Gangs have always been a part of the human mentality and have featured heavily in films and other media. In many countries across the globe there are gangs and this is something that will always be there. Some gangs are simply gangs for the sake of being one; where as other gangs are a little more active. In parts of Glasgow in Scotland there are a number of gangs that have arisen from some deprived housing estates where some pitched battles between gangs have taken place, often resulting in much violence. The violence seems to be mostly alcohol related in terms of the Glasgow gangs but in general gang culture seems to breed violence.

The Warriors is a movie based on the latter years of the 1970’s in which various gangs run riot across the city. We’ve all heard stories of New York gang colours or gang members doing drive by shootings in LA. This is very much personified in Rockstar’s previous game GTA: San Andreas which focused on the LA style gang culture. Well The Warriors, the game based on the cult movie of the same name, goes back in time and delves into the mindset of gang culture in 70’s America. As far as gamers are concerned this is a perfect excuse to beat the hell out of polygonal rivals, and gain a lot of satisfaction from doing so without ever having to actually join a real gang.

Gameplay

The Warriors game play is based around the basics of gang culture which in this case isn’t guns and drive by shootings but is more back to basics, in the back yard bare knuckle and melee weapons fighting. To be honest this is just as brutal as any gun battle because you get to take pleasure in kicking enemies until they are well and truly beaten. It reminds me so much of one scene in the film Casino where the guys are beaten beyond recognition and then buried alive! In The Warriors you get to take control of various gang members who each have their own spin on being in the gang. The starting character and new blood, Rembrandt is a graffiti artist and therefore a dab hand at placing The Warriors tag at various points in the game. What is cool here are some Jet Set Radio style moments in that players have to mimic the spray can movements with the controller when painting.

Playing The Warriors puts you into the driving seat of gang land culture which means you will be able to wander the streets (with your gang) and mug people for cash or simply beat them up. You can steal car radios for cash and even smash into certain stores for some quick snatch and grab items. More importantly, you can get involved in battles with rival gangs in some turf war action. The fighting is pretty simple as the game uses a hard attack, soft attack and a grab button. The latter opening up team moves if you are positioned correctly. You can have some minor control of your gang members in that you can order them to go wild or watch your back amongst other commands. The gang members do have reasonable AI and will follow you over fences and up on to ledges, which is rather neat. The AI also has no fear when it comes down to getting dirty in a ruckus.

The missions themselves are a mixture of fighting and then more fighting, with a touch of fighting thrown in. Ok, well that’s an exaggeration because The Warriors has a little more than that such as running across rooftops to escape annoyed pursuers or taking part in graffiti actions. Its pretty cool seeing the scrapes that your gang gets in and out of especially as there is an underlying story of revenge against another gang that set you up before the Warriors gang was formed. What is also neat is the fact that you get to play more than one character and also learn a little about certain characters back stories, such as how they joined the gang in the first place.

The warriors also has some neat interactive elements such as when picking the locks of doors or when mugging someone. The implementation here is quite good and makes escaping the clutches of the cops even more rewarding especially as you have to physically evade the cuffs being put on you. There’s a lot to take in and at first might seem a little daunting; but once you start getting deeper into the story then things start to hot up and everything fits into place as you meet more gangs and new challenges.

Graphics

The graphics have a distinct gritty feel to them and reflect the moody nature of the mean streets quite well. The main characters look fairly decent and the animations are reasonable. That said, for an Xbox game the graphics could have had a little more spit and polish applied but it good to see that when the action heats up with up to 10 characters on screen at once battling it out that there is no slow down at all.

Sound

The sound is as you would expect and features the classic Rockstar voice overs that many will be familiar with from the GTA series. The voice acting is of a very high standard and reflects the feel of the movie very well. Sound effects such as fist to head of feet to torso sound as life like as they possibly could in a video game (if that’s possible) and the music is inspired from the movie itself with that 70’s flavour kicking in at times. That said the music is pretty unobtrusive and if you really want to dig the vibe then perhaps fiddling with the audio options is what you should do.

Longevity

The Warriors features a wide number of missions to complete as well as offering players the chance to free roam and get involved with various battles with other gangs. Sadly there is no online component but you do get the option to play the game’s Rumble mode with a friend in co-op or against them in verses mode. There is a lot to do here and so the game will take some time to complete.

Overall

I’ve enjoyed my time with The Warriors because although it shares some similarities with the GTA games, it has enough personality and substance to be its own game. The fighting is somewhat simple but at the same time is satisfying and there are some similarities to Rockstar’s Manhunt and GTA games. The experience of being involved in a gang is handled well and because you experience the stories of several characters then you get a feel of the people in the gang a lot more than if you simply controlled one character throughout the game. I recommend this game for fighting fans and people looking to vent out some frustration when things like your boss/wife/mother get on your nerves. The Warriors is a solid game that although is simple remains good yet dirty fun at the same time. Well worth a look for adventuring fighting fans.