Written by: Mark

 

 

Many people will remember the original cult classic street gang movie "The Warriors" which was released in 1979 however what is surprising is that despite it’s popularity it seemed to take an age to get it’s first video game conversion with the excellent Rockstar release on the original Xbox and Playstation 2 in 2005.

 

Now to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary, another game based on the movie has been released on Microsoft’s XBLA service and with the legions of fans of the movie surely this is destined to be a success, or is it?

 

 

Whilst many fans of the movie would be crying out for an next gen update of the stunning Rockstar game what we have here is a game which more resembles many retro style side scrolling beat em ups such as Streets of Rage 2 and Double Dragon.

 

 

This formula was a massive success back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s so it was a bit of a risk designing a game which utilises this gameplay style which has become somewhat tired in recent years and I afraid to say that The Warriors Street Brawl does practically nothing to re-ignite this genre. This is not to say that the game is totally poor however there is nothing which really captivates the player is this is evident from the start.

 

 

This is where the game would either prove to be a success or failure and it is interesting to see if the developers have made any changes to the tried and tested formula.

 

Firstly lets look at the combat in the game which is a key aspect. In The Warriors Street Brawl. As with almost all games in the genre players have punches, kicks, throws, blocks, combo attacks and use of weapons dropped by enemies at their disposal however in this game you also have a meter which when filled by handing out chains of successful attacks hands you with a limited boost in attack abilities. Whilst this is a welcome inclusion if I am being honest it rarely adds anything to the overall game which can soon become an endless repetitive button bashing affair and you will soon notice that this becomes tedious very quickly.

 

This is not helped by the constant wave after wave of enemy attacks which I do appreciate is designed to ensure the game is action packed however I soon found that I wanted a break from the actual combat and for once was hoping a cut scene would appear. Also I would have hoped for mid level save points however theses are not forthcoming meaning that if you die or quit mid level then you are forced to start from the beginning of the current level and the lack of quality in the gameplay means that you will probably be looking for the off button when this happens.

 

 

There is not much to say as regards the gameplay as the game obviously draws inspiration from those retro games listed earlier in the review and I am sad to say that I cannot see how the side scrolling beat em up genre has much life left in it and The Warriors Street Brawl just highlights this.