izigame.me

4/10

I’m not convinced this would have been a standout release even had it launched on schedule during the Xbox 360 era. Today, resurrected from production limbo, it feels positively fossilized. I never held much affection for the pre-reboot God of War template, yet Dynasty Warriors Origins proved earlier this year that a well-made hack-and-slash can still hook me. This one simply doesn’t.

The visuals, though dated, are excusable: the project was frozen in amber circa 2010, and its chunky models and desaturated palette probably looked respectable back then. What can’t be waved away is the staggering enemy repetition. Fewer than ten archetypes populate the entire campaign, so encounters slide into déjà vu within minutes.

Combat is the real Achilles’ heel. There is virtually no room for improvisation - tap out the single viable combo, fire the pistol as cooldown filler, repeat ad infinitum. Waves of identical fodder pour in until you realize sprinting past them is both possible and, judging by an achievement shared by a third of players, widely adopted. Slaying enemies yields gold, but the store’s meager selection - extra grenades, minor combo variations - hardly justifies the effort.

I bowed out during a late mission that demands pulverizing a cannon while kiting infinite mobs. Thirty minutes of attrition ended with a death and an unceremonious checkpoint reset; I lacked the will to reenact the ordeal. Maritime interludes fare no better: maneuvering a gunship while boarding parties and rival broadsides interrupt your firing animation feels less like naval warfare than a test of patience. Land stages are punctuated by doors that require several seconds of button-mashing; any stray hit cancels the animation, guaranteeing an encore of frustration.

Narrative might have offered redemption, but the audio mix is a crime scene. Dialogue sinks beneath roaring ambience for most cut-scenes, and subtitles can only be toggled from the main menu - a concession I discovered too late. I began skipping cinematics, only to be ambushed by unskippable Quick-Time Events embedded within them, as if the game were punishing disinterest.

Whatever ambition once animated this project has been smothered by time. The final product is a museum piece best appreciated behind glass by scholars of cancelled games. If you harbor deep nostalgia for the button-mashing blood operas of the mid-2000s you may eke out some charm; for everyone else, there are fresher, fiercer alternatives on every platform.