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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.
Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 40 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 9 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >
Game Info
Publisher: Koei
Developer: Omega Force
Genre(s): Action
Players: 2
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Release Date: March 28, 2006
Summary
In Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires, the armies of the kingdom are at your command. The player's ultimate goal is to conquer the 25 regions of Ancient China and build an entire Empire using cunning diplomacy and uncompromising force. Before each battle, the player will meet with the war council to decide upon military and political policies for the kingdom, then it's time for war. The game gives armchair generals total control of their kingdom. Now, gamers can issue direct orders to each officer or signal general commands to officers on the field. Players will order when the army will take the offensive, defend their ground, or have all officers gather for an ambush. Gamers can also choose the officers for an attack force, entice captives into joining the kingdom's service and even expel officers from the kingdom. There's even greater authority over Government, Product Development, Diplomacy and Battle Tactics with the game's 25 new policies for a total of 75 in all. The game's imperial-sized action includes 4 scenarios to unlock, 2-Player Co-Op play in "Empire" and "Free" modes, new items to unlock, and control of over 200 officers! Once the dust has settled, there's the real history of Ancient China to discover in the game's detailed Encyclopedia. [KOEI]
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Gaming Illustrated
A lot of games these days rely on ridiculous move combinations to advance levels, or increased difficulty means that your enemy has more health and you deal less damage. DW5E actually keeps it real by making the difficulty based on skill more than the other cheap tricks developers are using these days, and the AI is first class.
Read Full Review >Cheat Code Central
Empires makes the series bigger and better than ever with new scenarios, large scale battles, new policies and plenty of strategy to keep your mind fully engaged.
Read Full Review >Digital Entertainment News
The most fun I've had with a Dynasty Warriors game yet. Rather than going through some arbitrary story, the notion of expanding my own territory into the Chinese Empire makes me more invested in how things turn out. Great fun.
Read Full Review >Play Magazine
In the fusion of strategy and action, the game proves itself worthy of continuing the Dynasty. [May 2006, p.53]
Da Gameboyz
Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires is a pretty good experience for its first time on the Xbox 360. For those that like hack and slash games with a good focus on strategy and planning you will feel at home here.
Read Full Review >Official Xbox Magazine
Aside from the odd cut-scene, the game basically has no story, and the four campaigns essentially differ only in their starting-territory distributions. [May 2006, p.84]
GameShark
If you are a fan of this series and don't mind getting strategy in your action then you won't be disappointed with KOEI's latest endeavor.
Read Full Review >GamingTrend
It is time to move into the Next Generation of hardware with both feet and create a new title from the ground up with new concepts and new gameplay elements.
Read Full Review >GameSpot
Once again, the Empires expansion of Koei's long-running hack-and-slash action series turns out to be the bright spot amid the doldrums of endless button-mashing, thanks to some legitimately interesting strategy.
Read Full Review >GamePro
While a fairly competent game, it just doesn't manage to add enough new content to make it worth a serious look.
Read Full Review >TeamXbox
Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires benefits from the next generation hardware, but not as much as I had hoped. Yes, this is the best DW game to date, but it doesn’t really push any boundaries in the action/strategy market.
Read Full Review >Games Radar (in-house)
Not even building an empire can keep Dynasty Warriors 5 from feeling archaic and shallow. We've been doing this same thing for something like ten games in a row now.
Read Full Review >MS Xbox World
I think graphics junkies will probably feel a little let down when presented with the game’s visuals.
Read Full Review >Official Xbox Magazine UK
The lacklustre graphics means that when the action is at its most intense, the game is still a bit of an eyesore.
Read Full Review >Total Video Games
It is a bit of a disappointment in that Empires doesn't look or feel like a next-gen title, instead it's more like a High-Def version of a current-gen game.
Read Full Review >Xbox World Australia
Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires has been around the block a couple of million times by now, and its safe to say that the tricks being turned here are unlikely to surprise or please anyone besides the most hardcore fans.
Read Full Review >Kombo
This game is worth a rental for the gamer who thinks hack-n-slash is fun, but most hardcore gamers will shy away from the repetitive gameplay.
Read Full Review >GameZone
Unless you really love Dynasty Warriors or have never played the series before, you’re going to be disappointed and probably bored.
Read Full Review >Play.tm
It does seem that the lower retail price of Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires is definitely necessary considering the lack of innovation and advancement in the series.
Read Full Review >Boomtown
Despite its annoying flaws, Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires isn’t a bad game. It's just a pitifully bare improvement over its predecessors when it should be hitting its oft-teased promise.
Read Full Review >AceGamez
You do have a reasonable game in Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires, especially given that it's come out at a budget price compare to most of the other 360 titles. However, it really does lack that next generation touch, besides some spit and polish on the visuals and the cracking frame rate.
Read Full Review >Times Online
As for the combat sequences, they rely too much on repetitive button- mashing, and leaderless soldiers stand around like sheep awaiting the slaughter.
Read Full Review >DarkStation
Koei's previously PS2-exclusive strategic brawler makes the jump onto the 360, but sadly doesn't feature any significant next-gen enhancements for the series.
Read Full Review >GameSpy
What I did get is some good co-op play, an extension of the Empire mode that I enjoyed a while back, and a current-gen price tag acting almost as an apology from Koei for the lack of innovation.
Read Full Review >GamerFeed
The game still comes up short, with only two main modes (Free and Empire Mode) to play around with, an almost completely lacking sense of multiplayer, and repetitive, cheesy audio.
Read Full Review >Game Informer
If you like this franchise's simple brand of mind-numbing hack 'n slash action, then Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires will deliver exactly what you want: more of the same. [May 2006, p.98]
Worth Playing
No matter how you cut it, DW5E is an experiment that has gone wrong, and this is coming from someone who unabashedly loves this franchise.
Read Full Review >ZTGameDomain
What this boils down to in the end is that DW5E is simply a sloppy rushed port that is trying to cash in on the popularity of the franchise for the next-generation.
Read Full Review >IGN
Dynasty Warriors has long outstayed its welcome, and even with Empires' semi-cool strategic elements, the game won't please anyone except the die-hard fans that, for whatever reason, just keep coming back for more. 360 owners deserve more.
Read Full Review >1UP
If you still haven't given the series a try by now and want the best version of the best installment, a rental is a good choice. Just don't be surprised if you find yourself overwhelmed with familiarity this time next year.
Read Full Review >360 Gamer Magazine UK
It's unquestionably last-gen in looks and often becomes massively tedious in terms of how it plays. [Issue #9]
VideoGamer
Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires isn't terrible, it's just totally uninspiring.
Read Full Review >Electronic Gaming Monthly
And like "Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires," it mistakes drastically overcomplicated tactical menus for strategic depth...but underneath, it's just another tepid hack-n-slash tour of ancient China. Wise man say: Learn some new tricks.
Read Full Review >RewiredMind
The customary mix of strategy and swordplay leaves both elements under-developed and a game so unremittingly dull it will, while failing to even poke about somewhere near the limits of the Xbox 360, quickly stretch your patience to breaking point.
Read Full Review >X360 Magazine UK
It doesn't work nearly as well on the 360 as it has in the past. Shame. [Issue 8, p.94]
Computer Games Magazine
But an obtuse and under-documented strategic layer with a bad interface can only get you so far when it comes to recycling the same Dynasty Warrior game yet again. [July 2006, p.93]
Jolt Online Gaming UK
Plain and simple: if you buy Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires, you’re saying it’s ok for this lame excuse for a video game series to continue dragging everything else down with it. It’s even less amusing than it used to be now that it’s infecting next-gen consoles.
Read Full Review >games(TM)
Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires would be less annoying if we hadn’t played it about eight times before. [July 2006, p.132]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this game is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jay L. gave it an8:
If you enjoy other dynasty warriors games you will enjoy this one. And there are tons of achievements to keep you busy.
Neil V. gave it a9:
Very good game, particularly learning the intracies of the empire mode. It's actually very easy to pick up (takes less than 5 minutes to feel like an old pro), but deep enough that you probably won't master it immediately. Very similar to past installments, but newer and better with more options. For the price, this is a very good game.
