Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce

As one of the most popular video game series of the PS2 era to now, the DW series re-tells the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history with some pretty big ideas. One thing to note about the game series, though, is the willingness to splinter off from the original game series. One example of this is Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce, a sub-game made in the DW franchise that was very much a different take.

Released for the PSP, this hack and slash title looked to find the best bits of the Dynasty Warriors formula and bring them into a new game. While the title itself was seen as rather odd at the time, to this day it holds up as one of the best DW games in the series.

A portable hero builder

The Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce process is simple – you take on the role of a fictional take of a hero from the era. Various factions fight off against one another, and this game sees you take control of a famous warrior from the Three Kingdoms era. Combat is over the top, with many almost-superhuman attacks and elemental assaults possible. Build upon the same thinking as Dynasty Warriors 5, Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce looked to improve upon previous iterations of the series by making it more versatile.

This brought around a lot of options for customizing characters, equipping items, and the ability to equip sub-weapons – a feature that would become the norm in Dynasty Warriors 6 and beyond. It also brought in an RPG-style levelling system that was used to help make characters stronger.

While it lacked the same attention to detail as its competitor, Samurai Warriors, Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce was a faithful take on the format with some intriguing additions to make the gameplay loop less stale and predictable. However, poor performance was common and this could lead to many finding this to be a fun yet flawed title with some concerning performance problems.

A deep roster on an intriguing progression system (7/10)

To keep players coming back, Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce was designed with an RPG style design that made it easier to build up characters. It even included a multiplayer mode, and this allowed for you to play with others online. A large collection of characters from the four major factions – Wu, Shu, Wei, and other – were included, as were a whole host of characters who you likely had not controlled in games before.

That deep and detailed roster paired with the RPG elements offered something totally new for the series, and made Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce a very popular title with fans. Given the stale nature of the series since, some of its better ideas could have been kept to help make the next games in the series feel even more enjoyable.

Pros

• A solid take on the Dynasty Warriors idea, with some new RPG elements.
• The introduction of multiplayer was a hugely positive addition for the series.
• Brought in some key features that would make future DW games a little better.

Cons

• Performance issues were common, with pop-in a common complaint for players.