Does the sequel to Warriors Orochi have anything new to offer?
Shattering time and space, the venomous Serpent King Orochi kidnapped the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors in scheme to test his might. The heroes eventually defeated Orochi and his menacing army. While the slain Orochi lies in the netherworld, a mysterious alliance is hatching an otherworldly plan so that the Serpent King may rise again. Now a new group of warriors must join forces with history’s finest in an effort to stop this evil resurrection.
Warriors Orochi 2 takes place after the events of the original game. The game’s main “Story” mode features storylines for the kingdoms of Wu, Wei, and Shu, and the SAMURAI WARRIORS, while a new Orochi storyline looks back to the first series of wars to expose some of the Serpent King’s secrets. The game’s newly added “Dream” mode features an original storyline different from that of Story Mode.
The first Warriors Orochi wasn’t that great, it was nothing more than a combination of the Samurai and Dynasty Warriors characters with a new story; it had new locations and enemies but nothing new in terms of gameplay. Unfortunately, the sequel is even worse.
Nothing seems to have changed, you still charge into a huge idiot-brained army and destroy the leaders then move on. There are a few instances where certain characters must be protected, which is ridiculous when they are just as stupid as the enemy and end up charging in, they deserve to get killed. Everything from the characters to the menus look exactly identical to what we saw in the original, sure there are a few new additions like multiplayer modes but alas there is no actual co-op mode, which might have added an extra point to this review.
The story is diabolical with awful voice-work and presentation, it’s also incredibly predictable. I already knew what was going to happen before I played the damn thing and I was spot on. The truth is that once again this is the same game with just a few minimal additions, passing it off as a full sequel is really something else. The AI seems to have got worse this time round; even Orochi himself let me kill him in a minute.
The gameplay is also identical, fighting remains the same as it ever did. I would have expected more after 6 Dynasty Warriors games, 2 Samurai Warriors games and Warriors Orochi. Despite all those games and others like DW: Gundam and Bladestorm, it seems that they have learned nothing from the mistakes they have made…and each time a new game comes out, it becomes more and more unacceptable, especially on a system like the 360.
There are a ton of problems such as dreadful framerate issues, poor character models and bad draw distance. The last mission in the story mode has the worse framerate I have ever seen in the series and possibly the worst in a videogame. How they even let this ship with these problems is beyond me.
The Verdict
Another sequel to a bad franchise where nothing has changed yet again. Warriors Orochi 2 doesn’t even try to impress with its dull story and terrible presentation, nor does it add anything innovative that’s worth trying. Avoid this game at all costs.
