Warriors is an RPG, but not the typical turn-based fare, it’s an action-RPG. You play as Alleron, a giant warrior, who has been accused of Necromancy, the darkest of the dark arts (according to the game). Alleron is forced to don the “Mask of the Accused”, a mask that slithers around as if it’s alive, and once worn is impossible to remove. To make matters worse, after being forced to wear the mask, you are dropped into a deep dark dungeon with no weapons or armor. After picking up a bone (Return of the Jedi?) and fighting off some monsters, you are on your way through the first dungeon.

This game originally appeared on the Playstation, and has been retooled for to take advantage of the Playstation2. This means both good and bad things are in store for the game’s graphics. The good thing is that it looks better than the original, there’s improved lighting effects, and better textures. The bad thing is that it’s nothing more than a pretty looking Playstation game. The textures, while better than before, are still poor. Every room tends to look the same, every board, every barrel, it makes it very tough to navigate the large levels when all the rooms look the same. Making everything look even worse is the horrendous framerate through out the game. The entire game seemed to be chugging along at 15 fps, getting worse any time the camera moved, or several enemies appeared on screen.

The character models are well done, and hold up nicely when examined closely. The bad guys had better look good, because you will see them over and over again. Endless droves of zombies, slugs and skeletons appear for you to fight, and they all look the same. Your character, Alleron, is nicely detailed, and unlike the enemies, his appearance varies through out the game. If Alleron gains a new shield or weapon, it’s easy to see it reflected in his on screen appearance. This makes it very easy to see exactly what he’s got equipped just by looking at him, saving you a trip to the menu screen to check.

Putting the final nail in the coffin for Warrior’s graphics is the miserable camera. Adding a feisty camera to the game’s bland textures and poor framerate, makes the game a chore. The right analog stick allows you to rotate the camera, but it’s difficult to find the right camera angle for even the most simple tasks. The camera can be manageable in large rooms, but in small rooms that have only a short area to turn around, the camera will get you killed. I often found myself getting destroyed by an enemy that I couldn’t even turn to face. The R2 button does allow you to lock onto enemies, but it you can’t see them in the first place, you’re not going to lock on.

Warriors Of Might And Magic has some decent sound, but just like the graphics, it’s got some problems. The voice acting is better than what I’d expected, it’s not going to be nominated for any awards, but it’s much better than what I feared would be in the game. Alleron likes to talk to himself from time to time, pondering how he will get out of a particular situation, I guess this is to tell you that you’re on the right track, but it’s not too helpful. There’s some background music that helps set a creepy tone, but it’s not very good music. The various monsters and enemies that appear throughout the game offer up a series of feeble grunts and yells that really only serve to tell you that there’s an enemy around the corner. The presence of subtitles for spoken dialogue allows you to play the game with sound turned down without missing any of the game’s story, and after the repetitive sound effects, you’ll likely be taking this option.

Run around, collect gold, health, and new items. Run around, collect gold, health and new items. Run arou- okay, you get the idea. The game is repetitive, and unoriginal. When you are first dropped into the game, you’re objective is unknown. You assume it’s to get out of the dungeon, but you don’t know for sure. After wandering around aimlessly, it is revealed to you that, sure enough, you need to get out of the dungeon. Stopping you from escaping are some slow zombies, and some really elementary puzzles. Are we to the point where pulling a lever isn’t even considered a puzzle anymore? I thought we were, but games like this keeping bringing it back to challenge your mind.

Available to help you in your quest are upgradeable weapons, which can be obtained by finding them, or purchasing them with the gold you are constantly collecting. As you find a weapon, it is instantly equipped, which saves you the hassle of having to change it yourself. Armor and shields are acquired the same way during the game. Finding and equipping the weapons is easy enough, so you’d think that controlling the guy that uses them would be the same. You’d be dead wrong of course, controlling your muscle-bound hero is much more of a chore than it should be. The left analog stick moves him, and that’s where the simplicity ends. There’s two different attack buttons, a jump button, a cast button, each directional pad button brings up a different view, L1 blocks, R1 picks up items, R2 locks on, and god only knows what L2 does, I’ve confused myself again. What this means is that you’ll constantly be fumbling with the controls at the most inopportune times. The game isn’t difficult on its own, and a game shouldn’t be hard because it is difficult to control, but it seems 3DO feels otherwise.

Clunky controls could have been more of a detriment to the game if it weren’t for its pathetic AI. There aren’t any Ivy League graduates among the throngs of enemies, that’s for sure. They will plod around the room, grunting and yelling, until you get close enough to attract their attention. Then they slowly attack with the same pattern, making them very easy to kill. Strike, block, strike, remember this pattern, and you’ll go far in this game. Throw in a bit of magic from across the room when there are more enemies than you can handle, repeat for a few hours, and the game’s over.

If you can force yourself through the game once, consider yourself lucky. If you can stomach it a second time, you’ve got too much free time on your hands. The game’s main problem is that it does absolutely nothing new, and the things it “borrows” from other games, it doesn’t do well. This leaves the game with little to no replay value. If you’ve got money burning a hole in your pocket go pick up Onimusha, and if you’re really curious about this game, rent it first. Even as a rental, this game isn’t worth your time or money.