Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII (PlayStation 2)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.2 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Brad Shoemaker
• Reviewed on: 08/29/2003
• Released on: 08/13/2003
• Originally published on GameSpot: Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII (PlayStation 2) Review

It's been just about a year since the last Romance of the Three Kingdoms game came out, so it must be time for another one. Indeed, the eighth incarnation of Koei's long-lived strategy series is upon us, and as you probably expected, it brings back the tried-and-true formula used by previous versions for yet another go. Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII attempts to make the strategizing a little more personal by incorporating more dramatic cutscenes and a new character relationship system that tracks who hates whom or which officer has married which maiden. The game makes a few other mechanical additions, but this is fundamentally the same strategy game you've been playing for years. Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII won't win any new converts to the strategy genre, but it's a good game that ought to please devotees of the series.

Koei releases so many games based on the "three kingdoms" period of ancient Chinese history that describing this scenario in reviews has become a matter of rote recitation. You may be aware of the novel titled Romance of the Three Kingdoms (yes, just like the game), which chronicles the turmoil that occurred in third-century China after the fall of the Han dynasty. For decades, the three powerful kingdoms of the book's title--Wu, Wei, and Shu--vied politically and militarily for dominance, and it's this hostile climate in which Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII (like all previous games before it) is set. You can play as a member of any of the three kingdoms and start your game during any year and in the midst of any scenario from the period. No matter the circumstances, ultimate victory consists of the unification of China. There are a huge number of scenarios, many of them historical, and they determine which territories are owned by whom, who is alive and who's dead, and a variety of other circumstances. This provides a whole lot of replay value; if you're inclined to play the game dozens of times, you'll never do it the same way twice.

As in previous games, you begin Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII by selecting an officer. Actually, now you can select several--in the past, you played as only one character throughout a campaign, but this game lets you pick up to eight to play simultaneously. The game features a stupidly huge roster of more than 700 officers that can be categorized by rank, political affiliation, city, or a variety of other criteria. Many of these officers are actual historical figures, and of course you can always create your own character if none of the provided ones are exactly to your liking. As before, the officer you choose will occupy a variety of ranks, and his rank at the outset will determine his sphere of influence and the kinds of actions he can take. In addition to the five ranks (ronin, general, prefect, warlord, and ruler) seen in previous games, there are three new ones: governor, which is a rank between warlord and prefect; chief, a ruler who has an army but no city; and comrade, who serves under a chief. These new classes bring some more variety to the gameplay, which strategy aficionados will appreciate, but they don't drastically alter the play experience.

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