thinking needed or mind-bending puzzles or rediculous platforms to jump to, though to take full advantage of it, it wise to spend a little time thinking about certain strategies and what equipment to use and possibly which clan to attack @!*% on the map, though none of this gets in the way of fun, and fun and gameplay is Dynasty Warriors 4´s main selling point. The developers have decided to hark back to gameplay and fun being the main priority rather than flashy graphics which seems to be the main priority with todays developers.
There are only a few niggles about this game, i think i might need a new controller soon with all this x bashing and I´m slightly worried about R.S.I whilst playing this, though so far so good. The sound as with Dynasty Warriors 3 is not majorly impressive other than the new Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, throw back 80´s heavy metal is the musical score of choice, which really did nothing for me and a proper film like score really could have added that little sparkle of atmosphere, and hearing "impressive" or "You are a general of likes I have never seen before" (or something like that) does get very repetitive, but it´s bareable. Plus some fans or players of the previous versions may be a little disappointed that nothing really new has been added to the formulae and may appear very samey, but new scenarios and missions are what this sequel is about. Like the FIFA series each version is an improvement on the original but is still good enough to warrant buying.
Trust me, old skool gamer or newbie alike, buy or rent this game you won´t be disappointed.
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Dyn of Wu
Heckler
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I LOVE THE DYNASTY WARRIORS SAGA
I HOPE THEY COME OUT W/ A 5th 1 AND IT CAN BE PLAYED ON XBOX LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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IP: 24.161.1.240
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helooo
Heckler
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eat my balls!
You are Bartyfied!!
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IP: 213.66.198.193
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Kris Kong
Heckler
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The game´s aight. I played DW3 pretty hardcore, and this isn´t all that much different. Thing is, I still like playing DW3, and now I have a whole set of characters to unlock and advance with all over again.
The officer editing it cool, but I think they cheesed out on it. I would have really liked more customization, three sets of armour and a few different colors just isn´t good enough. I want cool shoulders pads and a unique weapon, not this generic stuff they´re trying to sell me.
All in all, it´s not a bad game, but they really need to start coming up with something more original. I hear Lucas arts or something is coming out with a Dynasty Warriors type game with the KoToR character building theme, should be pretty cool.
Game on y´all
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paiwand
Heckler
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the best spel the word
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joeysanchez
X365 Member
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i love the dynasty warriors games they are so awesome i luv da qiao and sunce from this game
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joeysanchez
X365 Member
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i love the dynasty warriors games they are so awesome i luv da qiao and sunce from this game
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Posts: 2
Member: 3090
IP: i.am.a.member
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bobcat
Heckler
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i wish that they would make a stratagy one that u would move the men in sted of being one person u creat ur own dynasty and all of your men. u would move all of ur offisers, general and the men to where u want to surpres the enemy and all u need to do is kill the main gineral and u get to pick or create ur own main general
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