Mania Grade: C

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Info:

• Platform: Xbox 360
• ESRB: T
• Genre: Action Strategy
• Players: 1-2
• Online: No
• Developer: Omega Force
• Publisher: Koei
• Suggested Retail: $59.99
• Graphics: C
• Sound: C-
• Gameplay: C-
• Replay: B
• Fun Factor: C

"Samurai Warriors 2: Empires"

Samurai Warriors 2: Empires
© N/A

Here we have the continuation of the Empires series, but now it is set up in Japan. Here you must dominate the world of Japan, though as difficult as that sounds at least you have the option of the person that you would like to do it as. That is pretty much all of the storyline there is, which is slightly annoying. The game is all about hack and slash, where you can either use a few magical moves or just rapid fire your button attacks. Up front the game is very simple, and reading the following review will show you why. I will say this though... The H&S genre needs a bit of innovation if it wants to stick around. 

The game falls down to mainly two parts, and they deal with being in and outside of battle. Outside of battle you will make choices on how your realm will work. Some of the things that you can choose involve allocating fiefs and their troops, what weapons to increase, and how you plan to accumulate gold. When allocating soldiers all you really need to do is refill the ranks that were depleted by war, or you have a new officer that needs backup. There are several options on how to refill the ranks, where you can either by buying a few at a time, the allowable full amount, or even buying 500 for each of the officers. I did find that it hardly mattered on how many troops you had so long as you were good in battle. 

Other options of outside of battle helped with making your in battle life easier. Probably the most important part of the game is unlocking additional options for your troops to use. Some of them allow you to get more gold per haul, and other allows you to recruit more soldiers. On occasion these abilities come from occupying specific areas on the main map where you can earn an audience with the King, or have the chance to buy from specific stores. You can also gather tactic cards, which tell your team how to align themselves in battle. I found needing these battle cards was fairly odd since they expire after being used in battle and the teams forget how they can be practiced, though luckily your regular cards would remain. 

Out of battle has a few perks, like increasing how proficient your group is with weapons. Manly you will be dealing with the sword and spear, but you can also level up everyone’s special abilities. You may also level each of them up to the max of five, which only takes a few turns. If you prefer to go the route of defence you could always fortify your base, which helps lock it down from attack. Of course another option of this is by using alliances, but the opponents may reject your offer. Successfully implementing them will keep your enemies from attacking you for a few years, and if you feel like a jerk you could always annul the agreement and attack them the same turn. Generally it best suited your team to just replenish your ranks and attack other sections every turn. You get more turns depending on how many areas you own, so you are encouraged to try and amass as many as possible. Overall this system was a little too on the light side, where any normal person should feel far from challenged. 

Inside of battle is also fairly simple, which makes it easy to pick up and play, but it also kills some lasting appeal. After choosing to invade an opponent, or defending yourself from being invaded, you will enter a warm menu. Here you can choose which weapons you wish to use, and if you would like to use a horse that you have personally trained. You will also choose to which generals or officers that you wish to aid you in the battle, but be sure to select the first one as the one you wish to play. Each side has bases and the idea of the game is to take over those bases and push back your enemies advances. Each base has protecting base teams with a leader that you must defeat. Sometimes there are several leaders that you must defeat, but it can be easily done in this hack and slash adventure. After the leader is taken out the rest of their team runs for cover leaving the base open for assimilation. 

Having bases is a little important since it helps spawn soldiers closer to the action, and this will also include any defeated generals or officers. A problem with what bases structure is that they need to be connected with other bases occupied by any specific team. If they are not they have issues defending themselves and replenishing the defeated leaders. On a normal map they will either be coloured red when they belong to the enemy, blue if they belong to you, or grey if they are separated. On the map you will also notice where your home base is and your opponent’s main base is since they will both have golden flags above them. Your job is to create a path of all of the bases to their home base, venture towards theirs and either capture it by defeating the base protectors, or defeating the main general. Once you complete that task the map is over, and you will have successfully defended or advanced your kingdom. 

Along the way you may run into a base team that is nowhere near a regular base. When you see them they are generally either running over to help out another team, or even attack one of your own. The main people that take over bases are generals, and not these teams. These characters are powerhouses and can level teams with ease. Perhaps the most interesting thing about them is that they can re-spawn if defeated, and that you may also play two players at a time on one team, so long as you find someone else. This is done locally as in on the same system, which is a little annoying since it takes up half of the screen. The game is still fairly manageable, but with the mini-map that is displayed it can be a little difficult to figure out where you are, let alone the other people. 

Luckily if you hate most of the officers that the game provides, you can add your own with a minor character editor. It will allow you to choose how they look, sound, and how they attack. Most of these options were very generic, but at least you are able to put your name into a videogame. The hardest part about this was that the character would end up on the opponent’s team and you would need to defeat the city before you could obtain them.  

In the end, the game is not all that difficult but it can be addicting. I grew up in the SNES age of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and in a way this game is like that. You deal with troops and taking over land, but all action is served in light servings. There are plenty of unlockables, which is good to see, but you will need to play the same game over and over to obtain them all. Oddly enough most of them deal needing to recruit specific people from towns. The main mode you will play through is the empire mode, which allows you to play through preset battles. There is also a free battle mode, which you set up yourself. The game is really shallow though, and because it is mainly a strategy game that is a horrible thing to see. Wrapping up, Captain Gordon gives Samurai Warriors 2: Empires a C. 

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? CaptainGordonEdward@Gmail.com