Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires

Dynasty Warriors, a series only limited by the power of the system it’s running on, finally approaches the next-gen battlefield in the fifth chapter, Empires. The new version looks a little better, and plays a little better, but this doesn’t feel like half of what the franchise is capable of on the Xbox 360.

Dynasty Warriors attempts to recreate history battles in Chinese history, with a little magic and mythology thrown in to spice up the gameplay. There’s even an encyclopedia available if you want to see what each mission is referencing. This makes the events, characters, and armies feel authentic, but at face value, the story is little more than a collection of massive battles. The acting in the cinemas is embarrassing, and the voice over during gameplay is painfully repetitive.

But Empires on 360 brings more scenarios and an expanded Empire mode, which plays like a digital Chinese version of the board game Risk. This is a step up over previous versions, but 360 owners looking for a fresh action title will find little new here to get excited about.

The most noticeable improvement in the visuals is the background draw distance. In the first Dynasty Warriors installments, it sometimes felt like you were in a dream or fighting in a very cloudy battlefield. Now you can see more of the world ahead of you, which helps you understand the map better as you try to immerse yourself in the action.

The characters and effects look better, but they’re still not that far from their current-gen counterparts. And the boxy soldier designs are made worse by their random robotic movements and lack of adaptive A.I. As a whole, Empires on the 360 feels the same as Gun did. It’s clearly just taking advantage of the 360’s power, without bothering to rewrite itself for a whole new generation.

Dynasty Warrior fans will be able to jump right in to Empires, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. Outside of a few new moves here and there, the combat doesn’t have a lot of surprises. And after you get used to the fighting, it doesn’t offer much of a challenge. You’ll use the attack button for the most part, while the special attack and arrow buttons play a minor role.

One of the biggest bonuses in Empire for the 360, is that it finally gives fans a co-op mode they can truly enjoy. Previous Dynasty Warriors titles also had co-op, but it significantly affected the game’s performance. On the 360 the frame-rate is smooth, and the battles are still much more fun to play when you have another general to back you up.

But despite being available on the Microsoft’s growing Xbox Live service, Dynasty Warriors V has no online multiplayer whatsoever. This is not required when making a good next-gen game, but it seems like a no-brainer if you’re just updating an existing franchise on the Xbox 360.

The 360 version of Dynasty Warriors V: Empires is being offered at a lowered price tag, which makes it seem like Koei knows the game isn’t all it should be. It’s better than the PS2 version, but the developers will have to do a lot more to this static franchise before it finally gets the next-gen upgrade it deserves.