Warriors Orochi (PSP)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.0 stars Mediocre
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 4.0 (2.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Lark Anderson
• Reviewed on: 04/04/2008
• Released on: 03/25/2008
• Originally published on GameSpot: Warriors Orochi (PSP) Review

If the Dynasty Warriors franchise is to be commended for anything, it should be for its utter unwillingness to evolve--it has absolutely perfected the art of remaining static in a landscape of constant flux. Warriors Orochi continues this long and dubious practice by melding the worlds of Dynasty Warriors with its Japanese offshoot Samurai Warriors, and the result is a game that the faithful it caters to time and time again will surely enjoy immensely. If, on the other hand, you do not enjoy brainless button mashing, laughably one-dimensional gameplay, and a severely aged combat system, you're better off running for the hills.

In case you've somehow managed to avoid the Warriors games, the Dynasty series takes historical characters from China's Warring States period, dresses them up colorfully, gives them comically oversized weapons, and makes them kinda-sorta-not-really re-create famous battles. Samurai Warriors has the same premise, only it takes place in Japan's Sengoku period instead. In Warriors Orochi, the evil, time- and space-warping serpent-sorcerer Orochi takes the heroes and locales from both series and brings them together, making the classic blunder of getting involved in a land war in Asia. Why? He's bored and wants to "test himself" in battle against these legendary warriors, because, presumably, playing with their action figures wasn't satisfying enough.

Thus begins the biggest, most unapologetic fan service crossover since Kingdom Hearts. There are four story campaigns to play through, each of which starts you off with a different group of characters that have a different ultimate goal, but unless you're well versed in the interpersonal relationships between the various characters as previously established (or to a much lesser extent, the actual history behind them), these stories will likely be incomprehensible to you. But that's OK, because they're all simply excuses to justify sending you wading hip-deep through hundreds upon hundreds of useless, nameless goons anyway.

At its heart, this is what Warriors Orochi is all about: the wanton destruction of thousands of hopelessly outgunned and outclassed lives. You're so much more powerful and well defended than the average soldier with a shelf life of zero that combat is an experience akin to shooting deer in a barrel. From beginning to end, battles are nothing more than thumb-tiring button mashers with little to no variation. Your running kill count at the end of a mission will usually float around the 500 mark, and though initially this is a fun power trip, once you realize how shallow and repetitive it is, the affair will quickly sour.

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