Namco Bandai and Koei Tecmo’s Omega Force team up once more for hard-hitting multiple enemy on screen massiveness, but this time, it’s the cult hit One Piece getting the full-on Sengoku Musou treatment. One Piece: Pirate Warriors takes the familiar Dynasty Warriors formula and kicks it up a few notches with the show’s trademark oddball humor, some excellent visuals and gameplay that’s actually a lot more dynamic and frantic than what’s usually found in the DW series. From the level I played as Luffy, everything clicks into place and PS3 owners who can download this game should absolutely put this one on their radars. Controls are solid, with specific combos needed to pull off certain moves and yes, there’s a killer special attack you can unleash once that meter is filled. Enemies aren’t shy about batting you around the map if you’re too slow, a good thing for players who like a bit of challenge.

The area I got to try seemed to be from the beginning of the game, as it required pulling off strings of attacks shown on screen in order to progress to a pretty wild boss battle. While the big guy that powered onto the scene wasn’t too hard to defeat, what made the sequence memorable was the combination of quick time events and extended cut scene that ended the battle. The game looks fantastic in screen shots, but in motion, you’ll almost think you’re playing an interactive anime. Even with all sorts of crazy effects going on and multiple enemies on screen, I didn’t notice any major graphics quirks and thanks to a lock on targeting system, you shouldn’t get lost in all that chaos. The ever busy (and almost always great) Omega Force is clearly at the top of their game here and fans will be blown away by the look, feel and non-stop pacing on display. The game sticks with the original Japanese voices with English subtitles added, so yes, you purists will find no dubbing to wreck your eardrums. I don’t mind either way as long as a game is good, but it’s another way for the publisher to save money better spent elsewhere. That and hell, it’s too easy to pick out who voices who in dubbed games, given that the talent pool isn’t broader.

Like any good Warriors game, you can expect a healthy amount of playable characters from the show, lots of areas to do battle in and pretty much endless replay value for the money. Even if you have no interest in One Piece, the game is so inviting to dive into that it’ll probably make even the most anime-hating fool want to pick up a controller.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you that you’ll become addicted to both the craziness of the show, but the gameplay here is just plain FUN. Given that in Japan, Famitsu awarded the game 36 out of 40 points and it seems to have done quite well, I’d say that this will be a huge hit stateside when it rolls exclusively onto PSN in the US on September 25. Sorry, Xbox 360 owners… well, you DO have Dragon Ball Z Kinect all to yourselves, so I guess that’s some consolation. Seriously. It’s actually fun as well as some pretty good fan service, as you’ll read once I post my preview later this week.

Anyway, yes, I know, I know… that disc-less dictate is still a no deal to some of you reading this. The only caveat in this era of budget-conscious game publishers and an ongoing recession is the game is a digital-only release at this point even though it got a big retail release in Japan, even netting a special PS3 to commemorate the show’s 15th anniversary. Granted, One Piece wasn’t exactly a household name here and Japan tends to cough up boxed sets for all sorts of games you’d never expect. I’m gathering that the PSN-only US version is being done to save money (as far as I know, you can’t overproduce digital code, but you CAN overproduce discs). Nevertheless, it’s still a kick to the head of One Piece fans who may not yet have PSN access (or simply no longer or never have) for any number of reasons.

That said, I’d hope that the digital version does well enough that Namco Bandai decides to go the disc route as well, even if its a single pressing sold only through their online store. That would keep the price down to something reasonable, although I have no clue how other online retailers will react to being left out of the Luffy loop. Anyway, keep an eyeball peeled for One Piece: Pirate Warriors, as it’s definitely the best use of the Warriors style gameplay and action to date.