Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires has arrived on the PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) at a time of great change for its European publisher. Perhaps the last game to grace retail shelves bearing the well recognised Koei logo, Tecmo Koei Europe’s new dynamic will reportedly bring a reinvigorated approach to satisfying the European gamer. But with such a long list of titles gracing the Dynasty Warriors back catalogue, they surely couldn’t have been getting it too wrong this far?

            The Dynasty Warriors series has an ardent fanbase, of that there’s no doubt. Beyond that, however, it would be difficult to see the series picking-up too many new fans at this point in its lifetime; and a shame this is, as it’s not necessarily the quality of the titles that let the series down, but the common misconception that each successive title remains inherently similar to its predecessor. Although it retains the same numerical suffix, this misconception couldn’t be more apparent with Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires.

            With this being a Dynasty Warriors home console release, there will of course be a large amount of time spent claiming battlefields and storming through hundreds of on-screen enemies, but to suggest it ends there is a bigger deceit than the lack of an addition to the game’s numerate value. An equally absorbing portion of the game lies within its strategy element.

            A simple balance of income and expenditure that has been built as easy to learn, yet difficult to master, the player is allotted cards which add bonuses both to strategic alliances across a map divided into warring territories, and in-battle ability enhancements or reinforcements. These bonuses can be as basic as increasing your income from the territories under your control (with funds used to improve your officers weaponry and abilities), to recruiting new officers, and each have a cost taken from the player’s points allocation in each strategy phase.

            The combat itself has been renovated somewhat, not least with the amount of active enemies on-screen at enemy onetime. Players can now equip multiple special abilities activated through holding the L Button and pressing the chosen Face Button, commanding abilities ranging from a health recharge to a meteor shower. There is a substantial amount of variety in the character types, and though the aesthetics of the character customisation feature may be limited, selecting both stance and weapon before beginning to improve your character’s abilities can make for some quite different resulting characters later in the game.

            Dynasty Warriors 6 was visually disappointing. Quite simply, it failed to live up to the standard set on the Current-Generation by rival titles, and didn’t earn any favours with a restrictive draw distance. Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires rectifies this by delivering hundred of independent character models on-screen simultaneously, and while many lesser troop types may still be little more than cannon fodder, aggressive enemies lie in the middle of every regiment. The voice acting is surprisingly well presented and though there may be occasional problems with the localisation, few will notice.

            Although Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires remains largely the same game as its Xbox 360 counterpart, one additionally remarkable feature is that of the control system. While undoubtedly translating well to the Xbox 360’s Controller, after just a small amount of time with the game it becomes apparent that it has been designed with the DualShock 3 in mind. The typically fluffy Analogue Sticks feel ever so slightly more responsive, offering a more precise handle on the all important camera.

            Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires deserves more attention than it’s likely to get, simply because of a lack of marketability. With Tecmo Koei Europe promising to cater to Western tastes more intently, the underachieving unit sales of wholly enjoyable titles such as Bladestorm: The Hundred Years’ War may soon become a thing of the past, though Dynasty Warriors may have to settle for it’s wholly appreciative fanbase, and little more. The finest Dynasty Warriors release yet it may well be, but the proof of this comes only with actually playing it.

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