The fall of the Ashikaga Shogunate has caused turmoil in 16^th-century feudal Japan. Clans are vying for control of the lands. Battles are raging across the landscape and into this setting is thrust a warrior and a small army.

No, this is not an army of one. You can command your troops to take up various offensive stances, and they will attack the enemy, but should you fall, the battle is lost.

KOEI definitely has this genre wrapped up with a pervasive style that is wonderful to look at and combines elements of arcade combat with role-play. In concert with Omega Force, KOEI’s release of Samurai Warriors for the Xbox continues the tradition and while somewhat linear in the Story Mode, the game offers non-stop combat against an incredible onslaught of enemy soldiers.

The game features six modes of play: Story Mode, Free Mode, New Officer Mode, Survival Mode, Versus Mode and Challenge Mode. In the New Officer Mode, you create an avatar, name him or her and then go through a series of trials and tests to create your characters for the other modes of play.

In Story Mode you select one of five pre-built characters with beginning titles, which you can build and change as you progress through the game. Yukimura Sanada is know as the “Warrior in Red” at level 1. The main force is acting as a decoy while Yukimura takes a force to strike Kenshin from behind and force him into the main force in a pincer-like move. The mapboard is large, and the clock is ticking. It’s time to weave that pike, power-up and destroy the enemy forces.

Other game features include up to 15 playable characters, over 90 stages of battles, an auto-formation system and a new active mission system which generate distinct missions during battles, and historically as well as fictional settings.

Challenge mode offers the opportunity to replay any previously completed mission with the idea to set new records. Since the game keeps track of many things (like the number of enemies you killed), this will really appeal to those seeking arcade bragging rights. Free mode is much like challenge mode, except you get to play with any character of your choice.

You will get power-ups in the game, which will allow you to launch musou attacks – graphically appealing and devastating combat actions. The number of KOs you record with musou attacks are one of the areas analyzed in the finished ratings wrap-up.

Unfortunately, the camera is fixed and that can create a bit of a problem in a three-dimensional setting. You can fire off a whirling attack, and knock your opponent out of frame, and then because you cannot pan the camera, you are basically hunting for him on a three-dimensional board using a two-dimensional fixed perspective.

The controls of Samurai Warriors are easy to understand and use. While Samurai Warriors affords a variety of options, like charging forward, the musou attack, going into a guard mode and even ranged attacks, these are all easily controlled.

The graphics, aside from the camera problems, are terrific, and the sound is robust.

All-in-all, Samurai Warriors may carry a familiar KOEI theme and style, but that does not stop this title from being enjoyable and a wonderful treat for the eyes and ears. Do not expect this to be a quick in-and-out type of game. The timer for the starting missions is 60 minutes, and you will use most of the that to work through the map and accomplish what you are tasked to do.
 

Gameplay: 8.0

The gameplay is smooth but slightly structured. You have a map which plays out alike a maze. Basically, you take your force and run throughout the map destroying the enemy. Strategy is at a minimum, while the fighting action is non-stop. This is a repetitive function throughout the game, even when you are battling the clock to complete the missions in time.

Graphics: 8.1

While the graphics are lush and the animations are remarkable, the game suffers from a fixed camera position.

Sound: 8.1

The sound track features a plethora of typical combat sounds, but the musical score is solid and the vocal characterizations are very well done. There is, however, some redundancy in what is said during battle.

Difficulty: Medium

The title has four difficulty settings – Easy, Normal, Hard and Chaos – which should appeal to just about any player abilities.

Concept: 8.5

This title really takes advantage of the Xbox capabilities, with in-game Dolby sound and improved graphical elements that allow for up to 10 more characters per screen than the PlayStation2 version.

Multiplayer: 8.2

The game has a decent multiplayer mode, and utilizes the split-screen look. There is also a co-op mode and versus mode to expand the gameplay options.

Overall: 8.2

While this title has a similar feel to other titles in the KOEI stable, Samurai Warriors still provides an enjoyable gaming experience with terrific graphical elements.