Metareview - Samurai Warriors: State of War

March 20th, 2006, 01:12 Posted By: wraggster

Source - PSPFanboy

When first glancing at screenies of Koei's historical hack-and-slash title Samurai Warriors: State of War, it's easy to see the resemblance with their other historical hack-and-slash game, Dynasty Warriors. Although that would probably be due to the fact that it's essentially the same game, only revised for the handheld market. And despite the fact that this franchise has already been done to death, there are a few improvements (aside from, yes we said it before, a portable version) that would warrant this at least a look-see.

Overall reviews for this game put it in the "okay, but not quite there" category, with statements like GameSpot's complaint of the title's bland gameplay and Worth Playing's mentioning of Samurai Warriors' "under-decorated backgrounds". Gamebrink's observation may at least appease long-running fans of the series by saying that the game is an improvement over the disappointing Dynasty Warriors for PSP.

GameSpot (6.5 / 10) - "No doubt, if you enjoyed Samurai Warriors on consoles, you'll take at least something positive away from State of War. It's very much the same formula translated reasonably well onto a handheld platform. The trouble is that the formula itself is no better off in handheld form than it was on consoles, and the action becomes utterly stagnant after a short while."

WorthPlaying (7.9 / 10) - "Samurai Warriors: State of War often reminds you that you're participating in some trumped-drama for the sake of justifying mass slaughter, but it benefits more than it suffers from its familiar setup. With a large cast of warriors and a diverting map system, character-building and charm-casting effectively replace storytelling to encourage continued combat, even if a slow-to-react camera and under-decorated environments make it a less-than-perfect execution of the huge-clashing-armies formula."

Gamebrink (76% / 100%) - "[Samurai Warriors] is KOEI’s honest attempt at mopping up that former mess and their efforts are very visible with this worthy addition to the PSP’s library. For those that felt that the original Dynasty Warriors for PSP felt a bit lacking and would have liked a game that did justice to the beat em’ up fighter that was Dynasty Warriors for the console then Samurai Warriors is here to pave the way."

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