It’s been a long time since I played a Dynasty Warriors game.  I thought the game offered a fun and thrilling hack-n-slash experience but I didn’t blink an eye when sequel after sequel was released.  I was just surprised that Koei had developed a game that was so popular since I was used to playing the hardcore Koei strategy games that only a small minority admitted to playing.  But in case you didn’t know it whenever a game becomes successful one of two things happens: either the creator will milk the franchise until it dries up or other companies will release games closely resembling the original hit.

In the case of Dynasty Warriors both scenarios have come true.  Check out your local game store and count how many versions of Dynasty Warriors have been released.   Then check out how many copycat games have been released that are similar to Dynasty Warriors.  With Devil Kings for PS2 we’re treated to another game that follows the same formula perfected in Dynasty Warriors.  Ancient battles set in the orient, gigantic conflicts with hundreds of enemies and powerful leaders that become a one man (or lady) army.  I will mention at this point in the review that if you’ve bought every version of Dynasty Warriors and still can’t get enough then stop reading the review and go buy the game.  Come back later and discuss the game in our message boards.  For the rest of you still with me then let’s move on.

The game starts off with six Generals that you can select from to control during the battles.  All of the generals have their own weapons and an elemental attribute that they can use during combat.  The controls are the same for each general with each character having two standard attacks (a normal attack and special attack) and a Fury attack.  During the battles you are king since you can eliminate hundreds to thousands of enemies by yourself without any assistance.  You have to build up your fury meter before you can execute a fury attack but I was able to hold off on using the fury attack until I got in a tight situation.

Generals have their own individual weapons and attacks, which does create some replay value if you’re dying to find out how each character performs.  Each general also has his or her own statistics such as experience points that you increase after each battle.  The more enemies you destroy and treasure you discover the more experience points you can earn to increase the stats of your general.  All of your weapons and armor can be upgraded with items you’ve acquired during combat.  If you possess an item that is at a higher level than your current weapon or armor then you can select the item to use.  Any lower level items you collect during combat are discarded once you exit out of the item selection screen. 

The combat selection screen does offer a small glimmer of strategy since you can choose which area/general to attack.  The selection screen shows all of the lands you occupy and the lands occupied by the other generals.  The ultimate goal is to control all of the lands on the selection screen.  By defeating the boss that controls a particular area you will usually gain control over his land.  But if a general has conquered several areas already then it could take a few encounters with that general before you win all of his or her land.  Other special encounters will pop up from time to time depending on certain events in the game. 

Besides a few snippets of strategy the rest of the game is just a straight action game.  Your general is one bad son of a gun that can cut down almost an entire army.  The game offers a few choices to you such as which path to take during combat.  Depending on the path you take could determine the type of treasures you discover and the number of enemies you will encounter.   But the game doesn’t fault you for which path you select since you can plow through almost every enemy in the game without a second thought.  Some of the boss battles can be a little challenging since you’re fighting a general at the same time you’re fighting his minions.  The generals will perform special attacks that you will need to pay close attention to since it’s easy to get distracted by his or her attacking soldiers. 

The battles in the game are the biggest draw and a huge weakness of the game.  Pulling off a three hundred hit combo attack is awesome the first few times but after a few battles the action gets repetitive.  This isn’t to imply that Devil Kings isn’t a fun game because it does offer a fun and thrilling experience.  Becoming a one-man army capable of taking out an army composed of  thousands of soldiers does kick booty.  Its just a little bit of variety would have gone a long way to keep the action from becoming repetitive.  If you’re use to this type of action because you’re a Dynasty Warrior fanatic then Devil King will offer another 10 to 20 hours of gameplay and you won’t think twice about it. 

The graphics in the game we’re well done but with a few minor hiccups.  The game was able to present what appeared to be hundreds of enemy soldiers on the screen at one time.  I never noticed any slow down while playing the game even with the screen loaded with characters.  The detail of the buildings and landscape were a little barren since most of the graphics focused on the characters in the game.  Most of the character models would repeat themselves just with some different colors during certain stages.  The different locations throughout the game would have their own unique look to them.  For example one stage had you playing through what appeared to be a desert town while another area was on a snowy mountaintop.  The one big hiccup with the graphics was the draw-in factor.  During certain sections of a level the next set of soldiers and buildings would just pop up out of nowhere. 

The graphics for the cutscenes were very impressive with some of the best CG (computer generated) work I’ve seen on the PS2.  The game even offers some of the cutscenes in the Japanese animation style.  This was an excellent surprise since it offers a different atmosphere to the game when compared to the CG work.  Each character has their own unique story and the story is told via the CG or anime cutscenes.  If you want to watch every cutscene in the game you will need to play through the game with each general.  You will unlock additional generals as you complete the game with the other generals.

If you’ve made it this far in the review then I have to take a guess as to why.  My first guess would be that you’ve never played a Dynasty Warrior game and wanted more information on Devil Kings.  Another guess would be that you think with the title Devil Kings that Capcom has released a new chapter in the Devil May Cry series.  That is definitely not the case with Devil Kings, even though it does mention Devil May Cry on the back of the box (it says From the creators of Resident Evil and Devil May Cry).  Or maybe you’ve played all of the Dynasty Warrior games and wanted as much information as possible on what Devil Kings has to offer.  Well just remember imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but sometimes flattery doesn’t get you anywhere. 
 

Gameplay 7.1 

If you’re looking for a game to let out some aggression by plowing through an army of soldiers with just one person then look no farther than Devil Kings.  You are a one man wrecking crew that can’t be stopped......well close enough anyway.  The ability to learn new attacks and increase the level of your general helps in trying to alleviate the repetitiveness of the action in the game.  But in the end Devil Kings is still just a glorified hack-n-slash game.

Graphics 7.5 

The graphics of generals were well done with each general having their own unique look and animations during combat.  The graphics in the CG cutscenes were top notch and the anime cutscenes were a nice change of pace from the usual.  The buildings were usually void of detail with most of the buildings looking similar to each other.  The different stages did have their own individual look to them but were still lacking tons of detail.  Most of the graphics were focused on displaying a large amount of enemy soldiers on the screen at one time.  This would work during most of the game but there was an occasional problem with draw-in.  The characters and locations would just pop up out of nowhere. 

Sound 6.0 

The sound effects of the weapons slashing through the enemy and some of the background music helped in setting the atmosphere of the game.  But I should mention that some of the voice acting in the game was horrible.  One of the female generals in the game sounded similar to Dolly Parton (the country singer).  The other outspoken generals in the game would spew out some of the most ridiculous lines I’ve heard in a game in a while.  Be prepared to cringe at most of the voice acting in the game.

Difficulty Easy/Medium 

The game offers three difficulty settings: easy, medium and hard.  No one should have any big problems making it through the game on the easy or medium settings. 

Multiplayer N/A 

This is a single player game.  An online option would have been a nice addition or even a two player split screen mode but maybe for Devil Kings 2.

Concept 6.0 

We’ve seen this type of game before and I’ve mentioned this already.  One of my favorite singers was asked one time about lifting ideas from other songs.  He replied that it’s better to try and steal a diamond than a rock.  I’m not sure how much of the sparkle was left on the diamond that was Dynasty Warrior.

Overall 6.7 

As I’ve mentioned earlier Devil Kings isn’t a bad game it’s just a game that doesn’t offer anything new and exciting that we have played before in another game.  If you absolutely love this type of game then Devil Kings will please but not impress.  If you’ve never played this type of game before then by all means give Devil Kings a chance.  Just take it in moderation since the game does get repetitive.

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