Everlost_MI
11-20-2005, 07:33 PM
The Warriors In-House Review (XBOX)
By Everlost_MI (Brian K. Nichols), Editor in Chief
Rockstar Games’ has gone back in time and recreated the world of The Warriors, a movie that was created in 1979 based off of the novel by Sol Yurik. While the book and the movie differ in content, the videogame is dead on as it enhances the movie by providing the back story of the Warriors and the rival gangs. The game starts out three months before the assassination of Cyrus and allows the players to help The Warriors earned their street credibility as the game eventually catches up to the timeline of the movie. Players will have their chance at reliving some of the memorable scenes from the movie. For those unfamiliar with the movie, the premise is Cyrus, the messiah-like leader of the largest gang in New York, initiates a truce among all the gang. Cyrus calls a massive meeting of all the New York gangs to rally them together under a single cause, only to be assassinated at this meeting. The Warriors are wrongly accused of being behind the assassination and with the truce off it’s a long subway ride back to Coney Island. Renting or buying the movie is highly recommended to get the most out of the game’s storyline.
The game’s storyline and dialogue are well written, but this title is appropriately rated Mature. The Warriors are a street gang, so there is plenty of profanity and unsavory and illegal activities including taking “Flash” a narcotic to raise your health. With that being said, the feel of the game is done quite well as it mirrors the movie in the characterization and atmosphere. The story mode of the title contains eighteen missions and will take about ten hours to complete. The story mode does offer multiplayer co-op that can be initiated at any time. The co-op play provides a great feature that if the two players get too far apart the screen splits without falling into that typical trap of yelling at each other to get back on the screen. Five Flashback levels are offered in story mode to show how certain Warriors became part of the gang. During the story mode of the game, the action is broken up a bit with various tasks, such as tagging enemy gang territory or sneaking into an enemy gang’s hideout, to help move the story along without causing boredom or frustration in the process. The title also circumvents frustration by offering autosaves in the story mode as the game progresses, the ability to save manually is offered in The Warriors hideout. The title offers Rumble Mode that allows the player to choose gang members to play against another player or the A.I. Finally, the title offers an unlockable game entitled, Armies of the Night, that mirrors the side scrolling game Double Dragon.
The Warriors is a straight up brawler that harkens back to the days of Double Dragon and The Bouncer where mayhem and fisticuffs ruled the game. No guns are used by The Warriors in the game, however the destructible environments contain some form of weaponry to help you and your gang have an edge. The various combinations of attacks in level of strength and styles must be used to survive, especially when the area becomes a mosh pit of frenzied fighting. The action is fast and furious and it will take concentration, practice and timing to coordinate your attacks as the leader and fighter of The Warriors. Otherwise you’ll find The Warriors and yourself being beaten down rather quickly. As the leader of The Warriors, you are able to direct gang members with various types of commands that include attacking, defending or staying put. The A.I. of the rival gangs and the cops are decent but what really provides the challenge are the sheer number of gangs and cops that swarm The Warriors.
The controls have a small learning curve that is easily overcome as the story mode starts out with Rembrandt trying to earn his keep in The Warriors by a trial of combat. The game forces you to learn each type of attack before allowing you to move on, whether you use those same tactics in the street is another story. The sheer number of combos that can be used as a single fighter is impressive, however when combined with another Warrior whether it is A.I. or human controlled is the results are quite fun and sometimes surprising. However, every gang you encounter will have the same moves as you, which isn’t a negative thing, but it would have been more impressive if they had added different fighting styles for each gang.
The look and feel of the game is as dark and dingy as the world it was initially depicted in the movie. Even so, the game looks like a close cousin to the Grant Theft Auto games that were ported to the Xbox which were ugly but functional and The in-game movies provide excellent content, however the character models especially the “flipper” like hands/fists are poor and it brings the experience down a notch. However, as with the GTA games, the rest of the title’s offerings surpass the graphical handicaps. Another item worth mentioning is the reoccurring fight you will have with the camera when the large brawls occur or when in compact areas.
The music and sound effects really add to the game by providing the original soundtrack from the movie as well as the sound of flesh being pounded by fists, bats and bottles as the gang fights build to a deafening level. The voice talent is excellent, as the majority of the original actors have returned to lend their voices for cut scenes and in-game dialogue.
In conclusion, if you enjoy brawler games similar to Double Dragon or The Bouncer then this game is worth the time and money. Especially since it has been seen being sold for less than forty dollars. The title provides an excellent story to match and enhance the movie it’s based on and it gives a great level of action without becoming boring. The multiplayer aspect is quite enjoyable; especially the ability to play multiplayer on the fly during story mode.
The Good
The great storyline.
The cutscenes
The action.
Great multiplayer fun, especially in story mode
Excellent unlockables
The Bad
The camera
Loading times
The Ugly
The graphics.
Score: http://www.evilavatar.com/images/icons/e4.jpg
4 EvilEyes out of 5.
MSRP: $49.99
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/thewarriors.jpg
By Everlost_MI (Brian K. Nichols), Editor in Chief
Rockstar Games’ has gone back in time and recreated the world of The Warriors, a movie that was created in 1979 based off of the novel by Sol Yurik. While the book and the movie differ in content, the videogame is dead on as it enhances the movie by providing the back story of the Warriors and the rival gangs. The game starts out three months before the assassination of Cyrus and allows the players to help The Warriors earned their street credibility as the game eventually catches up to the timeline of the movie. Players will have their chance at reliving some of the memorable scenes from the movie. For those unfamiliar with the movie, the premise is Cyrus, the messiah-like leader of the largest gang in New York, initiates a truce among all the gang. Cyrus calls a massive meeting of all the New York gangs to rally them together under a single cause, only to be assassinated at this meeting. The Warriors are wrongly accused of being behind the assassination and with the truce off it’s a long subway ride back to Coney Island. Renting or buying the movie is highly recommended to get the most out of the game’s storyline.
The game’s storyline and dialogue are well written, but this title is appropriately rated Mature. The Warriors are a street gang, so there is plenty of profanity and unsavory and illegal activities including taking “Flash” a narcotic to raise your health. With that being said, the feel of the game is done quite well as it mirrors the movie in the characterization and atmosphere. The story mode of the title contains eighteen missions and will take about ten hours to complete. The story mode does offer multiplayer co-op that can be initiated at any time. The co-op play provides a great feature that if the two players get too far apart the screen splits without falling into that typical trap of yelling at each other to get back on the screen. Five Flashback levels are offered in story mode to show how certain Warriors became part of the gang. During the story mode of the game, the action is broken up a bit with various tasks, such as tagging enemy gang territory or sneaking into an enemy gang’s hideout, to help move the story along without causing boredom or frustration in the process. The title also circumvents frustration by offering autosaves in the story mode as the game progresses, the ability to save manually is offered in The Warriors hideout. The title offers Rumble Mode that allows the player to choose gang members to play against another player or the A.I. Finally, the title offers an unlockable game entitled, Armies of the Night, that mirrors the side scrolling game Double Dragon.
The Warriors is a straight up brawler that harkens back to the days of Double Dragon and The Bouncer where mayhem and fisticuffs ruled the game. No guns are used by The Warriors in the game, however the destructible environments contain some form of weaponry to help you and your gang have an edge. The various combinations of attacks in level of strength and styles must be used to survive, especially when the area becomes a mosh pit of frenzied fighting. The action is fast and furious and it will take concentration, practice and timing to coordinate your attacks as the leader and fighter of The Warriors. Otherwise you’ll find The Warriors and yourself being beaten down rather quickly. As the leader of The Warriors, you are able to direct gang members with various types of commands that include attacking, defending or staying put. The A.I. of the rival gangs and the cops are decent but what really provides the challenge are the sheer number of gangs and cops that swarm The Warriors.
The controls have a small learning curve that is easily overcome as the story mode starts out with Rembrandt trying to earn his keep in The Warriors by a trial of combat. The game forces you to learn each type of attack before allowing you to move on, whether you use those same tactics in the street is another story. The sheer number of combos that can be used as a single fighter is impressive, however when combined with another Warrior whether it is A.I. or human controlled is the results are quite fun and sometimes surprising. However, every gang you encounter will have the same moves as you, which isn’t a negative thing, but it would have been more impressive if they had added different fighting styles for each gang.
The look and feel of the game is as dark and dingy as the world it was initially depicted in the movie. Even so, the game looks like a close cousin to the Grant Theft Auto games that were ported to the Xbox which were ugly but functional and The in-game movies provide excellent content, however the character models especially the “flipper” like hands/fists are poor and it brings the experience down a notch. However, as with the GTA games, the rest of the title’s offerings surpass the graphical handicaps. Another item worth mentioning is the reoccurring fight you will have with the camera when the large brawls occur or when in compact areas.
The music and sound effects really add to the game by providing the original soundtrack from the movie as well as the sound of flesh being pounded by fists, bats and bottles as the gang fights build to a deafening level. The voice talent is excellent, as the majority of the original actors have returned to lend their voices for cut scenes and in-game dialogue.
In conclusion, if you enjoy brawler games similar to Double Dragon or The Bouncer then this game is worth the time and money. Especially since it has been seen being sold for less than forty dollars. The title provides an excellent story to match and enhance the movie it’s based on and it gives a great level of action without becoming boring. The multiplayer aspect is quite enjoyable; especially the ability to play multiplayer on the fly during story mode.
The Good
The great storyline.
The cutscenes
The action.
Great multiplayer fun, especially in story mode
Excellent unlockables
The Bad
The camera
Loading times
The Ugly
The graphics.
Score: http://www.evilavatar.com/images/icons/e4.jpg
4 EvilEyes out of 5.
MSRP: $49.99
http://www.evilavatar.com/images/thumbs/thewarriors.jpg