Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce

Gameplay

This iteration of the franchise would introduce new features such as Awakenings (known as Shin Musou Kakusei in Japan) which were similar to an upgraded version of Musou Rage from Dynasty Warriors 5 also known as "Fury form". The Awakening drastically affects the appearance of the character and increases their stats. Characters saw more capability for customization, as in addition to the ability to equip weapons and accessories seen in the previous franchise entries, characters could now equip a sub-weapon (with no restriction on weapon type by character) which can be switched to with the circle button, along with orbs and chi to alter stats. Orbs give special bonuses to a weapon, and can increase attack power, range, and more while Chi items give unique abilities such as additional jumps, stronger attacks, Fury form usage reduction, and actual floating. Strikeforce would introduce a more RPG style of leveling where characters would get a small increase in stats as they leveled up to a cap of 50; weapons also received a leveling system.

The handheld version of Dynasty Warriors would also introduce ad hoc online multiplayer to the series. The multiplayer mode allows you to pair up with up to three other players to participate together in raids and even against each other. Before participating in a mission players can rest or undergo preparation in a small hub complete with an academy, workshop, blacksmith, storehouse, and shrine.

Characters

Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce sees the return of all the playable characters from Dynasty Warriors 6. Meng Huo, who had originally been excluded from the sixth installment of the franchise, is also playable in the HD editions only.

* Denotes characters who are playable in the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 HD versions only

Development

Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce was first seen in Weekly Shonen Jump in the issue of the week ending September 13, 2008, and would then be featured in the Famitsu magazine in the issue of the week ending September 20. Famitsu showed the Shin Musou Kakusei appearances of Zhao Yun, Xiahou Dun and Sun Shang Xiang as well as screenshots.

The game was set to be released in March but was delayed by Koei, as well as the other Dynasty Warriors 6 spin-off, Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires.

A demo mode was made available via the Japanese site, that could be downloaded onto the PSP. The demo allowed the player to use all characters from the three kingdoms, however, just a few hours after release, a code was discovered that made all the 'other' type characters also available for use. The code is now no longer available, after a lawsuit threat from Koei. The demo had a level cap of three, and had only three stages, although all weapons were available for use.

A console version demo was released on the Japanese store, which had six characters (Zhao Yun, Xiahou Dun, Dian Wei, Sun Shang Xiang, Ma Chao and Zhou Yu) and 4 stages available to be played. An English demo would later be released on May 21, 2010 on PSN but had less content than the Japanese demo. There are only four characters playable (Zhao Yun, Xiahou Dun, Dian Wei, and Sun Shang Xiang) and there is only one stage available.

Reception

The game was met with average to mixed reception upon release. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 68% and 65 out of 100 for the PSP version; 66% and 64 out of 100 for the PlayStation 3 version; and 57% and 59 out of 100 for the Xbox 360 version.

IGN's Sam Bishop would give the handheld version a 7/10, saying " I'm very impressed with it -- at least in comparison to other Dynasty Warriors games. It's far from perfect, thanks to the muddy visuals, troublesome lock-on and single-player difficulty, but it's definitely a step in the right direction for the developer. The multiplayer functionality, mixed in with the tougher, fast-paced combat gives Strikeforce a serious edge over its predecessors."

GameZone's Dakota Grabowski gave the Xbox 360 version a 6.5/10, saying, "The changes are a blessing to both naysayers and fans alike. If the team can move towards more entertaining elements, then the Dynasty Warriors may end up in the spotlight with critical praise."