Game Details
IMPERIAL-SIZED ACTION!
The armies of the kingdom are at your command! Conquer the 25 regions of Ancient China and build an Empire using cunning diplomacy and uncompromising force. Before each battle, you'll meet with your war council to decide upon military and political policies for the kingdom; then it's time for war!
Features:
- 4 scenarios to unlock, with 6 scenarios in all.
- 2-Player Co-op in "Empire" and "Free" modes.
- Meet with your war council and choose policies which affect Government, Product Development, Diplomacy and Battle Tactics. 25 new policies for a total of 75 in all.
- Issue direct orders to each officer or general commands to officers on the field. Take the offensive, defend your ground, or have all officers rally to you for an ambush.
- Choose the officers for your attack force, entice captured soldiers into joining your service or expel them from your kingdom.
- Change game dynamics by limiting the number of your officers during play, adjusting time limits, and selecting battle conditions.
- Discover the history of the Dynasty Warriors with the Encyclopedia, unlock new items, strengthen your weapons, and much more.
OBJECTIVE
The objective is to unite all of China. To win, you must gain control of all 25 regions within 100 "turns."
FOUR SCENARIOS TO UNLOCK - SIX IN ALL!
In DW5 Empires, you can choose between one historical or one fictional scenario, plus unlock 4 additional historical scenarios. Each historical scenario accurately reflects the distribution of military forces during a specific period of the Three Kingdoms era. The original DW4 Empires included only one historical scenario and one fictional scenario.
NEW POLICIES
There are 14 new battle-related polices, for a total of 28. Of those 28 battle-related policies, you can control the timing of 10 of them. There are 75 policies in all. (DW4 Empires included only 50 policies, and you could not control the timing of any of them.)
PLAYABLE CHARACTERS
48 main DW5 characters + 20,000 edit character combinations + 6 lieutenant models are at your command. Saved characters from DW5 and DW5XL can be used, but not all characteristics are carried over. The advantage of using saved characters comes in improved attributes.
You can directly control any available general and lieutenant in your force. For example, if you choose Liu Bei as your ruler, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are his generals, and his lieutenants are Yu Jin and He Jin. Liu Bei makes all the strategic decisions, and then you can go into battle as any of the officers serving him.
NEW! ISSUING COMMANDS TO OFFICERS
There are two officer ranks: "general" and "lieutenant." Generals not controlled by the player posses "skills" that can be used in battle; lieutenants do not. These officers command their own units in battle and do not function as bodyguards.
Officers may get lured away, but other officers may be recruited or volunteer to take their place. As your territory grows, you can retain more officers, but are only able to take a maximum of three generals and three lieutenants into combat. You can also assign one general and one lieutenant as a relief force that will appear during battle.
You can now issue orders to subordinate officers and allied troops. Directional buttons are used to signal four commands to officers on the field:
- Up button: Aggressively attack the enemy.
- Down button: Defend the territory you have taken.
- Left button: All officers gather at your location.
- Right button: Return officer control to the game.
You can also issue separate orders to each officer in the attack force during the Strategy phase (at the Unit Info screen). In the original DW4 Empires, the player was in control solely of his character.
DIPLOMACY VS FORCE
¿or diplomacy with force? During one turn, battles will take place simultaneously in different regions. There is always a possibility that your regions may come under attack during battle. The distribution of officers, your "invasion route" and diplomatic polices become key factors for victory.
MANUFACTURING ITEMS
Items such as harnesses and orbs are products of regions under your control. Each item takes a certain number of turns to manufacture, and can only be used for one turn. Unlike DW4 Empires, in DW5 Empires you must enact a policy to manufacture products, otherwise items will not be produced.
FIVE GAME MODES IN ALL
Empire, Free, Character Edit, Visual Database (a library of character, item and weapon models) and an Encyclopedia of "Three Kingdoms" history.
XBOX 360 EXCLUSIVE FEATURES
The Xbox 360 version takes Dynasty Warriors to the next generation! In addition to enhanced high-definition graphics, you'll get Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, 10 save slots, and unlockable Achievements.
So are the dynasty games generally good?!? 
But the website didn't state it had been shipped though yesterday, so unsure if I'll get mine.