It's the oldest story in the gaming industry. A company finds a successful formula and sticks with it. Numerous sequels are released, each with its own twists and turns in hopes of keeping things fresh. More often than not this ends in disaster, such as the slow demise of the Tomb Raider series. Other times there is success. Koei's Dynasty Warriors series is one of these success stories. Even though the basic formula hasn't changed since the game's first outing on the PS2, each successive sequel has only improved things. Samurai Warriors, which isn't officially part of the Dynasty series, follows the same formula but makes enough changes to help elevate the game.

The one technical advance Dynasty Warriors had over other games was the sheer amount of onscreen characters the game was able to generate. At any given time, there were nearly 30-40 soldiers onscreen at once. This technical achievement also finds its way over to Samurai Warriors. It is crazy when you see just how much is going on at once; one group of soldiers charges at you with swords, another with pikes; meanwhile you're unleashing a massive power move and clearing away another group that has surrounded you. Granted, there is a bit of a draw distance problem that keeps some soldiers invisible to you, but with everything else going on, you're likely to not notice that. Best of all, everything is crisp and fluid without any noticeable drop in frame rate. Character models are finely detailed as well are really nice to look at. Even the minor scrubs you kick around with ease look nice. Locations are also well done and reflect the look of ancient Japan.

Both the soundtrack and sound effects are good, but the thing that is likely to get the most attention from a select group of people is that you can select between both the Japanese and English voice tracks. Personally, I could care less about this, but you'd be surprised with just how many people get excited over this option. Of course, after listening to the English dialog, which is a little cheesy, I can see why they'd want to hear the Japanese tracks.

Samurai Warriors takes the Dynasty Warriors formula, transports it to Japan and juices it up with new features. RPG elements make up a bulk of the new features, which include the option to mold your character to fit your fighting style by purchasing elemental attacks and special moves. The number of points you get to spend is based on how well you do in each mission. Each of the game's 15 characters has about 28 different skills and around eight elemental attacks that can be tagged to the end of combos. There's no real limit to how much enhancement your character can receive (outside earning all the skills and attacks), which encourages you to play through the game multiple times to maximize your character.

The main game is broken up into six gameplay modes. Story is the main mode where you follow 15 characters on their individual story arcs. During this mode you can also have a friend join you for co-op action. As you progress through this mode, you'll unlock new playable characters as well as new items and skills. New Officer mode lets you create you own character or bodyguard to take into battle. In Free mode you can play through any previously beaten Story scenario with a different character. Versus mode pits you against a friend in a one-on-one melee. Challenge mode is a training session that helps you to get acquainted with the various facets of the game like combat, horse riding and shooting arrows. Rounding out everything is Survival mode. Here you enter a tower and clear out each floor before you die or time runs out. After completing your run, you will be given a code that you can enter at a game ranking site. After inputting the code, you can see how you stack up against other players in an online ranking system. While this doesn't make up for true online gameplay, it is still cool for bragging rights.

Samurai Warriors provides a slightly smarter challenge that its predecessors. The game isn't really hard, but it is not something you'll be able to hack through in a weekend either. Action is fast-paced and intense -- so those looking for a slower game may not find it here. RPG-like character elements help to balance out the ramping difficulty.

As mundane an improvement as it may sound, horses can now jump and do damage to units they land on. Those who have played Dynasty Warriors will appreciate this since it adds a new level to strategy when riding a horse.

The rest of the control scheme is handled well and feels very natural. Dynasty Warriors vets will probably jump into the fray with a little more ease, but anyone should be able to pick up the controls and fight off hordes of enemies within minutes. The only control problem I found was the lack of camera controls. Pressing R3 will switch the camera between three fixed locations, but sometimes these angles aren't enough when surrounded by enemies and stuck in a corner. A more free flowing camera would have helped.

The biggest thing Samurai Warriors has going for it is its addictive nature. Once you stop playing, it's hard to stop and the hours will pass by like nothing. The title may not say Dynasty Warriors on it, but fans of the series should definitely pick this one up. Non-fans looking for a fast-paced action game may also find something to like.