You can add fire damage to your weapons, burn yellow turban burn.
The battles in Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce aren't all that different than previous games in terms of concept, though we do see some different missions types. You may be assaulting a base, fighting a giant creature, or holding an area from enemy advancement. The biggest difference in the game is the over the top nature of the battles and characters themselves. While the story and character names are grounded in realistic Chinese history, the characters abilities are not. Now you'll face off against flying monks, battering rams, rock throwers and various other lackeys that you can make quick work of. The officers on the other hand all now have the ability to go into a fury mode, it's in this mode they transform into a fantastical version of themselves. My main character, Huang Gai, doubled in size, grew a giant mohawk and was covered in flames when he entered a fury state. Some characters get covered in ice, grow wings, or my personal favorite was one character that looked like a fat little purple devil. While in the fury state your character can jump higher, move faster, hit harder and perform different special attacks. As long as you keep up the carnage you'll remain in this state before changing back to normal.
Like I said, this state isn't just for player characters but also for enemy officers. This over the top notch carries over to the battle grounds as well. The infamous Yellow Turban Rebellion which is found in just about every Dynasty Warriors game to date returns, except this time the end mission takes place in a giant floating palace with huge bells that shoot lightning. It's very Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. What's more the four player co-op becomes critical to completing these missions at times as I found the game to be extremely difficult, especially in the early going. The difficulty usually came from being knocked down with cheap shots from an enemy, and then being repeatedly knocked down while trying to get back up. This is where you buddies can come in and save you. Combine this with the passive group Chi abilities characters can have, and there's almost an MMO type nature of building a group for a mission.
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Arial battles play a large part in the game.
Previous Dynasty Warrior titless had local co-op as an option, but Strikeforce is an online only affair for four players, which a lot of players may find disappointing. The game also suffers from a bit of framerate slowdown when the action gets chaotic, so split screen may have been a technical limitation more than a design choice.
Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce isn't perfect, but it's the biggest upgrade to the franchise in years. There's over 200 missions in the game with 40 officers to play in three separate campaigns. This is one meaty game in terms of content, and Koei promises to offer more missions in the form of free DLC. The co-op is an absolute blast and is where the game truly shines, there's no greater moment than watching four flying, and flaming, officers beat on a Lu Bu riding on a giant fire breathing dog.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: Gather with friends and fight together as a single overwhelming force to complete mission objectives
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.