For those of you that have played and loved any of the "Dynasty Warriors" games by KOEI, you will probably be as concerned as me as to if the franchise will be picked up by Playstation 3. Ok, call me a freak, but my purchase of the constantly delayed platform will be contingent on the release of a new "Warriors" package.
As most of you know, Dynasty Warriors is a historic fantasty based upon real Chinese warlords of the 3rd century. KOEI's "Warriors" has taken the exotic characters from the 14th century novel, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and turned them into battle-hard powerhouses of might and magic. The stories have gotten richer and easier to follow with each passing game, making the player actually care and understand their motivations. Liu Bei's undying love for virtue. Cao Cao's imperialist dream. Sun Jian's vision for his family.
These characters and their servants fight for love, hate, revenge, righteousness, power and the people. Their array of inspiration leads their desire for conquest, which in turn creates conflict amongst their ranks.
We all have our favorite characters or families. My personal favorite is Sun Jian's Wu family with the irrespressible Sun Ce, the best female warrior Sun Shang Xiang, their strongest ally Tiachi Chi, Sun Quan - brother of Sun Ce and heir to the Sun family, Zhou Tai the protector, Huang Gai the brute, Lu Meng the soldier, Zhou Yu the strategist with Lu Xun the lesser, Ling Tong the angry with Gan Ning the boisterous, and Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao the sisters of the fan.
Of course who can forget the heroic Shu family, led up by the underdog Liu Bei, his brothers-in-arms Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, the enigmatic Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong the lesser, Zhao Yun the master warrior, Ma Chao the spear, Wei Yan the animal, Huang Zhong the elder, Xing Cai the fearless, Zhou Cai the wizard, Guan Ping the blade, Zhang Wei the apprentice or Yue Ying the inventor?
How about the arguably most colorful Wei family headed by the power-mongerer Cao Cao and his arrogant son Cao Pei and their robust crew? Xiahou Dun and his cousin Xiahou Yuan, Dian Wei the bodyguard, Zhen Ji the temptress, Xu Shu the moron, Zhang Liao the mighty, Pang De the valiant, Cao Ren the stalwart, Xu Huang the conquerer, Zhang He the bouyant and Sima Yi the fox.
Finally, it wouldn't be a complete history without those who had no allegiances, like the fanatic Zhang Jiao and his Yellow Turbans, or the proud Yuan Shao, or Meng Huo and his wife Zhu Rong, Dong Zhou the merciless or the ultimate warrior -- the Darth Vader of "Dyansty Warriors": LU BU and his mistress Diao Chan.
So, will there be a return of the heroes of China's yester-millenia? Or will these undaunted warriors see an end to their honor?
