Where would Koei be without Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the ancient Chinese novel chronicling a particularly war-torn era in Chinese history? For years now, the Japanese developer has crafted historically themed games that draw upon the richness of this timeless book for their inspiration. But the source work for Koei's extremely popular Dynasty Warriors series of hack-and-slash action games, as well as a couple of the company's other well-known series, obviously is not what informed its upcoming game, Samurai Warriors. Though it will feature gameplay that's highly reminiscent of the recent Dynasty Warriors titles, Samurai Warriors takes place not in ancient China but in 16th-century Japan, and it lets you assume the role of one of its legendary, historical warriors (and a few made-up ones) in epic action sequences. The game is slated for release this March in North America, and we recently got our hands on a near-final build of the Japanese version to get a taste of it.

　　The ninja Hanzo Hattori is one of five initially selectable characters who'll fight their way through feudal Japan in Samurai Warriors.

　　For what's basically a hack-and-slash action game, Samurai Warriors sure features a lot of menus. Let us state plainly that this is one import-unfriendly game, as it's layered with tons of gameplay options that belie the relative simplicity of the action itself. The core action is a one- or two-player game in which you run around in heavily defended enemy compounds, smashing through dozens of enemy soldiers and occasionally their commanders. Sound familiar? Clearly, Samurai Warriors seeks to capitalize on the strengths of the Dynasty Warriors series but transplant the action in a new setting. So the fundamentals here will be pretty familiar to Dynasty Warriors fans. You'll still be heavily outnumbered, though computer-controlled "officers" can help you in your desperate struggle. The gameplay is still relatively repetitive in nature, though what seems like tons of unlockable features and lots and lots of breadth should keep the game engaging over the long haul. Specifically, Koei promises more than 500 dynamic mission variations spread across more than 90 different stages--that's an awful lot for an action game, though truthfully, these are all close variations on a theme.

　　Obviously, Samurai Warriors will feature an arsenal of weapons that's distinct from that of Dynasty Warriors. Traditional Japanese weaponry such as katanas and shuriken will of course be available, as well as some more-esoteric weapons, such as the kusarigama--the sickle-and-chain. Five characters are initially available, though others can be unlocked. Perhaps the most recognizable of these is the ninja Hanzo Hattori, who is also featured in SNK's Samurai Shodown series of fighting games. Though he's based on a historical character, unsurprisingly, Samurai Warriors depicts Hanzo as an extremely powerful and fast warrior, who, like the game's other characters, has certain mystical abilities in addition to a tireless sword arm. Each character has a slightly different arsenal of moves, overall, but all of them can use normal attacks to string together basic combos, as well as unique charge attacks. They can parry and evade and can use long-range weaponry. Occasionally, they can also enter into "musou mode," which allows them to dish out even more damage.

　　As mentioned, the game features a whole bunch of different modes and options. These include the story mode, for one or two players; the free mode, for one or two players, which lets you choose from the scenarios you've unlocked; the new officer mode, in which you can create and train an AI officer to fight at your side; two different types of time-limited survival modes; a versus mode; and a challenge mode, in which you can hone your skills. That's a lot of variety, and the basic mechanics of the game are accessible and have a good, solid feel to them. No wonder, since Koei's been honing this particular style of gameplay for years now.

　　There isn't a ton of detail in the graphics, but there are tons of enemies onscreen, and the frame rate stays smooth.

　　Samurai Warriors doesn't take itself too seriously despite its historical setting. For instance, one of the playable characters is your token cute anime ninja girl, who doesn't necessarily seem to fit in with the time period but isn't such a surprise to see in a game like this. At any rate, Koei's historically based games generally do not attempt to give you a history lesson so much as to draw upon real events to create rich and exciting settings for games. This is going to be one of those games where you'll know what to expect if you've had previous experience with Dynasty Warriors. But there's nothing wrong with giving the people what they wish for. When the game was unveiled late last year, Koei president Keiko Erikawa announced that Samurai Warriors was being created based on popular demand: "We hope to release this title as a reply to the passionate requests by fans." Fans need not wait much longer for Koei to take them to an action-packed, feudal Japan, exclusively on the PS2.