Samurai Warriors 3 (Wii) Review

As one might expect, the story is cemented in a time period when feudal lords, daimyos and other powerful forces ruled the troubled warring states of Japan. This is all presented through cutscenes and text, but with the complexities that arise due the western language barrier, the majority of it may just fly over players’ heads; all it really boils down to is fights, strongholds and fleeing targets, anyway. Within the story mode, players can take control of over thirty five warriors, with only a select few being available at the start; the rest are unlocked as you play. With each character you’ll come different weapons, moves, speed and technique, ultimately effecting your play styles as you mash through the hoards of enemies on the battlefield. When you are in the story mode, it is your job to help out in the various skirmishes in any way possible; you could be called upon to fortify defences or to take down a sub-boss which is causing your comrades some trouble. Wherever you go however, you will face a constant stream of enemies that must be felled in order to get from A to B which, ultimately, makes it feel like you are the only character that is doing the work of the whole army at once.

Controlling your character is simple, and quite possibly, the main downfall of Samurai Warriors 3. There are three control schemes available in the form of the Classic Controller, GameCube pad, and the Wii Remote and Nunchuck combo (thankfully no waggling is required) it would probably cause your arm to drop off in a game such as this. Movement is handled by the analogue sticks, attacking via three buttons. Take the Classic Controller for instance: X causes your character to do a standard attack, Y a stronger attack, both of which can both be chained together to cause some major devastation as well as charging up your Mousu gauge, which once full, will allow you to unleash a grand attack that fills the screen and wipes out anyone in the vicinity with a tap of R. That’s it, in a nutshell: stab at X and Y until the gauge is full, unleash a big attack, repeat. Samurai Warriors 3 seems fun initially, but gets very repetitive very quickly, to the point of giving your thumbs RSI.

Aside from the pain in your hands, you eyes may feel a little stretched too, as Samurai Warriors 3 isn’t the prettiest game to grace the Wii; far from it. Like its controls, the visuals are repetitive. Landscapes are dull and barren with the same identikit houses and farms spread throughout the levels that just give a boring vibe to the title, despite the action. The enemies themselves are very limited, different colours depending on the faction that they are fighting for, but besides the weapons that they carry, there isn’t much to differentiate them aside from end of level bosses.

It’s not all doom and gloom however. The difficulty can be really unforgiving on the harder modes, meaning that you have to dodge, block and time your attacks well to send your enemies sprawling, so if you want more of a challenge from the normal mode, bump up the difficulty and see how fast you get wiped out. There is also an online co-op mode which allows you to play through the missions with a mate (friend codes intact) as well as unlocking weapons, upgrades and the rest of the thirty five characters to offer some longevity to the title.

Overall, Samurai Warriors 3 is just an ‘okay’ title; it’s not particularly memorable other than, possibly, for a slight niggling pain in your right thumb. That’s not to say it’s a bad title, it just has that purely repetitive formula that has a love/hate relationship with many people. If you are into your hack and slash games then look no further than Samurai Warriors, but if you get bored easily or don’t like titles to be a bit on the tedious side, then maybe this game isn’t for you. Koei could have turned this into a stunner of a title with some niggles sorted out, but as it stands, Samurai Warriors 3 just isn’t up to the task.