This title for the PS-2 (2001) gave Koei their first platinum record game (over 1 million sold) for a good reason!  This is a very addicting hack-and-slash game worth valuable hours to play!  It even makes a great game to co-op in as well as having value to co-op sorties.  If you haven’t played a hack-and-slash game to this level before, you will instantly fall for it.  This game throws you into humongous battles as small as 500 enemies to 1000 (as far as how many you kill a battle, actual count will be more). These giant battles are crazy slaughter fests in which you seem to have god-like power.  If giant massacres sound like fun to you, then count your murdering ars in!

This game’s plot revolves around the ancient historical times of reforming China with three dynasties fighting for power of China.  The great thing about this game is for any history buffs who know about The Romancing of the Three Kingdoms.  Although the game changes/adds quite a bit to historical non-fiction, you can still relive or witness some publicized events.  You will find known palaces, lands, battles, generals, and events in which you can relive or change!  Some characters however are fictional or are taken from ancient myths, while historical characters are exaggerated in their abilities.

You might think the sound of slaughtering hundreds of men sounds like too easy of a game, but you are also presented with challenging generals with powers rivaling your own.  In fact, even the peons can present a problem for you if the overall morale of their army is too high.  You’ll find plenty of farmers with pitchforks giving their life to stab you in your thigh if your morale gets too low.  If you find them too pesky, knock a general off his high horse and steel his steed! Or if you happen to be in the jungle, you can hijack an war elephant!

Much RPG aspect is found in this game as you can “level up” your characters by accumulating upgrades to strengthen your attack, defense, life, and musou (special attack).  While we look at developing the characters, it should be mentioned that you start out with an impressive 10 characters and a total unlockable total of 41!  Each character is extremely unique in appearance, weapon, and fighting style!  Very impressive! Of these 41 characters, each has up to 4 different weapons to find and choose from including the 4^th weapon (their ultimate weapon).  You may also choose about ¾ of the characters (1/4 are special unlocked chars that do not have a large enough storyline) to play through the Musou mode (story mode) in which the story and battles are specific to that character (based on history or fiction).

You can keep on track with the challenge of the game by increasing the difficulty level.  Unlike some difficulty settings, the level you can change in this game is more intended for the power of your character.  For instance, you may use easy or medium when you start fresh.  But when your character is pretty leveled up, you should switch it to hard to keep the challenge present AND to gain better rewards.

 

If slaying hundreds of men wasn’t fun enough, you can partake in many battle events that boost or decrease the overall morale of the battle.  This includes setting fire to enemy camps, sinking vessels, or catapulting enemy HQ.  You’ll also find yourself doing certain things “right” or in a unique way to unlock characters, items to equip, or unique weapons for your character.  The great thing about the battle is you can make use of it however you feel like playing.  You may stick around and slay every single opponent you see to make the battle enjoyably long, or you can go in and assassinate only the generals to make the battle very short.

 

Best part of this game: it’s a progressive two-player game!  Meaning your buddy and you can set off on an adventure to slay combined thousands of men per battle.  You can get help leveling your character or co-op together in story mode.  There is also a duel mode where you only fight a selected number of generals and your bastage friends.

 

Graphics: 9/10

Absolutely beautiful character designs matching ancient Chinese battle mail and apparel.  Environments are historical to China and battle areas are HUGE.  Most graphics are alright but the amount of clutter on the screen occasionally causes lag.

 

Sound: 8/10

Very impressive sound engine able to handle gigantic battle hack&slack actions.  When you cut into 30 enemies at a time opposed to four…you HEAR it.  You can about freak yourself out on how powerful you are when you dice up a group that size and listen.  Music is a bit interesting offering tracks that sound like metal.  Long battles may get you annoyed toward the music playing however.  Must comment on the English voice actors: EPIC FAIL!  But definitely worth a bundle of laughs!!  After they wear out their humor, you can switch the voices over to Japanese, they just sound much better.

 

Gameplay: 9/10

Definite plus to the game is the level of battle you get to experience and the armies you yourself can destroy.  Also the multi-player role is an extreme bonus.  Now remember, as much fun as taking on the world by yourself is, try to change the difficulty to maintain the challenge or you may get bored of owning everyone you meet.

 

Excuse some of the pixilated pics, some were used from Xbox and the game looks more polygonish but apparently runs better.

-Meth