Warriors Orochi 3 Review

Warriors Orochi 3, known as Musuo Orochi 2 in Japan, is now available digitally on the PSN Store with a physical copy hitting Xbox 360 next week. Like the previous entries in this crossover series, characters from Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors (plus a few special guests from other games) occupy the same battlefield as they fight the Serpent King Orochi. Warriors Orochi 2 received some fairly negative reviews when it was released four year ago on Xbox 360, Playstation 2 – yes, you read that right – and PSP. Can Omega Force’s latest installment outdo its predecessor and provide an experience entertaining enough to warrant a purchase when there are already plenty of Warriors titles on the market?

HOT

Solid Story for a Warriors Game

While many players will jump into this game simply for the slaughter of thousands of enemies, those who take the time to listen to the narrative may find actually find it interesting. Story Mode takes place many years after the events of Warriors Orochi 2. The campaign kicks off with you and your allies fighting a losing battle against an eight-headed Hydra. After the constant onslaught brought on by the opposing forces, your allies begin to fall left and right, leaving only the three playable characters among the few still standing. Fortunately for the trio, Kaguya appears and helps the three remaining generals escape. Upon leaving the death-filled battle, it is revealed that, in order to defeat the demonic serpent, the characters must travel back in time to save their friends that fallen. By doing this, they are creating a stronger force for the future fight against the Hydra. Completing the branching battles and taking advantage of the character bonds leads to one of three endings: Normal, Good and True. This is still a Warriors and, as such, the story isn’t extremely compelling, but it is enough to encourage most to continue to the end and obtain the True ending.

Addicting Gameplay

Like the other Warriors, Warriors Orochi 3 contains very addictive gameplay. Hacking and slashing your way through enemies using one of the 120+ available characters is as fun as ever, especially with the new guests. Warriors Orochi 3 crosses the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors characters rosters just like its previous installments, but now there are special characters taken from other Tecmo games. Ryu Hayabusa (Ninja Gaiden), Ayane (Dead or Alive) and Achilles (Warriors: Legends of Troy) are familiar faces joining the fight this time around, just to name a few.

The updated gameplay is very derivative of Dynasty Warriors 7. If you played that title, then you have a pretty good idea of what to expect. A major change can be seen in how each mission is selected. Instead of faction stories, battles appear in a branching pattern and follow a single narrative over four chapters. Before each mission, the player will start out in an area filled with people to interact with (much like DW7’s towns). Here, you can chat with other characters, purchase or fuse weapons, proceed to the portal for the next level and a few other similar options. Building a bond with the other fighters isn’t as important as the marketing for the game suggests. It is only necessary for the True ending, but many may just run through the game normally and ignore this. If you decide to strengthen your bonds with others, you can either hold a banquet in town or take on specific missions available in the pre-battle screen.