Samurai Warriors

Sushi replaces dim sum, and Samurai, rather than Chinese swordsmen, spill blood by the gallon. Dynasty Warriors' cast of thousands may be got up in different garb, but the song remains the same in Samurai Warriors. On the surface, the series is simple: If it moves, stab it, and when it stops, find something else to skewer. Each of the game's 15 or so playable fighters specializes in a specific pointy object and wades through rivals with a repertoire of pokes. But it's the behind-the-scenes strategy that puts the art in Samurai's otherwise mindlessly fun war. To thwart a warlord, you'll have to maintain your army's morale, know when to attack and retreat, and work in concert with allied commanders. While the Sun-Tzu slant gives Samurai Warriors an edge over most slashers, so little has changed since the series' inception that its shortcomings--namely, repetitiveness and choppy performance--are starting to show. Interior stages aren't cutting it; set in booby-trapped castles, they take away the trademark tactics, the cavalry charges and clashing armies, and go back to the genre's grindstone with mazes and monotony. A few made-in-Japan heroes--like the ninja Hanzo, who swings a sickle and chain--put a faster spin on the bloodletting, but most of the cast aren't much different from their cousins in China's Three Kingdoms. Of course, diehards won't care--they'll be content maxing the stats of each officer in their entourage, collecting every last weapon and power-up in the warring states.

I've hacked and slashed so many Asian people in these Warriors games that I'm developing a guilty conscience. You know, what with me being Asian and a non-mass-murderer and all. I'm also growing numb to all the killing--which means Samurai Warriors doesn't provide any big-time thrills but still satisfies my occasional need for a mindless action game. In a way, I'm surprised that I like this game. It's really not that different from the hundred Dynasty Warrior games before it. Character development (skill and stat raising, leveling up, etc.) is improved, and the new ninja and samurai styles of fighting are cool. The sense of d6ja vu here, however, will smack you black and blue. Die-hard Warriors will enjoy Samurai, but only halfheartedly, knowing revolutionary new gameplay is still MIA.

Taking out 500 enemies or more in a single battle could've become dreadfully repetitive, but Samurai Warriors stays sharp, thanks mostly to RPG-ish character advancement (including lots of new moves to master). This war won't be over in a weekend, either--five branching campaigns provide plenty of opportunities to earn honor in battle. A somewhat confusing interface and disjointed midbattle cut-scenes make keeping track of allies and major enemies a chore, occasionally shrouding the path to victory, but otherwise, Samurai Warriors slices and dices.