Koei's popular title Dynasty Warriors 5 is finally coming to the Xbox and will be released on September 13, but owners of Microsoft's console aren't necessarily going to be feasting on PS2 players' sloppy seconds. True, about 99.9999% of the game is identical to its counterpart, but the inclusion of Dolby 5.1 support, faster load times thanks to the Xbox's hard drive, and a Japanese/English voice option keep things somewhat interesting.

Like previous games in the series, Dynasty Warriors 5 details famous battles that took place in ancient China. You, playing as one of numerous real-life (but certainly all dead) warriors will take part in these confrontations, dismantling entire armies with super combo attacks. There's scores of enemies on the screen, rockin' music, animals, and plenty of mass death.

Thankfully, if you've been searching for a Dynasty Warriors with some meat on its bones, the fifth installment will satisfy your hunger. It looks and plays exactly like the other 8 billion prequels in this series, but the game's 45 plus characters come with their own stories and FMV sequences, so if you love the mindless gameplay it'll take you quite a while to wade through all of that. You'll also be treated to bigger environments, less fogging (though the mist certainly rolls in from time to time), the ability to fight alongside tigers, and a bevy of options to check out including Musou Mode (where all of those individual narratives and missions are located), Free Mode (in case you just want to hop into a battle and start kicking @$$), an Encyclopedia that covers the history of The Three Kingdoms as well as the various officers (so you may just learn something from a videogame yet), and Challenge Mode, which is comprised of a series of...err...specific challenges. For example, Time Attack asks you to defeat 100 bad guys as quickly as possible, Rampage calls for you to kill as many enemies as you can before time runs out, and Sudden Death seriously tests your fighting skills by requiring you to go as long as you can without being struck a single time. Then there's Bridge Melee, where, as you may have already guessed, you'll have to knock people off of a bridge before the timer reads zero.

Aside from the aforementioned subtle changes the core gameplay mechanics remain the same. You'll select a character, choose a weapon, select his or her bodyguards, and tackle a series of missions including the 180 A.D. Battle of Ji Province, the 181 A.D. Battle of Liang Province, and the 197 A.D. Battle of the Wu Territory, among other famous skirmishes. You'll begin surrounded by your own troops, and as you make your way along a path enemy soldiers will literally pop up out of thin air. From there, all you need to do is dive head first into them and frantically button mash to send bodies flying every which way and you cannot hurt your own men, so feel free to insert yourself wherever you damn well please. After a few moments a high ranking official on the opposing side will ride into battle atop some creature, and you can knock him off and make use of it, so any horse is up for grabs.

As I played, new objectives would pop up but the core idea remained the same, which was to wander about until I found a group of idiots with health meters over the heads. From there I was just going through the motions, frantically pressing the controller's face buttons and watching as I decimated entire battalions. With that being said, the game does become quite monotonous, though I had plenty of fun trying to string together various combos. Koei claims that players can achieve 9,999 K.O.'s, and I'm still working on that.

An area where this game truly excels is its presentation. Not many publishers can boast historical accuracy but Koei certainly can. Dynasty Warriors 5 is full of pageantry, colorful characters, and tons of information. It's actually somewhat of a paradox how a game that's actual play is so mindless can at the same time be so immersive. I love the facts, yet at the same time it makes me yearn for deeper gameplay.

Dynasty Warriors 5 is a pretty game but it doesn't appear to take advantage of the Xbox's graphical capabilities. The environments are larger than in previous titles but the same goes for the PS2 version, and the FMV sequences are absolutely stunning but again, the PS2 handles those with gusto. However, there does appear to be significantly less slow down and that's definitely a great thing. Still, on its own DW5 is easy on the eyes, featuring numerous soldiers on screen at once, lots of snazzy special effects, and detailed structures (seen when you're not running through bland looking mountains).

The audio is equally good, but only if you can stand the electric guitar interspersed with ancient Chinese music. I'm personally a big fan of the rock-n-roll cheese that's been pumped into most Asian-developed videogames, so Dynasty Warriors 5 gets one big thumb up from me.

Improved sound and a language option are cool new additions but they're not enough to warrant a purchase if you've already played the PS2 version. There's just not enough in this Xbox port to justify buying the same game twice. However, if you're a huge Dynasty Warriors fan and have yet to experience the fifth installment in the best selling series, this game comes recommended.