Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires: Xbox 360 screenshots are very poor

Dynasty Warrior shots dissapoint

You'd be forgiven for thinking that these Xbox 360 screenshots of the upcoming Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires look awful. Initially, we thought that publisher's Koei had mixed up the PS2 ones with the Xbox 360 shots, then we took at look at the PS2 shots and they're even worse.

"Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires on Xbox 360 will be the most visually astounding game in the hugely popular Dynasty Warriors series to date." said Will Curley, KOEI UK Sales Manager.

Maybe based on the previous games they are, but certainly not in comparison to many of the Xbox 360 games we've already seen. Anyhow, I'm sure it's a great game, and it's the gameplay that counts, right?

Before you check these out, be sure to have a look at these screenshots from Ninety-Nine Nights on the Xbox 360. It's a similar type of game for the same console, out in Japan on April 20th and heading over to our shores at a yet undetermined date.

Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires will be released this summer on Xbox 360 and PS2.

Edit: Since activating this article we've received an interesting email from the chief editor of PS3 Portal. Head to the end of this article to read his comments

Click for larger image

Click for larger image

Email from Antony Hanses at PS3 Portal:

Any of the screenshots you see with Japanese text on them are from Dynasty Warriors 5 Special Edition in Japan and not Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires in the US. One of the things that is quite clear in the US release over the Japanese release is that they upped the texture quality of the armor warn by all units (yourself, allies, enemies, and all troops). It is still not up to par with other 360 games, but a lot better than the screenshots of the Japanese release show. In addition, its hard to tell, but it appears that the models in the 360 US release have slightly better models as well. This is a little bit clearer when viewed in the model database available in the game. Otherwise, yes, on one hand it is the prettiest Dynasty Warriors game released to date. On the other, it obviously does not tax the system. The biggest improvements I noticed were in the areas of draw distance and framerate. Not once yet, while playing on the US Xbox360 release, have I seen the framerate drop during combat or the draw distance start to encroach on me like it did on the PS2 releases.

Many thanks Antony, we're always happy to receive honest feedback.