Let's get one thing out of the way first: Yes, Dynasty Warriors 5, the latest in Koei's one-unstoppable-man-on- an-ancient-battlefield series, is one in a series, and it's not even the fifth installment. The PlayStation 2 had a Dynasty Warriors title available at its launch, and counting all the various Xtreme Legends, Empires, and Samurai Warriors iterations released since, there have been nine of these monsters. All let the player pit an oddly costumed mythical badass against an endless tide of opponents, but none have featured more than small, evolutionary changes, such as new characters or a different way to control your personal guards. So why then do its fans still consider it so marvelous?
Put simply: It's a genuine blast wreaking all that single-handed havoc, at least for a while. You might not know or care when, where, or what the Battle for Hu Lao Gate was, but players can still thrill at cutting down (or bloodlessly "Knocking Out," in the game's terms) a thousand opposing spear-carriers in the hour or so it takes to fight that battle. And you can do it with 50-odd different characters, each with their own moveset, story, and ridiculous outfit. And it helps that DW5 is the best of the series in allowing you to do so seamlessly, with almost no fog, enemy pop-in, or graphical slowdown.
Beyond the gameplay: The Dynasty Warriors series is based, about as loosely as possible, on Romance Of The Three Kingdoms, the historical novel considered by many to be the Iliad and Odyssey of China. It's worth reading, especially since you can download it for free at
threekingdoms.com/download.htm.
Worth playing for: Hundreds of hours of using the game's near-endless series of characters, equipment, and simple (but fairly deep) two-button combat system to chop an unstoppable swath through the battlefields of ancient China.
Frustration sets in when: Not everyone's going to enjoy chopping that endless swath. Even if you do, it's maddening to hear lowball American voice actors chew virtual scenery and botch pronunciation during the cutscenes.
Final judgment: The best yet for this popular series. But not by all that much over DW3, which can be found used for about $20.