Step 1: Hack and slash. Step 2: Hack and slash. Step 3: Hack and slash. Step 4: Return to Step 1.
Tenuously based on the classic Chinese epic, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms," Dynasty Warriors pits you as a combatant from one of the kingdoms of Wu, Wei, or Shu, who hacks and slashes his or her way through the armies of the remaining two kingdoms like a riding-mower through so much unkempt grass.
So far, so good: You have history. You have culture. You have battle on an epic scale. However, in its execution, Dynasty Warriors's gameplay experience is overly simplistic, so that what you get in the first five minutes is pretty much what you get all the way through: combing the fog-of-war encumbered battlefield for clusters of enemy soldiers, then single-handedly laying devastating waste to them with your trusty sword, or spear, or magic flute. (Yes, one warrior goes out to battle armed-against thousands of enemy soldiers, mind-with a flute.) Having dispensed with all enemies in sight (the game euphemistically tallies them as "KO's"), you go off in search of more, and you lay waste to them too, until no enemies are left.
Now, this can be entertaining. Admittedly, there is a degree of satisfaction-twisted as it may be-that comes from fending off twenty soldiers with a single, sweeping 360 degree attack, and pumping your KO counter up into the thousands. It's just that, apart from this, there isn't much else to the game. There are a couple dozen warriors to choose from, but when you choose one, you are limited to that warrior's single weapon for the whole game. Each warrior has only a handful of attacks and combos, one or two of which will most likely become your standard attacks. There are a few elements of strategy to the game, such as which path you will take through the battlefield or which officers you will choose to assist you, but these scarcely change the overall game of hack and slash, hack and slash, hack and slash, and start all over again.
The game's other elements pass by on being passable, but not spectacular. The graphics are nothing to scream about. The detail on characters and environments is scant. The game's poor draw distances are a frequent irritant when attacking enemies suddenly materialize a few feet away from you. There are no animated cutscenes or blowout endings, just text narratives between stages. The sound is no better either. The guitar-heavy soundtrack doesn't quite match with epic-scale classic Chinese warfare.
Yet again, Dynasty Warriors-despite its lack of sights, sounds, and depth-can be strangely addictive simply for the onslaught of straightforward, large-scale, one-warrior-army battles it provides. But like other addictions, after the rush has worn off, a Dynasty Warriors session may leave you feeling fundamentally unfulfilled and ultimately wondering: "What the hell did I just do with the last two hours?"