If you remember the adrenaline pounding scene from Tarintino's Kill Bill where Uma Thurman slices and dices through the Crazy 88's, Warriors: Orochi has a treat for you; over and over again. Koei has done the impossible, recreating that scene so often that it numbs you into mindless drooling. The game may the be the very first action-packed insomnia cure, leaving many a gamer dozing off in front of their televisions in under an hour. Battling never-ending hordes of enemies has never seemed so lame, or pointless.
The game offers only two modes, story mode or free play. They are unfortunately too similar; with the only notable difference is the free play's allowance to pick your three fighters from any of the four forces. Aside from story mode's strict reliance on playing with the characters pertaining to the force's story you are playing through, the gameplay is the same in each. Your challenge is to battle the evil Serpent King, who has somehow folded time to bring together three generations of warriors. Your task is to take control of the three generations of fighters to end the King's reign of terror.
The game's most glaring issue, repetition, comes from a simplistic control scheme that leaves little to no room for combos. The 'X' button is used for 'normal' attacks, and will get the most use in-game. The levels are all just about the same, with large swarms of baddies running at you like lambs to the slaughter. Most times when a massive swarm running at you in a two-by-two line, a quick press of the 'Y' button, for a 'charge attack', will slice through the entire swarm nicely. None of the regular henchmen put up any sort of fight, making a thumb-cramp the only thing standing between you and utter annihilation of the majority of baddies in the game. Boredom and enemies with names floating over their heads are the only items in the game that put up a decent effort at stopping you from completing the game in one sitting.
The more difficult enemies may require some use of the other two battle buttons. The right bumper and 'B' button each unleash their own brand of special attacks, both requiring your character's 'musou meter' to be charged. While the tougher baddies will attempt to block your regular attacks, most are no match for your special, more powerful, moves. The game also assigns a 'block' move to the left bumper, but your left index finger will not see much action in this title. The only time even these stronger baddies put up much of a challenge is when you make the mistake of forgetting to clear them before moving on to a new swarm. Blow off enough mini-bosses, and you will essentially create a small swarm made up of only them, as they will slowly follow you through the game. When this happens, you may finally see what death looks like in the game.
The game attempts to hold your interest through the mind-numbing levels by offering you a small gang of three fighters to use as you wish. The game makes only your current character active and fighting on screen, while the other two evidently hide in your pocket at watch. Since the game smartly gives each fighter their own set of weapons and killer martial arts battle moves, you would expect to need to switch from one character to the next for strategic reasons. Sadly, that could not be further from the truth. Despite the flashy-looking different fighting styles, the only reason you will need to jump from one character to the next is either out of complete boredom or because the current fighter is near death.
