Samurai Warriors 2: Empires

by Kilgore
February 27, 2007 00:00 AM PST

Remember those awful action movies where a group of ninjas surround one guy, make a bunch of threatening movements than get beaten without mercy? Samurai Warriors II: Empires is a lot like that.

GamePro Score
User Score
Write your review!

Samurai Warriors II: Empires is basically the same as the original, but for a few tweaks here and there. It's feudal Japan with a seemingly endless list of armies at each other's throats in an attempt to conquer as much as land as possible in order to...well, I'm not sure what they're going after. The point of the war is the war itself; choose a side and an officer and jump into the fray.

Take the Lead

PROTIP: When attacking enemy officers, don't neglect the grunts. They can inflict some serious damage when your attention is on the big guys.

In Empires, you now have the chance to take a larger role in Japan's affairs by acting as the leader of one of Japan's many regions. Before going into battle, you may choose to draft locals into your army, train your troops, develop your land or make alliances with other leaders. You can also keep an eye on your delegates to see who is truly an ally and can be trusted in battle, but the effects of your decisions aren't always obvious, so I wouldn't spend too much time deciding. All of this is done quickly on an interface screen and tends to take a back seat to the action section of the game.

When it's battle time, you usually begin in your own fortress or outside the fortress you are invading. You'll have to watch the map and figure out where to go because your troops tend to stand around until you make a move. When you find the enemy, the action picks up and doesn't back down until the battle is over.

Its fun at first: you're surrounded by legions of enemies who mostly stand around and wait for you to dish out serious punishment. Attacking with regular moves works fine, but each officer is equipped with special moves that will give you an advantage when totally outnumbered. When you charge your Musou meter, you can enter the Musou attack: a short but powerful state that allows you to plow though enemies that usually ends with a field clearing blast.

One Against Millions. Again.

PROTIP: Play the game for a bit then use New Officer mode to choose the attributes you think are most valuable.

Game play can be a little frustrating, especially if the mob that you're attacking gets too thick and you take some abuse for a while before you can counter. The combos are simple, which can be a nice break from some of the more recent fighting and action games but after a time, you'll start wishing for more complex attacks as any new combos you learn tend to be simple additions to the combos you already know.

The battle rages on and you'll eventually come across enemy officers who are supposed to be as powerful as you. They aren't. It's simply a matter of hitting them more times that you hit everyone else. If your fingers aren't totally exhausted, you'll win each level without too much trouble.

If you're just interested in the fighting aspect of this game, enter the Free mode and before you know it, you'll be in the middle of fast paced fight. New Officer mode allows you to create an office from scratch applying mostly cosmetic changes, but you do get to choose weapons, special moves and abilities.

Empires gets old quick. While it is fun to use your superior skills against giant mobs of enemies, game play and skill boil down to your ability to hit the buttons as fast as you possibly can. The graphics aren't much of an improvement on the original (although the landscapes are beautiful). The music is decent enough but the ridiculous dialog that gets spewed out by allies and enemies is annoying enough to warrant turning the volume off. Fans of the original will undoubtedly enjoy this new version but I'd warn anyone else against spending the money.