Metacritic Games

Dynasty Warriors 5 (Xbox)

Dynasty Warriors 5 takes players back in time to an ancient land governed by chaos, and the mightiest warriors in history fight for control of the Chinese empire. The game's key features include: Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. New voice option: Choose between English and the never-before-released Japanese with English subtitles. Load times are significantly reduced. Spend more time in combat and less time at loading screens. The largest Dynasty Warriors cast ever assembled. Six new Dynasty Warriors in all for a total roster of 48 playable characters, each with their own storyline and in-game events. A completely revamped weapons system with a supreme arsenal of devastating weapons and new attacks. New Musou Rage, character-specific jump attacks, and blazing 9-hit Evolution Combos open the possibility for the previously unattainable 9,999 K.O.s. Twice as many characters per screen than Dynasty Warriors 4 to create the most satisfying Musou attacks ever. New more intelligent bodyguard officers designed to help players face the greatest Tactical Action challenges to date. An enhanced battlefield base system that challenges players' strategic decision-making in the midst of combat. 38 completely redesigned maps, each 30% larger and with environments that have their own look and feel. A vastly improved graphics engine that reduces fog, delivers rich detail in the characters and environments, and eliminates any drop in frame rate. New Chaos difficulty level. [KOEI]

KOEI
Action
Players: 2
T (Teen)
Developer: Omega Force
Released September 13, 2005

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

66 / 100

Critic Reviews

81 Xbox Evolved
The repetitive, but classic Dynasty Warriors gameplay is still perfectly intact and actually just a bit better than previous titles easily making this the best Dynasty Warriors game to date.
80 Ferrago
Any hardcore DW fan will be ecstatic to find another billion hours of gameplay to wade through.
80 GameCritics
The critic in me tells me this series needs to innovate, but as a gamer I'm once again completely satisfied by the experience. Defying conventional wisdom, Dynasty Warriors is unique in that the gameplay achieves a near perfect harmonious balanced and change would only upset that.
77 IGN
Just be warned that this is one long, long fight and even though the game may be epic it would be nicer if it was not such a gigantic story that's slow to progress.
75 MS Xbox World
If you are looking for an arcade slash game that has the option to use minor elements of strategy then I suggest getting this game; although in honesty there isn’t much difference in this game compared to Samurai Warriors.
72 GameZone
The thing that is wrong with this game is that it is getting caught up in the technological limitations of the system.
70 Official Xbox Magazine
Even though the visuals look just past their sell-by dates and the game stubbornly refuses to truly distinguish itself from the rest of the series, there's no denying that it's gameplay formula still works. [Nov 2005, p.114]
70 Worth Playing
The aspect that should pain gamers the most is the unfulfilled potential that the series has had since the first sequel.
70 GamePro
Despite being on the more graphically capable Xbox, sadly the visuals are nearly identical to the PlayStation 2. Music remains gratingly repetitive, but the additions of Japanese voices do help to make the experience more bearable.
70 AceGamez
No Xbox exclusive features have been added that enrich the gameplay.
68 TeamXbox
Combat is a bit chunky and seems to be a crap shoot most of the time. RTS elements are strong and keep interest levels high. Enemy A.I. is suspect.
66 GameSpot
This sequel actually lacks features found in the Xtreme Legends and Empires versions of Dynasty Warriors 4, which ultimately leaves it feeling a bit lackluster overall.
65 Play Magazine
At least this port is enhanced over the PS2 version. [Oct 2005, p.69]
60 Game Informer
When the gameplay is this stale and DW 5 isn't even optimized for the system (there's no online and the draw distance still blows), there's no reason to take this lemon for a drive. [Oct 2005, p.140]
60 VideoGamesLife
A game that fails to build on what has gone before, yet is still unashamedly enjoyable at its core. It's hard to be too angry at that.
60 Computer and Video Games
Nothing particularly groundbreaking, but this is quite convincingly the most comprehensive Dynasty Warriors yet. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]
60 Total Video Games
If the franchise is to continue with any sort of longevity then an overhaul of many gameplay aspects will have to be accomplished.
60 RewiredMind
Graphical improvements are minor, the gameplay enhancements are built to match and the AI is still as awful as it ever was.
55 Gamers Europe
With so many other exciting games on the horizon, this series as a whole requires a serious overhaul before it truly falls into a pit of mediocrity, something that this latest versions misses by a few inches.
51 Jolt Online Gaming UK
They’re all fun and all eventually devolve into button mashing murder, so is Dynasty Warriors 5 worth buying over Dynasty Warriors 4? No. Is the Xbox’s version better than the PS2’s? Not much.
50 Cheat Code Central
Dynasty Warrior 5 should be called Dynasty Warrior 2-and-a-half. I would expect more advancement from a franchise with four sequels.
40 GameSpy
Maybe in the next generation of consoles, I'll be able to immerse myself in the pretty graphics and forget I'm playing the same damn game yet again, but not this time.

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