Deadliest Warrior: The Game

 Deadliest Warrior is a fighting game that is deep and requires a tactical approach. However, it forgets to tell you that, and proceeds to make a bad first impression.
 

I CAN NOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. Once you download the game, the first thing you must do is go into the settings and put the difficulty on "Normal" (lowest difficulty). It's default setting is "Hard". On hard, the computer plays aggressively and intelligently, while you're trying to find the block button. If you play it on hard without being familiar with the game, you will die. A lot. Quickly. I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH.

 
 
Lets go over the flaws first:

On the technical side of things, the game has 3 re-occurring issues that can be a problem.

-- The Universal Appache: For some reason in the VS loading screen it will occasionally show your character to be an apache, no matter what your selected character is. This isn't a big deal, but it is funny to see an apache with purple war paint and the word "PIRATE" under him. I think he's jealous because he and the viking are not in the game's cover.
-- Facing: Sometimes it can be difficult to survive an encounter because you started an attack combo, your enemy dodged, and now he is behind you and attacking. There is no fast or automatic way to re-orient yourself to block your enemies attacks. Your best response is to use the dodge (right stick) to get away and then face yourself in the right direction. Of course, you can do this to your enemy too.  
-- I nitial Loading screens: This one is a little weird. The loading screen for the first battle you fight in arcade mode will be about 2-3 minutes long. None of the others in arcade mode will. Any local multiplayer match where you have selected new characters will be about 2 minutes long, but other than that the loading time is normal.

 

In arcade mode it should be noticed that your going to find a lot of repetition. You'll fight those same eight warriors to get new weapons and armor. This is a fighting game, so it fights, a lot.

There are no real flaws in sound, the graphics are completely acceptable for a $10 game, and there is zero plot (you don't want one anyway).

 
The biggest flaw in the game is that they don't tell you anything, sure there is some stuff in the loading screen, but sometimes those aren't very descriptive, that and the how to play section can be difficult to follow. Here's the stuff they don't tell you.

--Each character's weapons require different strategies. Here's an example: The Spartan and his shield make him a very defensive player, but the shield and spear means he can keep his enemy far away, but if they get to close, they can cause problems. That's when you should switch to the short sword. It's much faster, and closer weapon. Keep your guard up, then when your enemy's guard is down unleash a combo and go back to the guard position. If you lose your shield you must completely change strategies. You must now be aggressive, close, and fast. You must flank your opponent and unleash combos in quick succession to win/survive.

--Regional body damage is the purpose behind high/med/low strikes. High strikes cause damage to the face and have more damage, med strikes damage the arms which renders shields, heavy weapons, and ranged weapons useless. Low strikes damage your legs and slow you down, and limit movement should they become broken.

--Stamina is the blue bar under the red health bar. Each dodge, block, and signature move (RB, on Spartan, is shield bash) takes away from it. The lower it gets, the weaker and slower your attacks are. If it gets to low while blocking, it causes a guard break which allows you to be struck without being able to block or run away.

--You can lose an arm and survive, It's funny to win a match with a one armed ninja and watch him do back-flips. It looks kinda bad ass. "It's just a flesh wound!""

--A broken or lost arm means that you can't change weapons, use ranged attacks, or preform special attacks.

--The "BOOM! Headshot!" rule still applies. You can start a match, and have an opponent hurl a spear through your eye. Killing you instantly. It looks awesome, even if it happens to you. If you have a shield, keep that shield up. If not, just remember: "If you can dodge a spear, you can dodge a ball."

--You should really change the difficulty setting to normal until you've played the arcade mode through a couple times and learned a character's move list.

--Yeah, so there's a move list. One way to find it is to hit start during a match and select "Move List". Don't worry, I missed it too. Also, it's different for each character. And may be specific to weapons too.

--A special move (not signature move) is a move which can cause a finisher, is unique to each character, and can do serious damage. It's at the bottom of the move list under "Alternate Attacks" and isn't the ranged one. It usually involves two buttons being pressed at the same time and slows down time, allowing for a dodge or counter if your opponent is quick.

Yeah. That's a lot. All of this info is scattered about, and had you known about it earlier, you might have been less frustrated.

 
 
Okay, now the pros.

--Is bloody fun. Severed limbs, heads rolling around, cinematic kill scenes, the black night achievement, taking a spear to the face. I like this game's gory fun more than Ninja Gaiden's limb fest.

--Is an intelligent fighter. Learning the move sets, using special attacks, emphasizing directional attacks, understanding regional damage, changing tactical approaches on the fly corresponding to weapons and damage, managing stamina, mixed with lethal blows at break neck speed make this game part fighting game, but also part mental puzzle.

--AI is not cheap, but refuses to be stupid. The AI at hard and deadliest difficulties will make only a few mistakes that you must exploit to all of their potential, and you must prevent the AI from exploiting you. You might even be able to cause a mistake or too, by inviting an attack, dodging, and attacking their flank.

--Never over till it's over. The games focus on lethality can allow you to pull out a victory from seemingly no where if you can get a combo or two on your opponent.

--Customization of weapons and armor is small in number, but large in significance. Changing the armor and weapons of some of the characters can have a dramatic effect on their playstyle. A viking can go from a defensive fighter with heavy attacks to a speedy fighter with quick attacks with a few changes in weapon and armor selection.

--Customize armor color. I like colors, and turtles.

--The pirate is funny. It sounds insignificant, but it's not. As this cigar smoking drunkard, you can kick people in the crotch, shoot them in the face, shoot them in the face with a blunderbuss, offer them a drink and say, "You want some?... F**k you!" Throw grenades at enemies, and be an all around jerk. It didn't happen more than once, but I swear to god that he said after a close and bloody victory, "I'm glad there aren't any ninjas around to see this."

Who should avoid  this game?

Hard core fighting enthusiasts. It's not deep enough or complex enough for something comparable to Street Fighter, Tekken, or Marvel v. Capcom 2. The character and move list selection is probably far to limited and simple in comparison.

Who will probably like this game?

Weapon-based fighting game fans... so... someone who played that Argonauts game that came out a while back and said, "hmmm... this game stinks, but I like the idea behind the fighing concept." This game has the combat system actually fleshed out. Also, anyone who doesn't mind a fighter that can be a simple bloody, gory, button masher at its easiest, but a fast paced, tactically complex game at hardest.

Conclusion:

The end result is that you have a great priced, bloody, weapon-focused fighter which is fun, difficult, and deep, but contains a few minor technical flaws. However, it makes a very bad first impression by denying you critical information through a lack of transparency, and then proceeds to throw you into the deep end of the blood filled pool. Overcome this barrier to entry and you have a good game, well worth it's price.