Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires PlayStation 2

KOEI’s actionoriented spinoff of its historical strategy game series, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, continues on PlayStation 2 with Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires. Players are once again charged with the task of building an empire by conquering 25 areas of ancient China through handson combat against armies under the command of legendary generals. Yet before players cut a swath through the opposing forces, they must first engage in a turnbased strategy phase. Here players decide which of the game’s 75 policies to implement in the areas of diplomacy, product development, government, military, and more.

Each policy influences subsequent battles in specific ways, such as being able to fight with reinforcements or to cause an enemy officer to defect. On the battlefield, the action takes place from a thirdperson perspective as players initiate a variety of melee, projectile, and magicbased attacks, to defeat as many individual units as possible in order to conquer the contested region. New to this installment is the ability to issue direct orders or general commands to officers, offering a greater level of strategic control during combat. Players can also team up with a friend for some cooperative action, as well as learn more about the reallife battles depicted in the game with the encyclopedia option. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide