| Dynasty Warriors 3 | |
|---|---|
 US box art for PS2 version | |
| Developer(s) | Omega Force |
| Publisher(s) | Koei |
| Director(s) | Akihiro Suzuki |
| Designer(s) | Tomohiko Sho |
| Series | Dynasty Warriors |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2,Xbox |
| Release | PlayStation 2 Xbox |
| Genre(s) | Hack and slash[1] |
| Mode(s) | Single-player,multiplayer |
Dynasty Warriors 3[Note 1][Note 2] is a 2001hack and slash game developed byOmega Force and published byKoei for thePlayStation 2.[2] It is the third installment in theDynasty Warriors series in North America and the second in theShin: Sangoku musou series in Japan; it was also the first installment in the series to be released for theXbox.THQ distributed the game in Europe.[2]
Dynasty Warriors 3 was the first in the series to introduce a two player mode and numerous other improvements overDynasty Warriors 2. New stages, characters, weapons, attacks and music are introduced providing a completely new experience to a player that has playedDynasty Warriors 2 before. The gameplay engine and the graphics engine have also been updated, providing higher quality environments, textures and general overall graphics. Only one expansion was released for the game,Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends[Note 3] and it was the first in theXtreme Legends series.
InDynasty Warriors 3 the player takes control of an officer and must attempt to defeat the enemy commander. The player must make their way through the stage defeating soldiers and enemy officers while trying to keep their commander alive. As well as hundreds of soldiers in each stage, there are stage specific events to complete that can help the player's army and raise their morale. A higher morale means allied soldiers will attack more frequently and will be more likely to follow through with their combination attacks. To make this possible, officers and commanders havesuperhuman abilities and have the capability to kill hundreds of enemy soldiers per stage.[3]
The main play mode of the game is Musou mode, the story mode of theDynasty Warriors series. Each playable character of the three main nations have their own Musou mode which consists of a number of stages that resemble events inRomance of the Three Kingdoms. The Musou mode for each character is a linear story where the user cannot change how the story progresses. The story progression for Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Jian and officers from their respective kingdoms have the closest relation to theRomance of the Three Kingdoms story.
Initially there are 15 available characters to play as, new and returning characters can be unlocked by performing special events during battle or simply meeting them during battle. Each playable character has their own unique weapon that can be upgraded and allows for a maximum of 4 levels of weapon.[4] When the next level of weapon is obtained, its strength is greater than the level below it and adds one extra attack to the player's maximum number of attacks.
Items are also hidden throughout stages and can also be obtained by defeating officers. There are three types of items in game, normal items, red items and weapons which can be equipped before the stage begins and will increase the player's statistics. Red items are specialised items than cause a special effect, such as starting the stage mounted on a horse or giving the player the ability to shoot fire arrows.[5]
Dynasty Warriors 3 has anRPG element to it where the player can increase the attack, defence, life bar or Musou bar of the characters.[6] This can be achieved by defeating enemy officers and gate captains who will drop items that will increase the aforementioned statistics. Although it is not necessary to collect these items, it is helpful to the player as in later stages as enemies grow in strength.
The two player mode (new toDynasty Warriors 3) allows players to either go head-to-head in one-on-one fights or play co-operatively in any of the stages. The screen is split horizontally with player one on top and the second below. In one-on-one fights the characters statistics are reduced to their default to allow for a fair battle, relying more on the player's skill rather than who has the stronger character. In co-operative play the characters retain their saved statistics, there are no alterations to the stage and the players gain the ability to perform a more powerful version of their Musou attack (Special Attack). If the players perform their Musou attack at the same time within range of each other, the attack gains a lightning element and deals extra damage to enemies that are hit.[7]
Dynasty Warriors 3 is set across ancient China[8] in theThree Kingdoms era. The game begins at the fall of theHan dynasty shortly before the death of theEmperor Ling[9] when the leader of the Way of Peace,Zhang Jiao,[10] led an uprising against the Empire.
The game features a strong mix of fact and fiction from Chinese history and often exaggerates characters and their personalities. For example, Lu Bu is portrayed as a virtually unbeatable, violent maniac. Most of the events and stages[11] are reported to have occurred in the Three Kingdoms era during the struggle of power. The three kingdoms primarily involved, Shu, Wu and Wei, each sought power enough to overthrow the other two and unify China under their rule. Although the story inDynasty Warriors is not perfect in the sense that it does not accurately follow the historical events, it has been changed to make the game more playable and less repetitive. For example, a number of the characters in the game died in the time frame that the game is set, but they still appear in later stages. The game features environments resembling that of ancient China and various items from the era such as fairy wine anddim sum.
It also touches onmysticism as some characters (Zhuge Liang,Sima Yi,Pang Tong,Zhang Jiao) have either magical elements in their attacks or completely magical attacks.
Many of the stages are recreations of notable battles present historically or from the novelRomance of the Three Kingdoms, while original creations became more common with the newer installments.
| Year | Stage |
|---|---|
| 184 | TheYellow Turban Rebellion |
| 191 | Battle of Hu Lao Gate |
| 191 | A Surprise Attack onLiu Biao |
| 197 | Battle of Wan Castle |
| 197 | Assault on the Wu Territory |
| 200 | Battle of Guan Du |
| 200 | Guan Yu's Escape |
| 208 | Battle of Chang Ban |
| 208 | Battle of Chi Bi |
| 211 | Battle of Tong Gate |
| 214 | Assault on Cheng Du |
| 215 | Battle of He Fei |
| 219 | Battle of Mt. Ding Jun |
| 219 | Battle of Fan Castle |
| 222 | Battle of Yi Ling |
| 225 | The Nanman Campaign |
| 228 | Battle of Jie Ting |
| 228 | Battle of You Ting |
| 234 | Battle of He Fei Castle |
| 234 | Battle of Wu Zhang Plains |
* Denotes new characters to the series
Bold denotes default characters
The characters inDynasty Warriors 3 are based around real and semi-fictional characters fromRomance of the Three Kingdoms and that era, where some characters personalities and traits have been exaggerated and where some remain fairly true to the novel. Women of that era did not participate in any of the battles but there are a number of female playable characters in the game (Diao Chan, Xiao Qiao, Da Qiao, Zhen Ji, Sun Shang Xiang, Zhu Rong, Nu Wa). Zhu Rong and Nu Wa are exceptions as Zhu Rong was said to be the only female to have fought in that era and Nu Wa's character is fictional and based on ancient myth.[12]
| Aggregator | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| PS2 | Xbox | |
| GameRankings | 77.33%[27] | 76.01%[28] |
| Metacritic | 78/100[29] | 70/100[30] |
| Publication | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| PS2 | Xbox | |
| AllGame |    [13] | [14] |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 7.67/10[15] | N/A |
| Famitsu | 34/40[16] | N/A |
| Game Informer | 7/10[17] | 7.25/10[18] |
| GamePro | [19] | [20] |
| GameRevolution | B+[21] | N/A |
| GameSpot | 7.1/10[22] | 7.3/10[23] |
| IGN | 8.5/10[24] | 6.8/10[6] |
| Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | [25] | N/A |
| Official Xbox Magazine (US) | N/A | 7/10[26] |
The game was highly anticipated after its release being announced because of its numerous new features and improvements of the last in the series.[31] Afterwards, it was met with positive to average reception upon release;GameRankings andMetacritic gave it a score of 77% and 78 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 version,[27][29] and 76% and 70 out of 100 for the Xbox version.[28][30]
In just under four months, over 1 million copies ofDynasty Warriors 3 had been sold in North America and Japan combined and made it the first of Koei's games to pass one million sales on a single platform and making it a platinum title. Not only that but it topped the sales charts for five consecutive weeks and, according toFamitsu, it was ranked the 9th best selling game of 2001.[3]
Dynasty Warriors 3 still retains a number of the bad features that were in the previous game such as fogging and low quality English voice actors. Although the English voices were poor (they have gained a cult-like status among fans of the series), the player has the choice to turn on Japanese voices and they are considered to be of a much higher quality.IGN strongly criticized the Xbox version over the sound, both music and the voice acting. Despite a number of negative points coming up throughout the review it scored 6.8/10 and the reviewer saw it had potential to become a very good game.[6]
Famitsu gave the PS2 version 34 out of 40.[16] Chi Kong Lui ofGameCritics.com[32] looked past the sound and graphical flaws and concentrated more on the gameplay and setting, giving a high score of 9/10. He gave high praise to how much the game was based on the originalRomance of the Three Kingdoms story and even went as far as saying "All the costuming of the 3D models is ethnically authentic and beautifully lavished" whereas a number of reviews described the graphical quality as being plain and blurry (Such as the saidIGN review). It is also notable that theIGN review was based on the PS2 version, which has more fog and slowdown (especially in multi-player) when compared to the Xbox version, and those were his two heaviest faults of the game.
On March 6, 2003,Dynasty Warriors 3 receivedAnimation Magazine's "Best Overall Game Animation" award. This was Koei's first award for a Dynasty Warriors game.
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | 71.34%[33] |
| Metacritic | 72/100[34] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 6.5/10[35] |
| Eurogamer | 7/10[36] |
| Famitsu | 33/40[37][Note 4] |
| Game Informer | 6.75/10[38] |
| GamePro | [39] |
| GameSpot | 7.1/10[40] |
| GameSpy | [41] |
| GameZone | 7.5/10[42] |
| Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | [43] |
Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends is the firstXtreme Legends installment by publisherKoei and developerOmega Force for the PlayStation 2. This expansion toDynasty Warriors 3 was released for Japan on August 29, 2002[44] and on January 11, 2003 within the US and Europe.[45]
Xtreme Legends added several new features toDynasty Warriors 3, including new items and the ability to fully customize bodyguards.Xtreme Legends also included a Musou Mode for the playable characters who did not belong to either Wu, Wei, or Shu (Diao Chan, Lu Bu, Zhang Jiao, Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, Zhu Rong and Meng Huo).Xtreme Legends also allowed players to obtain a fifth-level weapon for each character and added two new difficulty levels: Beginner and Expert. (Otherwise referred to as "Novice" and "Very Hard" in game, respectively.)[46]
The player can also import content from theDW3 disc while playingXtreme Legends by using the "Load Original" option. If played by itself,DW3:XL only features its own scenarios and Musou modes. It can, however, copy data from a previously savedDW3 file on the memory card, but only if there's already aDW3 data before creatingDW3:XL save data.
Xtreme Legends was met with average reception upon release, asGameRankings gave it a score of 71%,[33] whileMetacritic gave it 72 out of 100.[34]Famitsu gave it a score of 33 out of 40.[37]