The bow is longer than Ina is tall, and yet the diminutive bow maiden is as clever with the weapon as she is skilled in the art of leading troops to victory.

She stands in a field, using the long weapon to strike down birds rising and diving through the air above. Another warrior approaches …

“Ina, why do you fight?”

“For peace and for my father,” she replies.

Is the answer good enough? Not quite. The warrior, dressed in shining armor, scowls.

“Those who cannot see beyond the fighting have no right to stand on the battlefield.”

Ina looks at him solemnly. “But that is why I am fighting, to see what lies beyond.”

Samurai Warriors Xtreme Legends is the latest KOEI/Omega Force release (November 9) for the PlayStation 2. Those familiar with the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors franchises will be very familiar with the concepts behind this title.

There are four pre-built characters in the story mode, each with a back-story, and each with a series of goals confronting them. If you are successful in your battles, you will forge a new future for feudal Japan. This game is very much about thumb mashing on the controller as wave-after-wave of enemies will come at you.

In the story mode, the game is rather simple: each scenario has goals you must achieve, even if the goal is to ensure that your home camp is not overrun. The map pops up to show you the forces you have and the forces the enemy has. While each level is laid out like a maze you can easily navigate through (read that as it has walls), you will be challenged to hurry to different points of contention. Never lose sight of your goals throughout this whole affair.

The Xtreme Legends title features some new(er) elements, such as four playable characters, new versus mode stages, new survival mode courses and new difficulty levels. You can adjust the difficulty levels through the options menu. The game also features new items and skills, while redesigning the second player musou attack. (Musou attacks are powered-up attacks that are accessed through a bar that is generated as you fight. Turn that bar pink and you can unlock your musou attack skill for some devastating results.)

Other modes of play include Free mode, and import (which allows you to import data from other Samurai games).

Essentially the game plops you into a scenario and you dash throughout the level, accomplishing your goal and killing as many of the enemy soldiers as possible. Rewards, post level if you are successful, are based on performance.

While the game is three-dimensional, you do not have a rotating camera and cannot zoom in or out to see what is happening. You are locked into one perspective although if you are a bow user, you can go to first-person mode, target and attack. This is based on line of sight. If you can’t see your opponent, because someone jumps in front of you, or they are out of range, you can’t hit them. The bow attacks can be particularly nasty.

Graphically this game looks like most of the other titles that have come out. The animations are very good and the game looks exceptional. There is nothing really new here, but the game is still a treat for the eyes.

The game’s sound is redundant, though the musical score is still good. Unfortunately, when you are embroiled in a scenario for 40 minutes and have heard the same lines of dialogue over and over, it gets annoying. The control system is kept simple and is easy to learn.

Samurai Warriors Xtreme Legends really does not tread new ground for the KOEI titles, but it is still enjoyable and quite challenging. This is a button-mashing, furiously paced combat game that has solid options and some nice new features. Because the game is integrated nicely with the first Samurai Warriors title, those who have that will feel like they have been given a nice expansion (Xtreme Legends is stand-alone, you don’t need the first title to play this). Those who have never played one of these titles will find a game that looks great, plays very well and has plenty of challenge.

Gameplay: 8.3

Once you launch a scenario, the game moves at a quick pace until the conditions for victory are either met or lost. The free play and versus modes are also a lot of fun. With simple controller schemes, this game is very accessible.

Graphics: 8.2
The lack of a rotating camera presents a very one-dimensional view of an otherwise rich three-dimensional world. The character models and animation are well done and the special effects are very nice as well.

Sound: 6.8
Redundant dialogue phrases overshadow a nice musical score. The combat sounds – because this is all about tactical combat and fighting large armies – are good, but the same for each scenario.

Difficulty: Medium
This game has timed events and conditions of victory that must be met in order to win. The AI seems very solid and will attack you at strategic points.

Concept: 8
Some nice new features, but overall this is the same engine and looks the same as previous titles. Nothing wrong with that, but at times it does feel like more of the same.

Multiplayer.7.5

The versus mode is good, but the horizontal split screen with the fixed camera makes it laborious at times.

Overall: 7.9

A good options package, some nice newer features wrapped in the same basic packaging as Dynasty Warriors and the previous Samurai Warriors renders a game that is challenging, has wonderful eye candy and combines button mashing with tactical real-time combat. If you are looking for non-stop medieval combat, this is definitely worth checking out.