More of the Same from the Warriors Franchise
For those unfamiliar with the original Warriors Orochi, the spin-off combines elements from the entire Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors series, catering to those who simply can’t get enough of the wildly popular Koei franchise.
Warriors Orochi 2 (WO2) features all your favorite characters from the Warriors universe as the worlds of Sanguo era China and Sengoku era Japan are combined by loosely-explained demonic forces. Picking up where the first left off, the story of Warrior’s Orochi 2 is not much different here, as peace in the new land has not lasted, and you must fight to restore it against newly formed armies. Unfortunately, with very few improvements and newly added features, Warrior’s Orochi 2 sticks a little too close to the series’ tried and true formula.
The biggest selling point for fans of the franchise is the amount of characters included in the game, including all from Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends, as well as five brand new characters: Taigong Wang, Yoshitsune Minamoto, Sun Wukong, Himiko, and the coolest, powerhouse Kiyomori Taira. Warriors’ fans will salivate over the whopping total of 90 playable characters. At first, the number is impressive. But even with the five new characters, only 13 are really new to the Warriors Orochi series, having not been included in the first installment. Even with the amount of playable characters, this may not be convincingly innovative for fans who own the original – many characters are extremely similar and don’t really offer a much variety to this very repetitive hack-n-slash. To give more depth to the cast of characters, each can be leveled up with new weapons. Making a return from the first Orochi title, players can combine strengths and elements from obtained weapons to create new tools to help you on your way. With so many characters and weapons available to upgrade, Warrior’s Orochi 2 does possess a lot of re-playability for those who aren’t turned off by the game’s repetitiveness.
Four brand new stages are also introduced to the Warriors franchise, which is another reason fans may want to check this out. You’ll start off playing in Hinokawa and later unlock the Japanese island of Itsukushima, the Chinese Wuhang Mountains, and the ancient Japanese country of Yamatai. All other stages are carried over from Dynasty Warriors 5 and 2, with absolutely nothing new about any of them. They haven’t been given any new features, and graphically, they all look exactly the same as we’ve seen them in the past. It would have also been nice to see more variety of levels plucked from various Warriors games. With recycled levels and unimproved graphics, playing WO2 often feels like a dated experience that is visually unimpressive. While playing, it constantly feels as though Koei is milking their franchise for all its worth while not really offering fans anything new.
Even with the amount of characters and weapon possibilities that make WO2 interesting, playing the game often becomes boring, sometimes frustrating, and downright visually atrocious. The most noticeable eyesore is the amount of slowdown and framerate issues that continually occur. The extent of shuttering usually depends on the amount of characters and activity onscreen at once. It’s a shame that framerate issues exist at all, making even the newly-added battlefields such as the cool-looking Itsukushima a less enjoyable experience. There seems to be more enemy attackers than usual in this title, which is another reason why developers should have prepared to ensure there wouldn’t be framerate issues with so much going on at once.
Graphically, Warriors Orochi 2 is simply out-of-date. Don’t expect any changes or upgrades from the past version, as Koei and developer Omega Force haven’t done anything to improve the visual experience of this game. What they have done is simply recycle everything in an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the Warriors franchise, with character designs and environments as flat-looking and jagged as ever.
Hair on many characters lacks texture, and many stages look dull, lacking any realism whatsoever. In the year since the past Warriors Orochi, developers obviously haven’t done any work on past stages to upgrade them visually. It is the uncanny similarity to past installments, including everything from the overall structure to presentation, which offers little reason to purchase this title. It doesn’t take long after you begin playing to realize how unchanged everything is from rehashed animations to recycled, dull voice clips that are far too familiar.
The biggest addition to the series is Dream Mode, which allows you to choose three different characters from around the Warriors universe to work together in a series of challenges, with 28 different stages in total. As teams are pitted against each other with various objectives, it’s a nice crossover element that includes characters from Dynasty and Samurai, offering something new to the franchise. Survival Mode places the player into a series of tag team battles that get more difficult as you move on. Versus Mode allows two players to battle against each other with four different challenges, carried over from Dynasty Warriors 4. While two-player action is definitely a fun and welcome addition, the franchise continues to lack any online multiplayer. It is head-scratching why a series that has been so successful still hasn’t offered any online functions besides an online leaderboard in Survival Mode.
With all the music compiled from some of the best tracks on various Warriors games, the mix of content from past installments on one disc is definitely the most appealing factor of Orochi 2. Unfortunately, the focus of packing in a cast of characters and a few new stages takes a back seat to visual upgrades and gameplay improvements to distinguish this title from any other Warriors installment in recent years.
Simply, the inclusion of several new characters and a few new levels may not be enough of a reason for Warriors fans to check this one out. WO2 just does not offer enough new features to warrant anyone other than the most serious fans of the series to make a purchase. It is apparent that Koei is less concerned with releasing innovative and groundbreaking product and is more concerned with releasing a Warriors title they know will sell to its loyal fan base.
RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 2.3 Graphics
Dull, unimpressive graphics have been given no improvements since past Warriors installments. 2.2 Control
Typical button-mash mechanics offer absolutely nothing new in this crossover. 2.4 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
A nice mix of music from various past games, though there is absolutely nothing new about voiceover work or sound effects. 2.9 Play Value
Offering little new to longtime fans of the series, the only appeal this game has is its new characters, stages, and the ability to interact characters from each series. 2.3 Overall Rating – Average
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.
Game Features: