Dynasty Warriors. Not a season seems to pass by where we are not 'graced' with the next iteration in Koei's flagship series. It comes in all shapes and sizes. Not extreme enough for you? The Xtreme Legends spinoffs have you covered. Don't like Feudal China? Well why not explore Japan's feudal history in Samurai Warriors! Wish you could be playing in the Gundam universe? Well Koei's got you covered there as well! PS2? Covered! 360? Covered! PSP? Covered! GBA? Covered! It seems nothing can stop the Koei cash cow. Now it is time for the DS to be graced by the most well known series of hack and slash on the battlefield.

Things have changed from the traditional formula this time around. You go head to head against a rival warrior to see who will conquer and who will face defeat. Each section of the battlefield is now divided into separate areas. To progress to the next area, you must meet a kill quota of enemy soldiers within your current area. In base type areas, meeting the area's quota will then allow you to proceed into a fight with the general occupying the base. Once defeated, the base is conquered and you are rewarded increased attributes such as speed and health. All minor bases scattered across the map must be defeated for you to enter the main base and defeat the guarding officer, your main objective in every battle.

Another unique mechanic is the new "Obstacle Attack" system. An obstacle attack is performed by collecting 5 coins from fallen opponents. Once 5 coins are collected the wheel will spin, randomly providing you with an attack that will affect your opponents, some exclusively affecting your main rival. Starting out with only a limited number of attacks, you gain new attacks as you progress through the game. You acquire cards throughout the campaign, which represent your on field officers that guard your bases around the map. Each officer has their own set of attacks which are added to the wheel. Some you will want to occur more frequently and others less frequently, so you will adjust your deck respectively. It is an interesting mechanic that helps keep the gameplay fresh, while the typical hack and slash is still the dominant way to victory.

The game feels very much like a one-on-one affair this time around. There are plenty of other soldiers on the battlefield, but none of them are yours, even in your own bases. They seem to be attacking your enemy but it doesn't feel that way without the visual recognition that they are there at your side. This makes you no longer feel as just one soldier in a huge battle but labels you a super human as you take on hundreds of petty soldiers that stand in your way, not that it's a challenge. Enemies are as stupid as ever, run of the mill soldiers who only hold power in numbers. You can push them round like pawns on a chess board, until they reach the count of three and are ready to finally attack you. The only real differences with larger enemies are more powerful attacks and the ability to block.

Fights in turn become more of a race against your main opponent. You each have the same number of bases to conquer and it is the same distance between the two main bases, where you both start. If you both enter the same space on the map you will face off one-on-one in a small arena. This is more of a minor interference than a game ender. The loser is simply returned to a recovery point dotted around the map, meaning they will need to work their way back to where they were heading, losing time in the process

Going head to head against the AI is all well and good, but this mechanic seems designed to be played between two human players. With Obstacle Attacks such as "Spread Dark", which blankets the opponents screen in darkness, or "Confuse Enemy", which inverts and reverts your opponent's controls, the game truly feels built around multiplayer combat. In a single player experience you don't truly gain the reaction by using any of these abilities on a computer opponent; unless you are in a one-on-one battle you won't even witness their effect.

Even with two players, there are still some major design flaws present, both on-going for the franchise and also newly introduced in this iteration. At its heart, Dynasty Warriors is still a simple hack and slash. Carving your way through wave after wave of enemy soldiers becomes tiresome with their complete lack of skill and unchanging design. The inclusion of set quotas to proceed truly makes this all the more tedious. You will find yourself inputting the same button combination time and time again just so you can gain coins, gain life, gain Mushou (the game's staple special meter) or proceed through to the next stage. It's not a good sign when that's the core mechanic of the game.

Mounted combat makes a return, but only for officers. Not only does mounted combat provide your enemy with that much desired edge in speed and power, but upon knocking them off their mount, you can not claim the horse for yourself. Nope. The enemy falls to the ground, stands up and spawns right back on the horse to start kicking your butt again. So what do you do? Why stand behind the horse and keep attacking away of course!

Porting over to the DS, this game has serious camera issues. Dynasty Warriors DS is a pseudo 3D title, utilising a 3D world with extremely basic sprite-based character models. You view the world from a slightly elevated, fixed overhead camera. You start each and every battle from the bottom and work your way to the enemy base, at the very top of the map. Unable to change your perspective or even rotate the camera, when you need to walk to the bottom of the screen (and believe me you will) you are practically walking blind, unable to see what enemies or items may lie before you. It makes it even more complicated trying to find your way around the battlefield areas. Even finding the building housing an officer in the dead centre of the area can be a challenge. You will learn the stages over time, particularly as they tend to repeat themselves, but this a seriously flawed mechanic when the main objective is essentially a race.



Through all the negative aspects of the game, there is something strangely addictive about the 'race' combat mechanic. With a bit more variety added to the game and a few improvements, this would make for some fantastic multiplayer gameplay. This is a very flawed but as it stands, the game is fun but nothing groundbreaking in a series of non-groundbreaking games. Whether it's worth your money is up to you - if you've bought all 20 odd instalments in the franchise, why stop now. It is at least something different for the series.