The Warriors

Come Out to Play

I remember playing The Warriors on the Playstation 2 when I was in high school with a buddy of mine. It was an absolute blast. It's definitely one of those nostalgia trips whenever I think about it or begin playing it. Interesting fact: I played the game before I watched the awesome movie. I just played through it again on the original Xbox and I must say that it's great. However, the combat didn't exactly age well. Everything else about it absolutely stood the test of time, just not the combat.

A Grim Setting

Despite not watching the movie first, I was immediately drawn into the world of The Warriors. It's world of gangs, crime, drugs, and violence in abundance. The homeless people walking around exclaiming "What do I have to do to make a living around here?!" adds to the dark and gritty setting. It's a hopeless world with almost no economic opportunities. So, the only way to make ends meet is to join a gang and rob people. The dilapidated buildings and ragged NPCs only add to this bleak atmosphere. You really, truly feel like it's you and your homeboys against the world.

Respect The Warriors

In this ultra-grunge vision of New York, you play as any member of the titular gang from Coney Island. It follows them as they break away from the Destroyers to form the their own clique, to the recruitment of specific members, to their rise to noteriety, to their attendace of Cyrus' rally, to being blamed for his murder, and finally, the brutal march home while every gang in the city is trying to waste them. While moving trough this story, you must navigate the city, demolish rival gangs, break into and rob stores, smash cars and steal their stereos, and mug poor innocent people. You can tag over rival gang's graffiti. If you find yourself injured, you can consume a drug called "flash" to bring you back to life. Now get out there and bop those fools!

Boppers

I can't stress just how much the setting, atmosphere, and art direction absolutely rule. The sparse musical score complements the city that barely contains any hope. It's the only reason you need to play this game. It gets everything absolutely right, but the actual fighting shows its age. In principle, it's quite simple. You bop these fools using strong attacks and weak attacks. You can press a combination of these two to string combos. You can also grab them and either punch em as you hold em, or toss them. There's also cool animations whenever you smash somwhat with a bottle or a brick, or else slam their head against the wall. The big issue is just that they're clunky. It's not always clear which enemy you are targeting. It also feel sticky when you want to change your target. This becomes truly annoying when you're surrounded by enemies. It just doesn't feel responsive and can be frustrating at times.

Come Out To Play

Even though the combat is on the outdated side, it's not bad enough to turn away interested players. It's easy to overlook because the aesthetics are so spectacular. The events in the game expand upon the movie in way that it makes the world of The Warriors much more interesting. Hell, the storytelling in the game is almost as good as the movie. That's good storytelling. You have to experience it at least once. You need to watch the movie, too!