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Platform: PlayStation 2
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Publisher: Rockstar Games
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Developer: Rockstar Games
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Medium: DVD-ROM
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Players: 1 - 2
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Online: No
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Also on: (n/a)
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Every fan's fantasy, every gamer's dream. Can you dig it?
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Beat ‘em up games are in the middle of what can only be called a renaissance. After being a mostly-dead genre outside of beat ‘em up elements licensed games and minigames in other, fuller games, the industry has seen a glut of new beat ‘em ups lately: Urban Reign, Beat Down - Fists of Vengeance, and Death by Degrees stick out. The x factor, what ties them all together, is their state of mediocrity. Whether it be poorly implemented combat or monotonous gameplay in general, they’ve all failed to live up to the genre’s celebrated past.
1979 saw the release of The Warriors, which could be easily seen as a prototype for the beat ‘em up genre. Our protagonists are put against the entire city, trying to get to a common goal—survival. They encounter loads of uniformed gangs with specific flamboyant styles along the way, most notably the kabuki-painted Baseball Furies. Men against an entire city, rampant crime, crazy looking gang members… You could apply that concept to classic beat ‘em ups like Streets of Rage and Final Fight relatively simply, as the foundation is the same.
In fact, it almost feels as if someone at Rockstar Games had just finished watching The Warriors for the hundredth time, hopped to their computer to fire up an old arcade beat ‘em up, then looked back and forth between the television and computer in an amazing realization: the two concepts were a marriage made in heaven.
Experiencing the beautiful labor of love that is Rockstar’s rendition of The Warriors starts when you start it up. A pitch-perfect remake of the film’s introduction is recreated in-game. Seeing every little detail remade is fascinating for anyone who’s seen the film, and a great setup for anyone who hasn’t.
If you’ve ever wanted to feel what it’d be like to go through the New York envisioned in the film, you won’t be disappointed. The Warriors is a faithful recreation of not only scenes, but the look and feel of the film. New York looks appropriately desperate and gritty. Graffiti designed by New York artists slides across the walls. Characters look much as they did in the film, down to Mercy’s cold nature and how each Warrior wears his vest. A few actors return to lend their voice to the project, with the rest of the cast being filled with soundalikes. Even the film’s soundtrack is in its entirety in the game, along with a handful of songs from the late ‘70’s to fit the era. Topping this is the DJ, who’s put in more of a nighttime storyteller role than an announcer in this game.. All of this will make fans of the movie ecstatic, for the rest of you it’ll just be seen as some great production values.
Thankfully, the layers of gloss and sheen compliment, instead of hide the gameplay. Underneath it all, The Warriors plays cleanly and efficiently. Fighting is fairly simplistic, with basic “heavy attack,” “light attack,” and “special attack” functions, and some grappling. Slowly, you’ll learn how to use attacks for better results. Soon, pulling off things like running dives, three-hundred-and-sixty degree snap attacks, and more advanced grappling moves will come natural. The Warriors’ learning curve is mildly steep, giving anyone the ability to fight, but only those who work at it make their fighter almost unstoppable.
The Warriors takes a different route to the licensed game biz, and starts a whole three months before the meeting pivotal to the film. You start from the bottom in the initiation of Rembrandt, and work your way forward in the plot from there. Rembrandt, the Warriors’ artist, does graffiti very well. This is where the variety of play comes in—for example, when you play in Rembrandt-based missions, his strength of artistry comes into play. You’ll have to find the tags your rival gang have up and spraypaint over them through a simple “trace the line” interface.
Each Warrior has his own strengths and weaknesses, with certain specialties. This comes into play in missions, as every Warrior gets his time in the spotlight to show off what he can do. Ajax is much more suited to beating people up, Fox is great for scouting and stealth, and some are just balanced. What this means is that sometimes you’ll fight, sometimes you’ll run, and sometimes it’s just best to stay hidden and commit petty crimes without attracting attention. Although fighting to the benefit of the featured characters’ traits is recommended, it’s not necessary. If you want to fight gangs with Fox, go ahead—but don’t expect to survive.
Also nice in The Warriors is the warchief system. This field command system is vital in keeping your AI partners in line, no matter where you are. If you’re looting stores, hit “mayhem.” Cops after you? Hit “scatter,” and your partners will run to stealth spots. It’s simple, it’s effective, and helps deepen the play experience. Much like everything else mentioned, it’s not necessary to learn and utilize, but it makes life much easier.
If that weren’t enough, The Warriors has several multiplayer modes. The most obvious is the co-op story mode, but rumble mode holds the bulk. Rumble mode is a menagerie of modes that range from one-on-one brawls to all out gang warfare. In more nontraditional play modes, you’ll be racing wheelchairs and playing king of the hill in a junkyard.
The Warriors came from nowhere to become not only one of the best beat ‘em up games in years, but one of the best licensed games ever. It takes strong foundations from both the genre and the source material, then layers things on top that make the entire game a solid, intense experience throughout. It’s amazingly fun, amazingly wrong in that Rockstar kinda way, and amazingly right in every fundamental design choice. In short, Rockstar has made a modern classic with The Warriors.
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