The Warriors
Score: 93% ESRB: Mature Publisher: Rockstar Games Developer: Rockstar North Media: UMD/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Fighting/ Action/ Themed
Graphics & Sound: If you didn't see "Lucky Number Slevin" you don't know about the Kansas City Shuffle. It involves making people look one way while you go the other way. And if you're wondering how that relates to The Warriors, you have only to look at all the hype around another Rockstar title, Bully. While the rhetoric was building around the 2006 release of what some so incorrectly called a "Columbine simulator," The Warriors sneaked onto shelves. Following a movie with a game can be a topper or a flopper. In this case, a bopper. See the movie and you'll understand... In the case of The Warriors game, you can almost see the movie by playing the game through from start to finish. The graphics are excellent and create the grimy New York setting perfectly. Character models are very realistic and the motion capture does some great things for moments where battles are raging around you. Even small character actions like climbing fences or doing smash-and-grabs become entertaining through the quality depictions. The voice acting is excellent and the language has been heated up somewhat for a modern audience. The raunchy factor is a bit higher than it was in 1979 thanks to the modern image of gangs. What the movie brought to the game is a version of gang life that feels a bit stilted and dare I say, corny. In this way, The Warriors is true to its movie roots, which fans of the film will appreciate. The little touches in the game's Story Mode carry through to mini-games and a complete retro, side-scrolling, fighting game called "The Armies of the Night." All these added up let you know that the creators of The Warriors love themselves some fighting gameage. Rarely do you find such a nice collection of loving detail wrapped around something as mundane as a licensed game.
Gameplay: The Warriors isn't just any license, of course. Popular culture is riddled with references to the movie. It's one of those films that was a game adaptation waiting to happen. The colorful characters, simple but symbolic plotting, and violent theme move easily into gaming. The main area you'll explore is the Story Mode. This takes you up to the events of that symbolic meeting in the park with all the New York gangs. You start play as Rembrandt, the artist of The Warriors from the movie. Rembrandt was the man with the spray can, so tagging works its way into the game. Rembrandt spends the early portion of the game learning the different attacks and devices used to battle. The real missions evolve out of events that aren't taken directly from the film, but play along with the movie's themes. Battling rival gangs, moving through different parts of the city, and interacting with the different characters in The Warriors' gang are part of the action. The end of the game connects with the movie and makes this a perfect appetizer to a movie that is over 20 years old. Rockstar understands multiplayer. Almost every facet of The Warriors can be explored with a friend through wireless ad-hoc connection. There is plenty to see in Single-Player Mode, but the extended play time you'll get with multiplayer allows for ridiculous shelf-time. You roam the city with other gang members and can use some simple squad commands to send them off to do your bidding or hold them back while you run ahead. Each segment of the Story Mode includes a primary objective and a few secondary or bonus objectives. The objectives range from stealing car radios to mugging citizens and you'll have fun going back to complete everything a second or third time. The chapters are short enough that things never get old. If variety is what you need, there is always the mini-game collection, called Rumble Mode.
Difficulty: There isn't anything easy about the easiest setting in The Warriors. This is a game that rewards veteran fighting fans and makes for challenging but entertaining gaming for newbies. The button-mashing crowd can do well enough in the simple setting, but even then the cops and stronger gang members will make life difficult. Special objectives like mugging and tagging require more delicate control and sometimes luck. The wide variety of tasks in the game keep you on your toes, but there are ways to dial up the difficulty if the Easy or Medium setting isn't enough. Again, the shelf life here is extraordinary.
Game Mechanics: Creative minds can produce some great work. Among the many loving touches mentioned earlier, there are some controls that really shine. Connected to tasks in the game, you will find some unique uses for the analog stick. Stealing car radios could be as simple as smashing a car window and hitting the "action" button. There actually is a button like this, but first you have to rotate the analog stick to unscrew the radio. This seems simple enough until the battles start raging around you and cops start noticing your B&E. Another neat feature is the mugging. After you grab someone and hit the button to start the mugging, you'll see a meter that looks like your analog stick. Wiggle the stick until you find the person's weak spot and then keep pressing in that direction to create some pain. The person resists and if their resistance meter fills before your pain meter fills, they get away. Some similar actions coupled with creative controls throughout the game keep things fresh. Lots of little extras and plenty of action in The Warriors make for a great combination. The game on PSP comes across even better than the original PS2 release, thanks to creative controls and multiplayer. The content may not be to taste for everyone and the raunchy factor is really very high. Those who love Rockstar wouldn't accept any less; as long as we're drawing from mature content we may as well have a Mature game, right?
-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock
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