AMN's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
Samurai Warriors: Katana is the first foray for the ancient warriors on the Wii. The spin-off of the cult classic franchise, Dynasty Warriors, Katana is an arcade take on the beat-'em-up genre that has made Omega Force and Koei legends to their fans.

What's Hot
There are some gamers out there that are in love with everything Samurai/Dynasty Warriors, there is absolutely no shame in that. This is an extension of that franchise that ventures into different territory. There is a definite arcade feel that reminds you of a Time Crisis rather than a hack-and-slash action adventure.

The over-the-top reenactment of the feudal wars in Japan remains intact from past Samurai Warrior games. The voiceovers are cheesy and is something to embrace rather than spurn. The techno spin on traditional Japanese music actually is very nice. The controls are simple enough that everyone can learn how to play without a degree in gaming. Chaining combos together is fun, if a bit tiring. Wave after wave of enemies will jump in front of you and you have to aim, click and waggle your way through to the end. Just like other Samurai/Dynasty Warrior games, this is one of gaming's top "guilty pleasures."



What's Not
Visually, Katana is a dull blade. The gameplay is centered on "on-rails" action so you think there would be room to spice up some visuals. Simply put, the Wii can do much, much better. To add to the disappointment, the lack of variety in character models is shocking. The random minions that run about always look the same and it shows.

While the visuals may be the easiest place to see that, there are other touches that felt underdone and inconsistent. The enemy AI is not intelligent. However, at times, the boss battles can be entertaining because you have to keep track of different guys coming on screen. For that fleeting moment, Katana shines but you will realize that the rest of the game isn't like that. When Katana changes up gameplay to stay fresh, the effect is jarring. There are times where you are allowed more freedom than the on-rails action and the transition is anything but smooth. The ways the gameplay is changed is pretty cool, like shaking your controller to run to your master. But, overall, the polish level is pretty low.

Final Word
Year after year, a new Samurai/Dynasty Warrior game releases and the entire world knows what to expect. It was fun exploring that universe from a fresh perspective in Katana. There is something about Katana that feeds a primal urge hidden deep within humans that makes it a guilty pleasure. Unfortunately, any degree of polish was inconsistent at best and it left Katana, a game with a lot of potential, to flounder in mediocrity. Hopefully with another release (it's one of those things you can set a watch to) more time and care will be spent on refining some of the admittedly interesting concepts.