- Dynasty Warriors 6
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DW6 redirects here. For the sixth game in the Dragon Quest series, see Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie.
Dynasty Warriors 6 
The North American box art for Dynasty Warriors 6, featuring Zhao Yun.Developer(s) Omega Force Publisher(s) Koei Designer(s) Tomohiko Sho (director) Series - JP Shin Sangokumusō
- NA Dynasty Warriors
Platform(s) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable Release date(s) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Microsoft Windows
- JP July 11, 2008
- NA November 24, 2008
- EU October, 2008
PlayStation 2
PlayStation Portable
Genre(s) Hack and slash, Action[7] Mode(s) Single-player, Multiplayer Rating(s) Dynasty Warriors 6 (真・三國無双５ Shin Sangoku Musōu 5) is a hack and slash video game set in Ancient China, during a period called Three Kingdoms (around 200AD). This game is the sixth official installment in the Dynasty Warriors series, developed by Omega Force and published by Koei. The game was released on November 11, 2007 in Japan; the North American release was February 19, 2008 while the Europe release date was March 7, 2008. A version of the game was bundled with the 40GB PlayStation 3 in Japan.[8] Dynasty Warriors 6 was also released for Windows in July 2008.[9] Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires has been announced for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was unveiled at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show.[10]
Contents
Gameplay
This installment varies greatly from past games in the series. One of the game's key additions is the Renbu[11] system, a new way for characters to build up their attack combos. In previous installments in the series, combos were affected by the quality of weapon the character was wielding, with more powerful weapons allowing characters longer, more elaborate and often more powerful consecutive attacks. The Renbu system replaces this system with a gauge that gradually fills as you perform attacks. Performing attacks and dealing damage to the enemy fills the Renbu gauge, eventually earning a new rank/level, while taking damage and not attacking for a time drops the gauge; if you take a lot of damage or go for a long time without inflicting damage then the gauge may even drop back down to the previous level. However even at Renbu Rank 1 characters will be able to perform non-ending combos on the enemy. Without unlocking Renbu Ranks 3 and Infinite from the skill tree though, players can only progress to Renbu Rank 2. (With the exception of the temporary Rank Infinity acquired temporarily by collecting a certain item on the battlefield.)
Another major addition is the skill tree, from which characters can earn higher Renbu Ranks, special abilities and improve their attributes. As the progression of the skill tree moves from left to right, those on the right side of the tree are harder to unlock than those on the left. Typically the one which unlocks Infinite Renbu is on the farthest right. In Dynasty Warriors 6 horses must now be unlocked by collecting saddles from boxes or beaten officers. These horses can gain levels, skills, and some can even change into the legendary Red Hare, although this is very rare.
Dueling from Dynasty Warriors 4 returns, but has been revamped; duels now take place on the battlefield and the nearby soldiers will circle around the two fighters, and other officers may jump into the circle, as opposed to the duel taking place in an arena that appears out of nowhere.
Bases have been altered too; they are bigger and where, before, in order to open the outer gate to a base, the player had to defeat a defense captain, now they must simply break it down with attacks. There is also a new corporal unit which guards bases. Defeating troops and corporals within the base reduces the base's defense. When the defense of the base drops to zero, the player has claimed the base. However, defeating the corporal is worth defeating 20 troops while defeating the guard captain is worth 50 troops.
Two new 'innovations' to the series are the abilities to swim and climb ladders. The ladder means that the player can now climb onto castle battlements in scenarios such as the Battle of Hu Lao Gate, and dispose of enemy ballistas and the new 'guard' unit. The first ties in with the improvements to enemy AI, allowing them to travel across rivers and other bodies of water in order to attack you or allied bases. Swimming is now a part of scenarios such as the Battle of Fan Castle.
Characters
Main article: List of Dynasty Warriors characters* Denotes characters added through expansion titles
Note: Jiang Wei, Xing Cai, Pang De, Da Qiao, Zhu Rong and Zuo Ci were removed in DW6. They are not mentioned at all, through-out the entire game, with the exception of Xing Cai, who is mentioned in Lu Bu's last cut scene (as "the daughter of Zhang Fei"), Da Qiao who is mentioned in Xiao Qiao's biography in the encyclopedia, Pang De who is mentioned in the generic officers: Dong Heng's and Dong Chao's biographies in the encyclopedia as being the end of both officers lives, and Jiang Wei who is mentioned in the "Collapse of Shu" in the encyclopedia.
Note: Only 17 of the playable characters have a Musou Mode (Story Mode) in DW6, with the others being playable only in Free Mode & Challenge Mode. The 17 characters with Musou Modes are Guan Yu, Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Zhuge Liang, Cao Cao, Dian Wei, Sima Yi, Xiahou Dun, Zhang Liao, Gan Ning, Lu Xun, Sun Jian, Sun Shang Xiang, Zhou Yu, Diao Chan and Lu Bu. In DW6: Special, Ma Chao, Yue Ying, Cao Pi, Zhang He, Ling Tong and Taishi Ci were additionally given Musou Modes.
Expansions
Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires
Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires 
Developer(s) Omega Force Publisher(s) Koei Designer(s) Tomohiko Sho (director) Series - JP Shin Sangokumusō
- NA Dynasty Warriors
Platform(s) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable Release date(s) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
PlayStation Portable
Genre(s) Hack and slash, Action[7] Mode(s) Single Player Multiplayer Rating(s) Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires was released May 11, 2009 in Japan, June 23, 2009 for North America and June 26 in Europe for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[13]
Features
Edit Mode: Edit Mode is to be featured once again with the highest total of characters so far in all of the Empires games. There is a grand total of 100 characters you may create from in edit mode. More characters will most likely be added as DLC (Downloadable Content) upon release.
Background Music: Over 150 tracks are available to play with more available as DLC.
DLC: Background music and character costumes will be available for download as DLC. the character models of the deleted characters was recently announced for the PSP version of Empires, and will be available by DLC for the PS3 and Xbox360.
Free Mode has been cut from this game, instead opting for a more full and rounded Empire Mode, with the option of being a Vagrant(unaligned wanderer), Officer or Ruler of one of the kingdoms. You can step down from your force at any time, and can make oaths of friendships with fellow officers and even marry.
Dynasty Warriors 6 (PS2)
Dynasty Warriors 6 (Shin Sangoku Musou 5 Special in Japan) was released on October 2, 2008 on the PlayStation 2 in Japan and November 17, 2008 in the US. Musou modes for Ma Chao, Yue Ying, Cao Pi, Zhang He, Taishi Ci, and Ling Tong were added, and the 6 characters have received new weapons and movesets. Weapons changes are as follows:
There are 5 new stages included in Dynasty Warriors 6 (PS2). The 5 new stages are Jiang Dong, He Bei, Tong Gate, Ru Xu Kou, and Jie Ting. The abilities to swim and duel were removed in the PS2 version. There is not yet any information on whether or not the game will be released in Europe. This version of the game was again released on the PSP on October 22, 2009 in Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong, now including Meng Huo from Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires as a playable character.
A PSP Port has been announced on October 29, 2009. The PSP version was released on December 23, 2009.
Reception
The game received overall mixed reviews, with a 59% on Metacritic.com.[14]
Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot said that "The combat is still dreadfully repetitive," "The visuals are still ugly," and "The sound effects and voice acting are still awful." VanOrd went on to say of the game "Environments are bland and lifeless; water looks awful; and character models, while clearly upgraded from Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires, still look primitive by today's standards." He scored the game a 5.5/10.
GameSpot went on to nominate Dynasty Warriors 6 for 'least improved sequel' in their 2008 award show.[15]
Ryan Clements of IGN was slightly less critical, scoring the game a 6/10. Clements said "Dynasty Warriors 6 is not a good looking game, and it performs even worse on the PS3 than on the 360 (even when you opt to install the game data)." He did note that "Dynasty Warriors 6 does have a number of cool things to note. The amount of leveling up you can do is fairly impressive and each character's campaign takes at least a few hours to work through, providing you with quite a lot of content (despite the repetition)."
Amanda L. Kondolojy of CheatCodeCentral gave the game one of its better reviews, scoring it at 3.4/5. Kondolojy enjoyed the game, saying that "One aspect of Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires that was surprisingly fun to tinker with was the character creator. Although DW5 Empires had a warlord creator, DW6 Empires gives you more creative control over your newly-made character. In addition to having a wide variety of costumes and customizable features, you can also integrate your character into the main Empire mode as a vagrant, and can work your way up to become leader of the land."
References
- ^ a b "KOEI official site". http://www.gamecity.ne.jp/shop/smusou/5/buy1.htm.
- ^ a b Article Detail - PlayStation 3 News - QJ.NET
- ^ a b Dynasty Warriors 6 announced - www.mcvuk.com
- ^ Dynasty Warriors 6 >> PlayStation 3
- ^ a b "IGN Dynasty Warriors 6 PS2 Preview". http://uk.ps2.ign.com/articles/897/897425p1.html. Retrieved 2008-10-30.
- ^ GameFAQs Shin Sangoku Musou 5 Special Data
- ^ a b "EA Signs North American Distribution Agreement with Koei Corporation for Upcoming Tactical Action Game Samurai Warriors". Electronic Arts. 2004-02-24. http://www.info.ea.com/news/pr/pr456.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-03.[dead link]
- ^ Gantayat, Anoop (2007-10-09). "Dynasty Warriors PS3 Bundle in Japan". IGN. http://ps3.ign.com/articles/826/826128p1.html. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
- ^ "Shin Sangokumusou 5 Official Website". http://www.gamecity.ne.jp/smusou5/. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
- ^ "Tokyo Game Show 2008". Koei. http://www.gamecity.ne.jp/tgs2008/. Retrieved 8 January 2009.
- ^ Barnholt, Ray (2007-08-03). "Dynasty Warriors 6 PS best gamePreview". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3161731&sec=PREVIEWS. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
- ^ GameFAQs Shin Sangoku Musou 5 Empires Data
- ^ "Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires Official EU Release Date". Gaming Union. 2009-05-15. http://www.gamingunion.net/news/dynasty-warriors-6-empires-official-eu-release-date--73.html. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
- ^ http://metacritic.com/
- ^ http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/action/shinsangokumusou5/video/6202641/best-of-2008-dubious-honors
External links
- Official Dynasty Warriors 6 website, UK (English)
- Official Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires website, UK (English)
- Official Dynasty Warriors 6 website (English)
- Official Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires website (English)
- Official website (Japanese)
- KOEI Warriors - Dynasty Warriors 6 section - all characters
- Official website (Empire) (Japanese)
- Dynasty Warriors 6 empires information
Koei's Warriors video games Dynasty Warriors Main seriesHandheld gamesSpinoff series Samurai WarriorsWarriors OrochiDynasty Warriors: GundamOthersBladestorm: The Hundred Years' War · Dynasty Tactics · Warriors: Legends of Troy · Dynasty Warriors Mahjong · Dynasty Warriors Online · Fist of the North Star: Ken's RageCategories:- 2007 video games
- Dynasty Warriors
- PlayStation 3 games
- PlayStation 2 games
- Windows games
- Xbox 360 games
- PlayStation Portable games
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