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The Warriors: Street Brawl Review


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On 09/28/2009 at 03:43 PM by Neal Ronaghan

If I hear "Warriors! Come out and play-ay!" one more time, I'm going to snap.
RECOMMENDATION:

Only for die-hard fans of the film and people desperate for beat-'em-ups

The Warriors, for the unaware, is a cult movie from the 1970s about street gangs in New York City. Rockstar brought the brand back to video game prominence with the fantastic The Warriors for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, with a later port to PSP. The Warriors: Street Brawl, currently only for Xbox Live Arcade, is a far cry from the 2005 original, as it is just a boring 2D brawler with very little of the personality of the film.

You take control of the titular Warriors with four different characters playable at the outset and two unlockable. The story is terribly presented through plodding comic book-style cut scenes without any voice acting. Luckily, you can skip over these drab segments with the press of a button.

The gameplay is a bit better than the presentation. You go through generic foe after generic foe using a very simple combat system. One button punches, one button kicks, and combinations of the two help you do combos. You can also block and throw, which becomes increasingly necessary as you make your way through the game, and use special attacks that boost your attack power or perform a move that clears out surrounding enemies. There are different weapons you can pick, such as crowbars and knives, which make you a more formidable fighter.

There are other modes to romp through, such as a versus mode where you and three friends can duke it out against each other. Up to four players can play all of the modes, including the arena-based boss mode. Regrettably, you can only play the story mode online. The game is a bit lengthy as there are seven missions with three levels, but there's very little that separates these levels besides the background, and all of the backgrounds are recycled throughout all the modes.

The worst part about Street Brawl is that it's so generic. The hook of The Warriors is that it is a fully realized world with colorful characters, and Street Brawl strips all of that out and forces the player through nondescript worlds playing as and against characters that once were so vibrant.

Review Policy

In our reviews, we'll try not to bore you with minutiae of a game. Instead, we'll outline what makes the game good or bad, and focus on telling you whether or not it is worth your time as opposed to what button makes you jump.

We use a five-star rating system with intervals of .5. Below is an outline of what each score generally means:


All games that receive this score are standout games in their genre. All players should seek a way to play this game. While the score doesn't equate to perfection, it's the best any game could conceivably do.


These are above-average games that most players should consider purchasing. Nearly everyone will enjoy the game and given the proper audience, some may even love these games.


This is our middle-of-the-road ranking. Titles that receive three stars may not make a strong impression on the reviewer in either direction. These games may have some faults and some strong points but they average out to be a modest title that is at least worthy of rental for most.


Games that are awarded two stars are below average titles. Good ideas may be present, but execution is poor and many issues hinder the experience.


Though functional, a game that receives this score has major issues. There are little to no redeeming qualities and should be avoided by nearly all players.


A game that gets this score is fundamentally broken and should be avoided by everyone.


 

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