Some games are better off left in Japan.
Samurai Warriors 3 is the third installment in the Samurai Warriors series and the first to be released on a Nintendo platform. Even though Tecmo Koei and Omega Force have handled the distribution and development of past games, Nintendo got its hands on Samurai Warriors 3 and published the game in territories outside of Japan. For those expecting the game to be at the same standard as many of Nintendo's other games, they will be disappointed to hear that Samurai Warriors 3 is a horrid entry into the Wii's ever-growing library of games.
Samurai Warriors 3 is a fast-paced action game in which players make their way through hordes of enemies in order to complete a set of objectives. The game focuses on the unification of Japan. There are more than 35 different characters playable, each of which has their own unique skills and weapons, as well as their own perspective on the game's story. This adds some extra incentive to try out each of the game's characters, though it would have been nice if the story was a little more interesting and less predictable.
Aside from the story mode, Samurai Warriors 3 also plays host to numerous other modes such as the "Murasame Castle" mode, which is based off of The Mysterious Murasame Castle, a game originally designed for the Famicom Disk System by Nintendo. This is mode allows players to use a character that they have unlocked or one that they have made battle cooperatively via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection with other games around the world. While this recreation of the original Famicom game is a nice addition to the package, it, like the rest of the game, becomes incredibly repetitive and lackluster after a short period of time due to its similarity to the main adventure. The core concepts are identical with the missions playing out like the ones in the rest of the game. The only reason why one might want to try this mode out is as a noveltly, to see what the Japan-only Famicom game was like.
Samurai Warriors 3's biggest fault is that the gameplay becomes tedious very quickly. Even thought the thought of blowing through hundreds of enemies might seem a little interesting at first, players will quickly discover that it is not. There are only so many waves of enemies you can wipe out before you feel as though you have lost your incentive to play. It would have been nice to see some variation in the gameplay to make it feel somewhat more engaging and enjoyable.
The gameplay is not the game's only fault, the graphics also leave much to be desired. It runs at 30 frames-per-second, which could come as a disappointment to some gamers. Samurai Warriors 3 also suffers from muddy textures, as well as bland and uninspired visuals. For those looking for a visually impressive game, Samurai Warriors 3 will end up as a disappointment.
The game does, have one feature that is satisfactory. The game can be controlled with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, the Classic Controller, the Classic Controller Pro, or the Nintendo GameCube Controller. All of the control schemes work adequately, and the variety of control methods is nice.
There are also a fair amount of unlockables, the chief among them being the numerous playable characters. While you will have to endure the game's horrible gameplay in order to gain access to this content, those who stick to the game will ultimately be rewarded with a rather satisfying game. Hardcore fans of the genre might be able to have some fun with the game, but for everyone else, it would be wise to look into some of the Wii's other titles.