The Warriors is a brawler based on a film of the same name. In the
movie a man by the name of Cyrus held a meeting with all the gangs in
New York. He wanted all of the gangs to join together to create one
gang that could take over the city. He says "Can you dig it!" a couple
of times to the crowd and a shady character with a mullet shoots and
kills him. The shooter quickly blames the Warriors resulting in them
having to sneak, fight, and run they're way back to their hideout.
The game shows this opening cutscene showing you what happens at the
begging of the movie but then it quickly jumps back to about a little
over a month before the huge meeting and tells of how the Warriors went
from no name to big time. The game starts you off as a new recruit in
gang called Rembrandt. You take control of him and have to fight to
prove your fit for the gang. This acts as the games tutorial teaching
you the ways of the fist. But you won't just play as him. Throughout
the game you'll play end up playing as all of the Warriors in various
missions, but they all really just play the same. For a game based so
much on beating everyone to a pulp the combo system is very simple. But
maybe that's a good thing. When you fight your really just rely on
whatever combos you feel comfortable using. But it's good to know that
while the fighting system is simple, it never gets repetitive or
tedious. The game does a good job of making you feel like your a
powerhouse and can take on anyone. Every punch or kick you land makes a
devastating blow and the screen tends to shake just a tad. This adds a
sense of realism to the fights. Missions in the game do repeat. Every
mission your either sneaking through to a location, having to steal
things, or beating up everyone. You won't really notice this, nor will
you care, because the game is just so much fun and the story will keep
you wanting to trek forward and see what happens next.Speaking of the
story this game has one of the best stories in any game. This is all
thanks to the perfect voice acting and deep character development.
The Warriors isn't a terribly long game. It will take you 10 to 12
hours to make it through the main game. But as you progress you unlock
flashback missions that tell of how the Warriors gang got started and
where it got all it's members. There are around 5 or so of these
missions and they add even more back story and character development.
They also last upwards of 30 minutes to an hour a piece to they add
even more length to the game. The game also has a Rumble Mode were you
create your own gang from members of others and take them to the
streets to fight other gangs. This mode is fun and you'll probably come
back to it a few times just to beat some people up. There is also a
Double Dragons style side scroller that is pretty fun to play but
really won't keep you coming back to play.
Graphically The Warriors looks ugly. Textures are washed out and the
characters hair uses some of the lowest polygon count seen in a game.
But all this adds to the dark and gritty atmosphere the game is going
for and it nails it. This is one of the most atmospheric games ever
made. But with all this praise there are some faults. The loading times
are pretty long and it's a pain that the game has to load every time
you die or mess up a mission. There are a few really frustrating parts
in the game that will keep you dying and it's a pain that it's got the
load the whole level over again every time you fail. Also, while the
sound is great sometimes it will cut out or not even play at all. It
doesn't help that the camera moves quickly and frequently during the
course of the game and the PSP screen tends to smear things when it
does this. It doesn't happen too often but it happens enough to where
you'll notice it. The games combo system isn't really specular either.
But all in all The Warriors is a great beat em' up with a great story
and any PSP owner should add to there collection. If you never got the
chance to play this on the consoles then the PSP version is well worth
your time.
