Mini-Review: The Warriors (Xbox)

Being a big fan of the movie, and hearing all the positive reviews of the game, I had very high expectations. Boy, was I let down. From the very beginning I was thrust into mission after mission with pretty much the same damn thing going on. Every environment looked pretty much the same -- dark, dank, maze-like. There was little difference between running through Tremont and running through SoHo except for maybe slight alterations in textures. Coney Island felt no different than Bensonhurst except for some theme-parky stuff smattered around the Coney area. Areas were terminated by completely artifical boundaries such as police barriers and fences that didn't belong there (such as in the middle of the street). It sure didn't feel like I was in New York, despite the subway trains. Traveling from neighborhood to neighborhood felt like I was running around the same place with different gangs.

Nearly every level was a combination of run around, fight, rob some car stereos or break into some stores, avoid cops, fight some more, and sometimes a Shenmue-styled "hit button Y, hit button A, hit button X" session for good measure. The fighting was strictly a button mashing affair with little reason to block or do much more than perform repetive sets of sequences. Boss fights ranged from simple, to cheap, to lame as hell. The gang control aspect worked great, though. The gang members almost always responded as expected and weren't completely mindless, which was unexpected, and appreciated.

The story telling was excellent. The flashback and prequel levels were a lot of fun leading up to the all-too-short re-telling of the movie (I think it took about 90 minutes to make it through all of the movie sections). The prequels and flashbacks did a good job of explaining how the Warriors formed, and why they were at the gang summit in Pelham Park. It provided a nice humanizing touch. It's too bad there was so much crap in between.

The game itself was very short. I did every mission including flashbacks and prequels in around 8 hours playing time. There was little reason to play beyond that with no additional extras (aside from Armies of the Night) or much incentive to continue playing.

A nice surprise was the Armies of the Night game that you unlock by beating all of the flashback levels. It was basically a Final Fight clone with nods to Double Dragon and with cheesy 8-bit music. It was perhaps the most entertaining part of the game, although a total novelty.

Bottom line: it was just "ok" and I'm glad I got it as a rental, and not a purchase. A real let-down, especially being a fan of the original movie. I give it a 5/10.