One Piece: Pirate Warriors | "DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!"

Now, I could make a couple of REALLY corny piracy jokes about the US version of this hit game NOT being available on a disc, meaning the poor digital pirates can’t even play the game they don’t want to buy or something like that, but I won’t. Anyway, One Piece Pirate Warriors, the latest anime franchise to go the Dynasty Warriors route id out NOW and quite spectacular stuff. As for why it’s not a CD in a case, well… among other things, mega-success in Japan doesn’t always translate to that same number of sales here and yes, anime games like One Piece are indeed a niche inside of a niche (or much smaller than than even the most rabid fan would want to know), so here we are. Granted, it’s another sad case of some people being able to play this instant classic, and some that can’t even if they wanted to.

It’s the current economy more than it is Namco Bandai wanting to piss you off, folks. That said, the move to digital is becoming a bigger problem as more games head that way without letting fans in on why, so I hope the powers that be in the industry in general finally quit it with the smoke and mirrors and “everyone is downloading!” crap and get into letting people with money but crappy online connections have the means to BUY their games instead of complaining that they can’t do so.

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.

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