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> Results: Samurai Warriors: State of War
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Samurai Warriors: State of War is the second ﾑWarriors' fighting game for the PSP. It shifts focus to include more tactics and plot alongside the non-stop action. Giving you the choice of several samurai heroes from a number of feudal clans, the game introduces each campaign with a story before dropping you at the map. From the map you move a number of spaces and engage in battle, choosing one of several objectives. You capture or lose territory depending on the outcome. Battles consist of several clusters of enemies centered on one or more leaders. Your success in battle is scored in real-time and summarized at the end of the battle, and the balance of power between clans is shown in messages over the updated map.
Each victory in battle earns you charms and advances, and each campaign unlocks new campaigns and warlords. Yet for all of this seeming depth, the game maps offer little variety. Despite the wide variety of objectives and weapons and charms, there is little variation when it comes to battling through the endless waves of enemies, ultimately resulting in a mindless hack-and-slash march through generic and unremarkable clan wars. The combat is fun in short bursts, but isn't particularly satisfying nor is it deep enough to maintain interest even for the cost of a rental.  
The non-stop action of Samurai Warriors: State of War is violent and frenetic, but it isn't brutal or gory. The constant combat never becomes too intense, as defeated enemies fall and disappear as if knocked out rather than killed. The only interactions are scripted dialogues between the warlords of a clan prior to a campaign, and those contain only light-hearted barbs between comrades. There are none of the cutscenes of the console games and no real designation of clans as good or bad, except as the warlords see other clans compared to themselves. The turn-based elements provide no real opportunity to develop strategies, nor do the historical elements and occasional references to actual places make for an educational experience. It's all merely background used to set up the endless stream of hack and slash. Based on the level of violence and the lack of anything but combat this is best for ages 10+, if you must buy it at all.
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