Not many companies can claim that they mix a history lesson in with their games, but Koei certainly can. Dynasty Warriors 4 is based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, which in turn is loosely based on the Three Kingdoms period of ancient China. Instead of commanding several huge armies full of units around a map as in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, DW4 puts you right in the middle of a select group of battles in those locations as one of the ass-kicking generals from the series. The game provides a totally different perspective of RotTK, and is essentially a beat-em-up on an epic scale. Picture yourself as one individual on the battlefield in Braveheart, though set in ancient China, and you should get the idea.

The Xbox version is more or less a carbon copy of the PlayStation 2 version. Visually, besides appearing a bit less jagged, the Xbox version really has not seen much of an upgrade. An insane amount of detailed enemies still populate the screen, along with the same somewhat sparse environmental details. The draw distance, the texture quality, special effects, and bit of slowdown when the action gets heavy or when unleashing a powerful Musou, appear the same as in the PS2 version. When seeing the sheer amount of action on-screen, most is forgiven, but Omega Force probably could have squeezed a bit more of a graphical upgrade. As far as audio is concerned, the soundtrack still rocks, literally. The Asian influenced hard-rock BGM really goes well with the hard-hitting action. The voice acting, while used sparingly, is still a bit unintentionally funny sounding on occasion. One of the only officially announced upgrades in the Xbox version, Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, is put to good effect. Hearing the enemy hoards rush at you from all angles is a nice touch.

Dynasty Warriors 4 plays extremely well, although the amount of maneuvers at first seems sparse. Most of your time is spent (strategically) mashing the attack button, while chaining in the charge move button and occasional magic Musou attack. Making use of these moves in different, more and more efficient ways is actually part of the fun, but I still found myself wanting somewhat more variety. The different Generals of the Kingdoms you can play as have some exclusive moves and slightly distinct stats, but they do really all play quite similarly. Riding Elephants and Horses obtained from the enemy soldiers is a nice touch, though only a small majority of the game is actually spent chasing down the enemy in that way.

The Musou Mode is the real heart of the game, and it essentially takes you through several acts, each with a few stages a piece. Besides choosing your character from one of the 3 respective Kingdoms, you also have the opportunity to equip some items found on the battlefield, change around your bodyguard characters, and check the status of your fellow commanders and generals. Musou Mode also allows a 2nd player to cooperatively take on the challenge simultaneously. Free Mode allows you to tackle any stages and acts you’ve already completed, V.S. Mode provides a few 2-player modes of gameplay, and Challenge Mode gives you several single-player timed challenges to take on. The most significant game mode not found in earlier DW installments, is the Edit Mode. Edit Mode allows you to create your own officer and bodyguards (including gender, appearance and name), which can then be used in most of the other aforementioned modes.

Dynasty Warriors 4 for the Xbox is a tight playing, fun beat-em-up style action game with a small dash of strategy. Don’t let the historical theme fool you; the game is all about fighting, fighting and more fighting. Those gamers looking for a challenge (some stages potentially feature battles lasting 90 straight minutes) definitely need apply. Due to the small number of enhancements, those who have already been through the PlayStation 2 version should instead wait for Dynasty Warriors 4 Xtreme Legends, due out in November.