Set in a world on the brink of chaos, players experience the action through the eyes of 170 characters as they hack and slash their way to uncover the mystery behind the evil threatening their land. The re-assembled heroes from across the Dynasty and Samurai Warriors universes are faced with yet another battle; the god of gods, Zeus, has meddled with the human realm to create his own parallel world. The heroes need to uncover the mysteries behind their current predicament and return back home; and finding the eight Ouroboros Bracelets is the key to their safe return...

If you're a fan of the Dynasty and Samurai Warriors franchises, then you're going to get a great deal of satisfaction out of Warriors Orochi 4. Personally, while my son used to love these games, I never quite understood them. Yes, the stories were rich and engaging if you bothered to invest time in them, but for me they were pretty looking button mashing fighters that offered little in the way of hooks to keep me playing. There's only so many times you can watch the same enemy (duplicated onscreen a hundred times) attacking you before you start to get a little tired of it all. Yes, for the first 10 minutes these games looked amazing. When I originally played Samurai Warriors 2, I was blown away by the number of enemies on screen at one time... but the novelty wore of very quickly.

Here you have access to 170 characters - 165 familiar to those who know the characters in Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors and Warriors Orochi. With games like this there's no real skill. As you're bombarded from all sides by swarms of fighters it's simply a case of pressing the attack button repeatedly and hoping for the best. Changing your character adds a bit of novelty, but once you've seen each character's special attack moves it starts to get a little too repetitive.

In Warriors Orochi 4 each warrior's journey can be followed. With each character discovering that the eight Ouroboros Bracelets possess great power. Some individuals use them for their own hidden schemes. They allow characters the ability to wield phenomenally powerful and visually impressive attacks against their most challenging foes. These new-found powers come from the gods’ most divine artefact; the Sacred Treasures. In addition they can now cast ranged and targeted spells, or even combine their powers with those of an ally for truly devastating blows.

Personally £55 seems a little steep for a button mashing game, especially when the novelty wears off pretty quickly. But, as I mentioned previously, if you've been following this series then you'll love it.

5

Pete Boomer