Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires

Endless variations on battles and the ability to customize characters make this game a good value for serious fans. People looking for less involvement and hack-and-slash may want to rent or avoid this title altogether.

It's been a while since a Dynasty Warriors game was this addictive, and that's a huge bonus. While established fans will find the game to be incredibly fun, it's highly doubtful that longtime DW haters will be drawn into the series by this new one. Definitely a worthy purchase for those that like Koei's work.

For fans of the Warriors series, DW6:E falls right in line with giving the hardcore followers of Omega Force exactly what they want. For general action/strategy fans, DW6:E marks a solid step forward in creating a more consumable form of the Warriors universe.

You're getting the combat and battlefield strategy of the regular titles, combined with some of the more strategy-like elements of the Empire series.

It would have been nice to see the franchise branch out a little, but if you just can’t wait to get back into the Dynasty Warriors groove, you’ll find plenty to enjoy with Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires.

Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires is ultimately more of the same tired Dynasty Warriors gameplay, but the added strategic elements -- both in the expanding of your territory and mid-battle base management -- really help this game out.

If there was a series that could really use a reboot, reinvention or a break Dynasty Warriors should be it. The series has been doing the same thing over and over again for so long and it’s not doing enough to entice new players to the series.

Quotation forthcoming.

I really can't say I recommend this title, especially when Dynasty Warriors 6 is sitting on the shelf right next to it. Unless of course, you're a Dynasty Warriors fanatic, and want to get a new take on the series.

Mowing down wave after wave of comatose fodder kills any chance of this game’s strategies having any meaning. An overhaul on the battlefield is sorely needed.

This time around, Dynasty Warriors’ horde-slaughtering action is complemented by a greater emphasis on strategy as you attempt to conquer China in Empire mode, the game’s meatiest offering.

While strategy elements make the title more appealing and accessible to a broader audience, ultimately it’s not enough to compensate the repetitive hack and slash gameplay. Unless you’re fan of the series, then there’s little that will hold your interest.

Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires likes to think that's it's a massive, deep game - there's even an encyclopaedia of historical events included in the start menu, so you can brush up on the background to your mindless slaughter - but the problem is, whilst it is certainly massive, it's a long, long way from being deep.

Even if being the best episode of the Empires series as of today, the game offers repetitive and in the long run boring gameplay. And the graphical defects, with an annoying pop-in/pop-out effect on environment objects, don't help.

There are a few welcome additions, which fans will surely appreciate, but Dynasty Saga's gameplay and structure are getting more and more boring and old.

It's another Empires iteration of a Dynasty Warriors game, and it comes with all the tedium and light strategy you'd expect.

A sub-par romp through what we’ve already seen many, many times before.

Judging by the amount of new content, this is more of a stop-gap than a sequel. Hardcore fans will be best off waiting for the next installment, because this add-on feels desperately half-hearted.

The truly frustrating thing however is that with some rather elementary things fixed (AI that isn't so terminally stupid, environments that don't look like they were made out of papier-mache, an involving combat mechanic) DW games would become not only more enjoyable for the mainstream but also surely more enjoyable for their fan base too. Until then however this is, and will continue to be, an experience to excite the devoted few rather than tempt the masses.

What makes a game great is the ability to deceive gamers in to believing in an alternate reality by creating immense visuals, believable sounds and a story that keeps you engrossed from start to finish, unfortunately Dynasty Warriors doesn’t do this.

It may be fun, but no amount of political (and entertaining) backstabbing can hide the fact that, at the end of the day, this is still Dynasty Warriors 6 with a slight incentive to keep hacking and slashing.

If you must play one, go back a few games. [Issue#48, p.87]