The Warriors: Hands-on Preview

Kikizo dons its red leather jacket and takes to the streets to visit Rockstar for a hands-on preview of the upcoming movie licensed game. New gameplay videos inside!

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The gang needs a constant source of money for the health giving drug Flash, and for cans of spray paint for tagging up turf. Sources of income include mugging, looting and pinching car stereos, each of which is tackled with a simple analogue stick task. The standout is by far the tagging, whereby you trace the Warriors' 'W' tag over other gangs' graffiti, with a quickly intuitive feeling akin to those old buzzer-wire games.

The start of the game sees the Warriors at their base of operations in Coney Island, in which rival gang The Destroyers effectively prove to be your training wheels, as you get used to the fighting system and the game's other elements. This will be where you are taught about the strategic elements, as having 9 gang members to baby-sit could prove difficult otherwise. They're kept in line through the use of 'War Chief' commands, a simple six-item menu, whereby you can order the other guys to follow you or stay put, watch your back, hide, fight or the brilliant 'Mayhem' mode, which sees the gang trashing everything in sight.

The Destroyers have been created especially for the game, but the fifteen gangs from the film will also make their presence felt, as of course will the police considering the vast amounts of petty larceny and violence in which you will partake. The police will be "the hardest gang of the lot", according to Rockstar, so you might want to avoid them if you can, using the War Chief 'Scatter' command to hide in nearby shadowy alleys.

This being a Rockstar game, it obviously has a very strong sense of style, even if that style is from the end of the 1970s, and 'style' perhaps isn't the most accurate description of that era's fashion and music tastes. 'Authentic' might be the better word to use: all the Warriors look the part, though perhaps a little rough round the edges at this stage (though that has become an almost endearing quality in the GTA series), and all the music comes straight from the film's soundtrack.

It's even integrated into the game in a smart way, as your Warriors can stroll around casually, carrying a 70's sized (e.g. four times bigger than your head) beat box, with the volume cranked to 11. If it takes your fancy, you can even use it as a weapon, much as we did when we put it through the face of one very unfortunate Destroyer.

One element of the game we didn't get the chance to look at, but which piqued our interest, was the co-operative mode. This is an essential feature that most 3D brawlers (OK we're using that term now) have failed to include. Double Dragon, Final Fight and Streets of Rage all had this element, and arguably it was at least a part of their success; something to help break up the otherwise repetitive nature. The Warriors should be no less different, with 2 players able to take part in team up attacks, trade playful punches, and even split up to do their own thing (the screen splits in half when you're apart).

From the brief time we've had with it, The Warriors shows much potential, and could turn out to be the benchmark for future 3D brawlers. Hopefully, come the October 21st release date, our fears about some of the potential downfalls this game could have, will be well and truly forgotten, and there will finally be a 3D scrolling fighter worthy of more than ten minutes of everybody's time.

Stephen Rowley
Staff Writer, Kikizo Games

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