Armies of the Night
Oh, lord, we couldn't think of a better title for this review of The Warriors? Wait till you see how lazy the rest of the review is.
Published: March 18, 2007
Good Lawd, the Grand Theft Auto III engine has been so very, very good to Rockstar Games. Though heavily modified, it's served as the base for no less than three PS2 GTAs, a Manhunt (and soon a second), Bully and two separate PSP GTA -- which were then ported back over to the PS2. It's the very definition of getting the most bang out of a licensing buck.
It's also the base for the PS2 version of The Warriors, which, like its GTA brethren, has been converted surprisingly seamlessly to the PSP. The usual concessions like remapped controls, slightly longer load times and very, very slightly decreased visuals (hey, let's face it, the PS2 game wasn't necessarily a looker to begin with) apply of course, but Rockstar has managed to churn out a startling number of PS2-level development efforts on the PSP. The Warriors is no different -- so similar are they, in fact, that we're going to go the ultra-lazy route and just re-print the old review because it still holds true.
Think of it like a flashback episode of Saved by the Bell or Fresh Prince of Bel-Air -- but, y'know, with people cussing up a storm and beating the crap out of each other. Sort of like a behind-the-scenes episode of Blossom or The Golden Girls. Enjoy!
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You can harp on Rockstar for publishing games that function on a general bent toward the adult crowd, but when you decide to make a game based on a movie that came out in 1979, and was a cult hit at that, it's probably safe to say this is a game aimed squarely at that age 30 median that gamers are these days. Yes, that's right, the average age of a gamer is 30.
Those 30-somethings are likely to remember The Warriors the movie easier than, say, some 19 year-old living in Utah, but the underlying gameplay is what sells the game. Unlike Urban Reign or Beat Down, two games that tried to reignite the beat-em-up genre, The Warriors does none of that.
The combat system is simple yet deep enough to reward mixing things up, but it's the stuff surrounding the combat that thickens up the game experience. Ganking car stereos, uncuffing fellow gang members, picking locks, tagging walls, all these things are played out as micro-games of a sort, allowing you to use the different parts of the controller to pull off some simple tasks. It works wonderfully, and never really distracts from what's so fun about the game in the first place: kicking the snot out of other gang members.
Then there's the storyline that ties the whole thing together. Yes, this is a game based on the movie, but it's when the boys and girls up at Rockstar Toronto decided to craft a little fiction to fill in the blanks before the events of the movie that the game is its strongest. Charting everything from the history of how The Warriors were formed to the events that allowed them entry into the city-wide 60,000-strong mass gang meet where they would eventually be framed for murder is all here, and told with a great sense of pacing and style.
It's when the game finally does arrive at the bounds of the film's material that it actually falters a bit, feeling more tacked-on and rushed than the rest of the game. It's not a huge deal, but it is noticeable, if only because you actually want to get back to Coney where most of the game's down time takes place. By spending so much time getting you used to the grimey back alleys and drug pushers in your neighborhood, that sty feels like home, and when there's suddenly an army of gangs and 20 miles that you'll have to traverse on foot, home starts to feel very, very far away.
When it finally does come time to throw down, the game makes it plenty easy. You're given a light and strong attack which can be mixed up in various strings to keep up variety. Variety is good, since it maxes out your rage meter, which then makes your attacks stronger. Punches and kicks are all well and good, but grabbing someone either standing or down on the ground and wailing on them will work just as well, as will knocking them up against the wall and laying into them.
Most of the objects in the game world that would appear to be melee or distance weapons are; crutches, wrenches, pipes, pieces of wood, bats, beer bottles, molotov cocktails, and so on can be wielded at will, but break down quickly. Most can be thrown too, but for the most part the game centers on using your fists and feet, which can be augmented if you're running or sprinting into slightly more powerful attacks.
It's also the base for the PS2 version of The Warriors, which, like its GTA brethren, has been converted surprisingly seamlessly to the PSP. The usual concessions like remapped controls, slightly longer load times and very, very slightly decreased visuals (hey, let's face it, the PS2 game wasn't necessarily a looker to begin with) apply of course, but Rockstar has managed to churn out a startling number of PS2-level development efforts on the PSP. The Warriors is no different -- so similar are they, in fact, that we're going to go the ultra-lazy route and just re-print the old review because it still holds true.
Think of it like a flashback episode of Saved by the Bell or Fresh Prince of Bel-Air -- but, y'know, with people cussing up a storm and beating the crap out of each other. Sort of like a behind-the-scenes episode of Blossom or The Golden Girls. Enjoy!
---
You can harp on Rockstar for publishing games that function on a general bent toward the adult crowd, but when you decide to make a game based on a movie that came out in 1979, and was a cult hit at that, it's probably safe to say this is a game aimed squarely at that age 30 median that gamers are these days. Yes, that's right, the average age of a gamer is 30.
Those 30-somethings are likely to remember The Warriors the movie easier than, say, some 19 year-old living in Utah, but the underlying gameplay is what sells the game. Unlike Urban Reign or Beat Down, two games that tried to reignite the beat-em-up genre, The Warriors does none of that.
The combat system is simple yet deep enough to reward mixing things up, but it's the stuff surrounding the combat that thickens up the game experience. Ganking car stereos, uncuffing fellow gang members, picking locks, tagging walls, all these things are played out as micro-games of a sort, allowing you to use the different parts of the controller to pull off some simple tasks. It works wonderfully, and never really distracts from what's so fun about the game in the first place: kicking the snot out of other gang members.
Then there's the storyline that ties the whole thing together. Yes, this is a game based on the movie, but it's when the boys and girls up at Rockstar Toronto decided to craft a little fiction to fill in the blanks before the events of the movie that the game is its strongest. Charting everything from the history of how The Warriors were formed to the events that allowed them entry into the city-wide 60,000-strong mass gang meet where they would eventually be framed for murder is all here, and told with a great sense of pacing and style.
It's when the game finally does arrive at the bounds of the film's material that it actually falters a bit, feeling more tacked-on and rushed than the rest of the game. It's not a huge deal, but it is noticeable, if only because you actually want to get back to Coney where most of the game's down time takes place. By spending so much time getting you used to the grimey back alleys and drug pushers in your neighborhood, that sty feels like home, and when there's suddenly an army of gangs and 20 miles that you'll have to traverse on foot, home starts to feel very, very far away.
When it finally does come time to throw down, the game makes it plenty easy. You're given a light and strong attack which can be mixed up in various strings to keep up variety. Variety is good, since it maxes out your rage meter, which then makes your attacks stronger. Punches and kicks are all well and good, but grabbing someone either standing or down on the ground and wailing on them will work just as well, as will knocking them up against the wall and laying into them.
Most of the objects in the game world that would appear to be melee or distance weapons are; crutches, wrenches, pipes, pieces of wood, bats, beer bottles, molotov cocktails, and so on can be wielded at will, but break down quickly. Most can be thrown too, but for the most part the game centers on using your fists and feet, which can be augmented if you're running or sprinting into slightly more powerful attacks.
