Review: Samurai Warriors 2 (PS2)

Bushido, the Samurai warrior's code and way of life, demands that a Samurai must commit Seppuku, a ritual form of suicide, when their honour is tarnished. Today such a ritual has been officially abolished in Japan, so the best we can hope for the developers of the second Samurai Warriors game is that someone gives them a swift kicking, because this game certainly isn't honourable and had Gamestyle looking amorously at the office letter opener.

Samurai Warriors is an offshoot of the famous Dynasty Warriors franchise that focuses on the frantic button bashing combat from the series, leaving the more strategic elements behind. Unfortunately, without any strategy for players to focus on, all that's left is the dull repetitive combat that will turn away many potential customers.

Each level is executed in almost exactly the same way as the rest. After selecting a character out of an initial line up of seven (that will eventually balloon into a roster of twenty six), you start in the middle of a sizeable battlefield, and must beat seven shades of excrement out of the opposing army, usually numbering in the hundreds. Each character has their own story and set of chapters to complete, which, for the persistent player, can be completed in a few meagre hours each. However, aside from hearing different voices from the horrendous English dubbing, there are few differences between the characters for them to truly stand out. Aside from the fact that some have swords, or axes, or halberds, they all effectively play the same; they all control the same and their attacks do roughly the same amount of damage, so playing the game becomes an endless string of simple combos and powerful charge attacks repeated relentlessly until a character's climax chapter... and then you just repeat the process again with a newly unlocked character. In between levels, it is possible to upgrade your characters' stats with RPG-ish experience points, but Gamestyle managed to get through a decent amount of the game before remembering we could do this, a testament to its usefulness.

The constant button bashing combat wouldn't be so dull if the majority of enemies you faced were an actual challenge both physically and mentally. While the game throws hundreds of enemies at you at once, 99% of these are nameless, brainless thugs who just watch as you smash them aside with your simple combos. If they do manage to work out what their sword is for and attack you, the health meter barely registers the hit, that is if you're not on the other side of the field trying to complete one of the level's objectives by this time.

To be honest, using "objectives" as a plural is being generous. Essentially, they all boil down to the same thing: go to an area on the game map and beat the living daylights out of the enemy. Though in all fairness, some of these areas are being overrun by enemy forces led by an enemy lieutenant, who can be easily spotted by their name emblazoned above their head in bright blue text, and that they're actually quite effective in attacking you. However, a few quick combos and timed blocks will see all but the later lieutenants and generals defeated within seconds.

To make up for the lack of variety in the gameplay, you’d at least hope Koei would have spruced up the graphics as much as possible. Sadly this is not the case, as you wander around bland landscapes covered in fog. However, up close the named enemies look rather good, blending good animation with unique and memorable suits of armour. The same can be said of the multiple unlockable characters; they all look and move uniquely, though these cosmetic differences fail to make up for the fact they all essentially play the same.

Audio is another problem with Samurai Warriors 2. Attack sounds are flat, the music is dull, and the English voice-acting is dreadful. Honestly, Gamestyle can't recall a game with worse voice acting. One of the allied characters sounds like a stereotypical surfer, making it quite hard to take him seriously when he's boasting about his skills with his halberd.

In an attempt to add some much need variety to the mix, Koei had included a mode called Sugoroku, a board game that is very similar to Monopoly. In fact, it's almost exactly the same as Monopoly, but instead of building houses and hotels, you build temples. Aside from the Samurai theme, Sugoroku is the same game you used to play with your siblings on rainy days before your parents finally caved and bought your first games console, only now you can't throw the board to the far wall when your cheating big sister begins stealing money from the bank again. It's a nice addition and can be quite fun, but it says a lot when a Monopoly rip-off is more fun than the main game.

Ultimately, Samurai Warriors 2 is one of the dullest and most repetitive games Gamestyle has ever played. It feels more like a chore then a game, the lack of attention to many aspects of its design paling in comparison to its greatest omission... fun. Fans of the Warriors franchise will probably find something to enjoy here, but everyone else will be hard pressed to do the same.

Rating: 3 / 10

Words by Garry Webber