The most obvious 'next-gen' difference is the graphics engine, which allows so many more characters on screen at once that you'll often be at a total loss to pick out your own warrior, leaving only the option of mashing the attack button while jiggling the camera around looking either for your floating nametag or one belonging to an enemy upon which to fix.

Not that it improves the scenery or level design. Compared to past chapters, this looks more like Half-Life 2. But compared to Half-Life 2, this might have been drawn on an Etch-a-Sketch. Squint a bit and you'll mistake it for Dynasty Warriors [insert number here]. The Xbox360 version, for what it's worth, performs more smoothly than the PS3, with less slowdown and only an occasional chug. The two-player mode is actually playable on the 360, if not particularly pretty.

The best thing to say about Dynasty Warriors 6 is that it's an easy way to kill quite a few hours, but that doesn't make it particularly good. In much the same way, many people will salivate thinking about a can of Pringles, but that doesn't mean the reconstituted potato shingles are food.

Feb 21, 2008