Dynasty Warriors 6

Yawn. First off, 90% of the enemies you'll face can be swept aside with one or two hits, which means endless stretches of mashing the light attack button and watching your animations change slightly. Doing so will also build your Musuo gauge, which (as ever) powers special attacks. Enemy officers will take a few more hits, and some bosses are genuinely tough, but the old thrill of rushing in to attack with a few combos then retreating to build Musuo before unleashing a special attack is now much less thrilling.

Even so, it's easy for to become obsessed with Dynasty Warriors, which, when viewed from the map screen, is a lot like an expanded and violent Chinese Pac-Man. For every battle, there are loads of little red dots on the radar and you've got to sweep through the map eating (actually killing, but work with us) them all. There's a slight nod to tactics, as you'll have to choose targets wisely lest you wind up on the wrong side of the map while your other generals are decimated elsewhere.

It's the sort of addiction common to MMOs, only without anyone to chat with or pester for invites to private gaming message boards. It's a grind, pure and simple.

DW6 adds a few new touches; you can now climb ladders and (gasp!) swim, which finally allows the series to ride the cutting edge of 1997. In the next game, perhaps someone will invent the wheel. If you expect either of those changes to alter gameplay at all, consider new medication.