Samurai Warriors 2 is another chapter in the Dynasty Warriors / Samurai Warriors line. You get a warrior with a long weapon who bashes his way through thousands of enemies.

If you've played any of the Warriors saga, you know exactly what you're in for. A series of battles, based loosely on historical events in Japanese hisory. Gigantically huge groueps of enemies that you plow through, building up chained attacks to create sweeping blows, much like Sauron did in the introductory scene to Lord of the Rings. You find chests, items and power-ups lying around the field to give you extra powers. There are a few 'named characters' on the map to take down, but you're primarily sweeping through nameless minions.

There is some character customization here. First, you choose from amongst about 25 different characters, some which you unlock as you play. Then you can customize these characters as you build up their experience, to match your gameplay style. However, this isn't a RPG at all. This is a quick and easy hack and slash game. There are some people who will find this boring - or completely unnecessary given that there were many other Warriors games before this one. Do we really need another one with only slightly better graphics?

I happen to be one of those people who really loves this type of game. Yes, I enjoy the more complex, long epic games that you play for months, solving puzzles and advancing plotlines. However, sometimes I am just exhausted from work and want to do something mindless and immediately satisfying. I love the Japanese culture and really enjoy running around in a feudal Japanese environment, with my chosen-type bodyguards staying with me at every moment, blowing away thousands of enemies in a sweep. It's instant accomplishment, and if I only have 15 minutes to play, I can rack up a ton of kills in that time.

There's a new mini-game here, sort of like Samurai Monopoly, but I found it a little silly. I have enough other online boardgames that if that's what I want to do, I can do that with good graphics and gameplay. I'd rather that Samurai Warriors 2 put their spare time into other fun mini-games of the action variety, not into a board game. Still, I just don't play it. If other people enjoy that, have fun. It's like the cut scenes. They get really silly at times, so I just ignore them. It's the gameplay itself that I enjoy.

If you're looking for enemy destruction fun which is easy to learn and satisfying to play for short and long periods of time, then I definitely recommend Samurai Warriors 2. If you already have Samurai Warriors, if you play it a lot, then I'd suggest upgrading to this. It's more of the same fun, with a few extra features.

Buy Samurai Warriors 2 from Amazon.com