Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Dynasty Warriors: where many dudes get hit at the same time, and other dudes get simultaneously thwacked, all for the love of martial art. Koei’s mass-brawling games in the Dynasty Warriors series have always been slightly clunky and never quite hit the high notes of all-time excellence, but nevertheless they remain workmanlike in their delivery of unlikely battlefield combat. This sixth iteration is one of the better games, and it pleases me that Koei saw fit to bring this (and Warriors Orochi earlier in the year) to PC. The 321mb demo is here.

It’s disappointing that Koei chose this meeting of Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors to come out on PC, rather than the infinitely wackier Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War. Nevertheless it’s fun to have a version of these massed-troop battlefield games on our trusty beige crate, and it’s out worldwide today. I know these games are a bit of an acquired taste, but I get a kick out of hammering swarms of armoured goons and sending them spraying across the field. Actually, what’s rather more disappointing is that the game is currently only available via digital download in North America and Brazil. The boxed version should be available everywhere, but Euro folks can’t get at it electronically. The official PC site is here.

Koei send word that their heroic samurai brawling game Warriors Orochi will turn up on PC on the 28th of March in the UK. In a meeting of franchises, it’s a mix of Samurai Warriors and Dynasty Warriors, with some supernatural battlin’ to be done. It’s not the best of Warriors games, certainly, but it still captures the charming field-of-battle dynamic that makes these games so interesting. Anyone else get a kick out of the Warriors games? If so, are they playable on PC?