Dynasty Warriors 6 review

We're now knee deep in the next generation - which is now actually the current and soon to be old generation - but some series are just catching up. We've seen versions of Dynasty Warriors on current systems, sure, but Dynasty Warriors 6 is the first one built specifically for the 360 and PS3. The title might be a bit confusing as there have obviously been more than six Dynasty Warriors games; this has got to be at least the sixteenth release, all told. And since this one plays more or less like all the others, it's easy to wonder what the fuss is all about.

Once again the source material is the sprawling, old-time China epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms (there's even a nifty encyclopedia to explain all the characters and history) and for the something time you'll guide a lone warrior across countless battlefields, slashing at even more countless Chinese soldiers. They still look more or less the same and generally act like they're milling about waiting for the war to start, except for the odd times when a squad runs by like someone's announced that the craft service table has been restocked with ham.

As before, you can unlock extra characters, level up according to boilerplate action RPG convention, find new weapons, cringe at the voice acting and wish every bloody horse in the game didn't traverse the map more slowly than a hobbled My Little Pony.

The combat, however, has undergone a rather inexplicable simplification. Previously, there was a mix of heavy and light combos. Now you're expected to string endless attacks together in order to fill your Renbu gauge; the Renbu system allows characters to perform more and more elaborate sets of attacks so long as they don't take a hit.