Good game reviewers often tend to avoid sentences such as ?fans of the series will love it? when it comes to putting together their closing statements about whether you should shell out your hard-earned money for a game. The reason being simply that it?s an entirely redundant phrase. There are franchises that make it painfully difficult to get away from typing those words though, and Koei Tecmo?s ?Musou? collection of games is probably the one that causes writers the most trouble of all.
On the face of it, Warriors All-Stars looks like it?ll cause those same problems. At first glance, the gameplay is largely the same as we?ve come to know from the series. Hundreds of drone enemies ? all of whom seem reluctant to attack you – fall at the press of the square or triangle buttons, as you plow through the crowds to reach your target, which will put up an actual fight and give you pause for thought. Bases must be taken over by defeating enough foes and then taking out the base commander. Pathways must be cleared by striking down gatekeepers. Allies that aren?t in your party must be protected from harm. Special enemies must be defeated before the clock strikes zero. Essentially, while the scores of combatants won?t cause you much harm, the main challenge is much the same as it has been since the release of Dynasty Warriors 2 some 17 years ago. You need to keep all the metaphorical plates spinning to ensure that you don?t inadvertently lose track of something and trigger one...