Koei ought to win some kind of award for releasing the same game, with a modicum of upgrades, over and over again. We're pretty sure the company has set some kind of record for lather-and-repeat game-publishing (Guinness has confirmed this). Next up in Koei's never-ending cycle is Samurai Warriors 2: Empires. It's pretty much the same game, with a modicum of upgrades, that you've seen before. This time around, the developers are trying to add some thoughtful strategy to the mix. The result isn't bad at all nor is it overly impressive. It's just kind of there and exactly what you'd expect from Koei.
It's the Same Old Song
In Samurai Warriors 2: Empires, you'll spend the bulk of your time running around large battlefields and wading through massive swarms of enemies (sound familiar?). It's a ton of hacking, slashing, and hacking some more. It's pretty much an excuse to pound on one button for dozens of minutes at a time while you watch some average eye candy through the eye of a camera that's in dire need of improvement. It's the same mindless violence that millions of people have been soaking up for years.
Sure, there are different characters with various special attacks, but you'll pretty much be running around like an idiot while dispatching a ridiculous amount of enemies. All the while, you'll listen to some forgettable music and grating catchphrases that are inappropriately acted out.
Head Games
Now, there's a cerebral side to the mix as well. Much like Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires, the mindless violence has been painted with a layer of strategy. After choosing the feudal lord of your liking, you must manage your region, make strategic alliance, bolster your military, and invade other territories. Ultimately, your goal is to unite all of Japan.
After plotting out your moves and politicking, you'll engage in a battle. This essentially makes the game a drawn out bout of turn-based strategy with interactive battles. You'll go from carefully picking out your moves to not smashing a button and not thinking about anything at all.
It's an interesting attempt at adding depth to the glorious bout of mindless violence that is Samurai Warriors. It's almost as if Koei is mixing its two styles of gameplay: the strategy from Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the button mashing from Dynasty Warriors. The result is…pretty average. Naturally, you're not going to have the depth and intricacies of the Romance series, but for some players it's a decent diversion that will break up the bashing and smashing.
Visually, the game isn't a significant improvement over its predecessors. Yes, there are often hundreds over characters on screen at the same time, but most of them look and move exactly the same. The character detail isn't the best either. While the sheer number of moving objects onscreen was impressive at the beginning of the last generation of consoles, it's old hat now. As for sound…well, we wish the protagonists in the game would shut the hell up and just keep slashing.
Mindful Violence?
At the end of the day, Samurai Warriors 2: Empires is the same old Samurai Warriors game with a bit of strategy pasted between battles. The new features are not enough to draw strategy fans into the fold, but they might just be what longtime fans of the series need to keep going with the genre. For those that love every iteration of this hack-and-slash series, the game serves up more of the same. For those that are growing weary of it, this game is worth a look.
Article by: Raymond M Padilla
Video produced by: Mark Fahey
