The Warriors: First Impressions

Rockstar unveils its first licensed game, and it's a classic tale of men-in-colours bopping heads. Can you dig it?

It's fitting that Rockstar invited us to see its newest game in the vibrant St Martins Lane Hotel in London's Covent Garden. The hotel, owned by Studio 54 founder Ian Schrager and designed by French designer Philippe Starck, is a disconcerting place where merely standing in the lobby for half an hour can make you feel overwhelmed. Schrager's iconic nightclub was a fixture of the seedy New York of the '70s, and it's precisely this vibe that Rockstar Toronto is hoping to tap into for its upcoming PlayStation 2 title The Warriors.

At first, The Warriors seems like a strange movie for Rockstar to associate itself with. Besides the fact that this is Rockstar's first license, it's also one that the company has been sitting on for seven years, almost since the company's inception. Walter Hill's 1979 movie tells the story of a gang known as The Warriors who are falsely accused of murdering a messianic figure named Cyrus at a gathering of New York City's sea of gangs. Faced with an angry horde of bloodthirsty gang members, The Warriors set off on a 27-mile trek across the city to their turf at Coney Island.

But that's getting ahead of things. The game actually picks up the story well before the fatal shooting that kicks off the movie. You'll have nearly half the game to get to know the nine Warriors before the game and movie start to overlap. These early stages serve multiple roles, the most important of which are getting you attuned to the deep-as-you-want-it combat system and giving you the chance to become acquainted with the Warriors, as you switch between them at scripted points in the story.

The combat system is superficially slanted towards button mashing. Punches, kicks, weapon attacks and grapples are context sensitive, relying on combinations of face button presses. During the game, your characters, which are divvied up into three different fighting styles, will learn different moves. And then there's the Rage meter. This fills as you attack enemies and once primed opens up Rage mode, where time slows and you can perform the most vicious takedowns.

Speaking of violence, there's loads of it. Enemies become visibly damaged as you pummel away, and you can do many different stomach-churning attacks, including bashing enemies' heads into pavement and stomping on their faces and groins. You'll learn more of these violent attacks as you make it closer to Coney Island and each of the Warriors has something different to offer.

There's more to the combat system than just bludgeoning, though. As you constantly find yourself on the turf of hostile gangs out to get you for Cyrus's murder, stealth becomes an important component. It's not something that you have to do, and if you really want to try to take everyone on you can, but since some areas are brimming with nasties with but one goal - that would be your demise - you'll be well served sticking to the shadows, snapping the necks of the unsuspecting.

During certain parts of the game you'll also be able to give basic commands to other members of your gang. The nine members aren't together all the time, with the divisions most likely defined by the story (it's not clear yet), allowing you to play multiple branches and come up against more of the colourful gangs in the city. The squad commands are basic and the AI, at least at this point, looks serviceable at best. Your colleagues might not be able to take care of themselves all the time, but they don't just roll over either.

Where The Warriors strays most noticeably from the better-known residents of the Rockstar stable is in its linearity. There's little freedom to be found here. Rather you'll be funnelled along a determined path - hardly surprising since you are, after all, trying to get your gang back to Coney Island in one piece.

Gameplay is mission based, with missions chosen from a central hangout that seems to be a sort of purgatory for when you're not on the ground passing through the turf of other gangs (it's another component frustratingly muddy at this point). Once in a mission, there is limited freedom in how you proceed, and it is most obvious in stages where stealth is the better choice. Presented with an entrance and an exit in each neighbourhood, you make your way to defined waypoints, inching closer and closer to your final destination.

Without being able to go hands-on with the game, it's hard to tell how The Warriors plays, but it's clear that a lot of work has gone into making the city faithful to the grime and decay that characterized New York of the late '70s. There's a wonderful oppressiveness to everything, with tagged buildings and the detritus of inner city life scattered everywhere - most of which can conveniently be used for attacks.

We also didn't get to see enough of the gangs that will star alongside the city. It's unclear how many of them will be in the game, but the main ones are sure to be there, including the hilariously camp Baseball Furies, the bald, brutish Turnbulls ACs and, if we're luck, the lesbian-tinged Lizzies. Major story points are told through cinematic clips, such as the one that recreates Cyrus's famous death scene, and which is hauntingly reminiscent of the movie.

Our principle concerns right now are tied to the intertwined issues of combat and game length. The combat is deep and it is sure to keep you engrossed, but for how long? From what little we've seen, The Warriors seems to provide an experience that, if it drags on, no one will see through to the end. And since the whole point of The Warriors is getting them back to their cosy environs amid the roller coasters and hotdog stands at Coney Island, that would be a shame. That said, The Warriors is a brutal and campy street opera for fans and neophytes alike, and with deliberate balance Rockstar could be on to another winner.

The Warriors will be released only on PlayStation 2 on October 21st.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games