Samurai Warriors 2: Empires Review

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Samurai Warriors 2: Empires Review; Score: 8/10
Topic Started: Aug 19 2007, 09:57 AM (722 Views)
Fayt	Aug 19 2007, 09:57 AM Post #1
Sakon, has left the topic. Posts: 3,638 Group: Members Member #9,265 Joined: August 19, 2007 Gender Male	Samurai Warriors 2: Empires Genre: Third Person Action/Fighting/Strategy Available on: PS2 & Xbox 360 US Release Date: 27 February 2007 Description: For those that are not fully aware of Samurai Warriors, it’s typically a hack n’ slash action fighting game, based on the “Warring States” historical story from the late 1500s to the early 1600s in Japan. SW2 Empires is the first Empires game to date for the Samurai series; and the third ever Empires game created as of course Dynasty Warriors has 2 already. Samurai Warriors 2 Empires feeds heavily from the new and wonderful base provided by Samurai Warriors 2, using the same fighters and basic battle mechanics thrown into a new and exciting tactical spin-off to the game. Next it has noticeably adopted many of the ideas that many DW5 Empires successful, the way the pre-battle options etc are set out is no doubt very similar. The general idea of Empires is to take full control over Japan with a preset army based on the historically timeline, or completely fantasize one and create a hand picked army to try dominate Japan. Story Review: Being a tactical spin-off of SW5 there is very little story to witness in the game. With that said, the game does offer a number of regional and Japan wide scenarios based on that historical timeline, with officers allocated quite accurately to which they served at that point in history. Those that are keen on the history of the Sengoku Era will be very likely to be very grateful of this element. Or you can simply slap history in the face and make a hand picked army to try take over Japan, and have all the very best officers on your side! Also during your campaigns will at times generate small scenes after battles and in planning stages of your characters interacting; such as Saika Magoichi thinking Mori Ranmaru is a female as he tries to sweet talk him... The addition of comedic moments during the game, sometimes with true historic base, at times not; but all in all it adds a nice polished feel to the story. 8/10 Battle System: Clearly the base of the Battle System is alike to Samurai Warriors 2. Although added to the traditional hack n’ slash style is far more strategy and control over your allied officers. You can command your allies to only defend certain bases, attack nominated units, or simply leave them to do as they please. With the right strategy and placement of your allied officers you can have more control over battle, and no longer have the idiot leaders that will wonder alone into enemy territory and inevitably get themselves defeated without you even noticing it. Samurai Warriors 2: Empires features all returning 25 officers from its original title, including playable versions of both Shibata Katsuie & Sasaki Kojiro! That coupled with hundreds of generic officers means you will have countless officers which can potentially join your army along the way. You however have no bodyguards to your aide as you did in SW2, although if you have your units attack the same units/bases as you do you can effectively create the additional support you need. By using the same elements of SW2 with the tactical addition allows even greater control over your hack n’ slash strategies. 8.5/10 Planning/Pre-Battle: This is where the strength of SW2 Empires is witnessed, many of the DW5 Empires elements have being applied, plus more. You can train more troops, try recruit officers; whether they are attached to an existing army of not – you can try poaching officers in opposing fiefs! On top of this you can further develop your weapons; create new items, build/cease allegiances and an abundance of other pre-battle bonuses which can be applied to your future battles. In SW2 empires you have even more control; and at times lack of it. You can develop the harvest of each ‘Fief’ (piece of land basically), and doing so will increase the income you receive without the need to take more territory. There are now also various contests where you can put two (or more) officers against each other to develop in various areas; for the winner only of course. There is now also a new ‘friendship’ gauge, which helps establish which officers may wish to join you; and unfortunately also means who are likely to leave your or not; yes I have had officers desert me for other armies as their relationship with my army was poor – keep an eye on this for officers you choose to deploy and develop to avoid the risk of losing them! The other thing I really appreciate about the pre/post battle menus in Samurai Warriors 2 Empires is they are now far more user friendly, better descriptions and notes for all skills is now present. When you get a new skill via consult it provides a note that it is not readily available in your Decree menu, and post battle you see the level ups for all your officers, even allied ones if you did a Joint Attack mission. The formations make much more sense now as well, in DW5 Empires they enemy initiates various things that you cannot do, (which really annoyed me); now there is a new formation menu which can be activated by ‘points’ which you accrue during each individual battle. For a limited time you can boost your speed, defence, attack etc of your whole army. And if the enemy army too deploys one you may equal or even lose the advantage you previously had; be mindful of what formation your enemy is using to help ensure your success! So in the end it’s much like Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires, but with more options and far better in help menus and notifications along the way; something I truly appreciate; I’d say the best just got better. 9/10 Difficulty: The difficulty can depend heavily one how you plan your actions in battle, what tactics you wish to use, and also whether you wish to use lower level officers. One thing that I really enjoyed about the game is you can effectively make it as hard as you wish, if you want just to finish it or really challenge yourself just a few pre-battle adjustments can make all the difference. Difficulty control is a big win, yet another part of the game I love. 9/10 Replay Value: All Warriors fans, even new fans will usually enjoy how you can pick up and play and kick some butt with ease. Although the “Pick up and play” is not as big of a factor in SW2 Empires like the main titles. If you prefer the strategy addition to your battles you will easily find yourself playing it again and again, if not you’ll probably only play it once or twice and think it was ok, but nothing more. 7.5/10 Final Thoughts: If you love the hack n’ slash style Samurai Warriors, but are interested in adding a little more strategy into the mix then it’s a must buy. Although I will admit those new to the series would be better off with SW2 first, to gain a greater understanding of what Samurai Warriors and it’s characters are about first, otherwise your less likely to appreciate what it has to offer. Compared to DW5 empires I believe it’s far superior in the menus, ability to perform tasks before, during & after missions. The most notable omission in comparison however is the fewer number of unique officers available, even with the semi-unique versions of Katsuie & Kojiro in it. Rating: 8/10 -------- Comments are welcome, of course this is based on my personal views and experiences of the game; they may of course differ to your own.
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par4ranger	Nov 13 2007, 10:10 PM Post #2
Elite Soldier Posts: 37 Group: Members Member #10,164 Joined: October 6, 2007	I couldnt agree more.



crazyboyz	Apr 30 2009, 11:11 AM Post #3
Elite Soldier Posts: 34 Group: Members Member #11,253 Joined: November 19, 2007	I couldnt agree more.



Zed_Omega	Jun 16 2009, 03:38 AM Post #4
Sergeant Posts: 18 Group: Members Member #22,435 Joined: June 16, 2009 Gender Male	The integration of the Shop from SW2 was a nice touch, also. As long as you controlled a fief with a Shop in it, you could hire ronin to fill out your ranks a lot faster than using the Search and Hire policies. (DW5E had a Recruit policy, and if SW2E has a similar policy, I haven't unlocked it yet.) Granted, you get a lot more of the also-ran generic officers than you do the canon and CAW officers, but that's a minor drawback.



Sen-q	Jun 16 2009, 09:36 AM Post #5
Nothing is immortal... Posts: 129 Group: Members Member #22,222 Joined: May 31, 2009 Gender Male	sounds very interesting. I always wanted to add some strategy to the hack n slash of SW2. I MUST buy this game



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