Deadliest Warrior: Ancient Combat – Legends Only

[gameinfo title=”Game Info” game_name=”Deadliest Warrior: Ancient Combat” developers=”Pipeworks Software” publishers=”345 Games” platforms=”Xbox 360″ genres=”Fighting” release_date=”Out Now”]

Deadliest Warrior: Ancient Combat is a collection of both Deadliest Warrior and Deadliest Warrior: Legends that were released on XBLA last year. DW: AC includes the original games and all DLC for both games along with a few new exclusives for this retail title.

In case you didn’t know, Deadliest Warrior is a show on Spike TV where the warriors and the weapons these warriors would have used are studied and then pitted against each other in a computer simulated fight to the death. For example, taking a look at a pirate, what weapons they used and pitting them in a simulated fight against a ninja and the weapons they used. That’s where this game comes in.

The first game, Deadliest Warrior, has you choosing a fighter such as a Spartan, Pirate, Samurai and others. You’ll fight one one on to the death. Where this games differs from others is it’s dismemberment engine. At any point during the fight you may ended up cutting off a limb of your opponent and when your opponent is low on health, you may even decapitate them. Although that is pretty cool, the combat is a little shallow, with there being very few attacks and combos available. Your attacks are the basics of high, mid, low and a ranged attack. DW offers free roam combat which is interesting but it’s not really taken advantage of until DW: Legends, which we’ll get to later.

There’s really not much that Deadliest Warrior offers that you have not seen, offering you an Arcade, Online and Challenge modes. The ability to unlock new weapons and armor are there as well and being able to change melee weapons in the middle of a fight are nice but, not much more then that. DW: Legends does a much, much better job of offering you something new and kind of enjoyable.

DW: Legends improves upon the orginal idea of Deadliest Warrior. You still have numerous weapons to use and unlock, as well as armor. The dismemberment engine is still here and used even better then before. Now there is no health bar, and death stroke can happen at just about anytime. Swing your weapon of choice at the right time and you can decapitate your opponent early in the match. Time an attack even better and completely cut your opponent in half. Your ranged attacks can now end in sudden death as well. Many times I stopped an opponent in their tracks with a well placed arrow between the eyes.

The fighters are no longer nondescript characters but now legends of the past, hence the name of the game. You’ll be able to choose between such legends as William Wallace, Hannibal, Alexander the Great and more. Each legend now has their own stage that is set around their time and environment. The stages now have environmental hazards for your use during the match. This is where the free roam combat gets some use as you can position opponent near a cliff or chasm. then when they get near knock them off balance, or simply push them in.

The grapple system is a new feature to Legends and a welcome one. Simply press the “grab” button to start a grapple, once it starts you choose between three buttons. If you’re the one that start the grapple, then your opponent has to match the button you press or face a broken limb or death. If they choose the same button as you then they break free of the grapple.

The combat is smoother and slightly exciting in Legends, with slightly deeper combos and more fluid animations then the previous installment. Not excellent but definitely an improvement. Fun times can be had, but how many times you’ll come back for that fun are still to be determined. There’s no story told to go along with each Legend, nor is there an ending in Arcade mode.

There is also a small and pretty bland strategy mode called Generals. You’re given a certain number of troops per turn and you move them throughout a map conquering “areas” with little more then a math equation. I have eight tropps you have 6, I win. You face off against your opponent general when taking a castle, but that’s the only time.

The retail version also comes with a dvd of a couple shows, extra and some behind the scenes stuff for the show and that’s it. Deadliest Warrior: Ancient Combat is simply about bloodshed and the anticipation of when the next limb or head will be lost. Deadliest Warrior is nowhere near as enjoyable as DW: Legends which will have you ask why by both when you can buy the obviously superior one for half the price of the retail version.