KOEI today announced that its PS2 action/strategy game Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires, developed by Omega Force, has shipped to retail.
Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires introduces a new stage and strategy system to the series where the game opens with a map of Ancient China, fractured into 24 different regions. Players start with one region, and then choose another region to invade or defend. Officers will recommend a strategy or policy, and then combat begins. Victory goes to the first warrior who unifies all 24 regions under a single kingdom.
The game also combines the multiplayer action of Dynasty Warriors 4's Versus and Challenge Modes, where players can send attacking soldiers to the opposing player's screen by knocking out enemies with a Musou attack.
The advanced Character Edit mode triples the number of character models and voices players can use to create their own warrior, plus player-created warriors can use any weapon in the game. There are also new playable warriors and more officer abilities- from powerful new Charge attacks to taunting "Challenges."
