Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends – PS2 – Review

I remember the first day I ever
played a Dynasty Warriors game. From the box art, it looked like a truly
innovative game featuring uniquely designed ancient warriors fighting
large-scale battles for ultimate supremacy. I was delightfully surprised at what
the game had to offer and made it my mission to follow the franchise through my
gaming life. Today, however, could very well be the last day I ever play a
Dynasty Warriors
game. Why? Simply put, each new Dynasty Warriors
game is almost identical to the one before it. The developers continue to add
small features to make the games more amusing but it feels as if the additions
are created solely for die-hard fans like me. Until significant gameplay
advancements are made to the franchise, Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends
will be the last Dynasty game to leave me feeling unsatisfied.

If you are reading this review you
probably already know the general storyline, but lets recap anyway: The game
takes place during the period when Feudal lords ruled China for ultimate
supremacy. These warring states are after the turf of the former Han Dynasty.
Fighting with powerful warriors against hundreds of enemy soldiers, you must
progress your character and your army to conquer Ancient China. For those of you
who don’t know, Xtreme Legends is merely a stand-alone expansion to
Dynasty Warriors 5
that was released in April but features 18 unique battles
to play and a couple new modes including Xtreme mode and Destiny mode.

Essentially, Xtreme mode allows you
to ignore the storyline and quickly choose any of the available warriors to
fight in a select variety of missions to survive as long as you can, upgrading
your weapons and defense along the way. Xtreme mode (which in many respects is
pretty non-extreme) lacks substance until you enter co-op and play with a
friend. But even after you school your buddy in a friendly game of "slaughter
the newbie," it can get pretty boring.

Destiny mode is definitely the most
promising aspect of Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends and has the
potential to be a great asset in future titles. You must create a character
based on everything from costumes to physical attributes. Creating a character
isn’t too complex and does a good job in making the character your own. You must
also choose a general for your army to follow through the campaign. Just like
the main story mode, you must successfully complete a number of battles
conquests in order to progress. Building up your character from the bottom-up
with upgrades and new ranks, you will grow alongside your general and gain
prestige along the way. What makes Destiny mode different is the option of
collaborating alliances, switching sides, or eventually succeeding from your
general with your own army (eventually conquering him for his stake of Ancient
China).

The graphics have not improved much
from the game’s predecessors and are identical to Dynasty Warriors 5 with
adequately detailed environments considering the vastness of the fields of
China. The character models seem as if they were pulled right from the original
game. The sound befits the ambiance of the Dynasty Warriors games
including this one with unrealistic sound effects and a 3rd-rate hard rock
soundtrack.

Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme
Legends
features the same cookie-cutter gameplay elements we have seen
before. With the exception of Destiny mode, die-hard fans have little reason to
pick up this installment. I’m disappointed with the lack of progression the
Dynasty Warriors
franchise has seen and hope that it will someday rise
again.



Review Scoring Details

for Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends

Gameplay: 6.6
Destiny mode is a good addition to the gameplay, but everything else falls flat
in this expansion

Graphics: 7.0
Nothing new here folks. All the same bland
environments and models are here from the previous games

Sound: 7.0
Unrealistic sound effects + eardrum-bursting hard rock = sounds like

Dynasty Warriors


Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 5.0
The end of a Dynasty? Who knows…

Overall: 6.6
Only big fans of the Dynasty Warriors franchise will
find something worth playing (if only temporarily). If you have never touched a
DW title before, there are a half-dozen predecessors to this one that
deserve more of your attention.