Taking the focus away from the historical figures that roamed the battlefields of the Three Kingdoms of China, ‘Empires’ emphasises on a different kind of hero: the player.

Combining thrilling battlefield action with strategic gameplay, ‘Empires’ gives each player the opportunity to influence the way history unfolds: gain fame in battle and rule their own nation as a ‘Ruler’, use strategy to seize power and invade neighbouring territories as a ‘Strategist’ or become a mercenary and sell their services around the land as a ‘Free Officer’. Through actions such as earning fame on the battlefield, protecting the people or looking to expand their own personal wealth and power, the choices made during the strategy and battle phases have an impact on the character’s position and allow for an even wider variety of personalised play styles.

This high-degree of choice is accompanied by a newly revamped Edit Mode, including weapon animation, personality, facial features and more, so that players can create their own unique characters and throw them into battle.

These characters can then be shared online for others to download and incorporate in their own game. Edited characters also include their creator’s play history with that character, so the play style is carried over, allowing for a simulated multiplayer experience.

Keeping true to the Dynasty Warriors historical legacy, Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires introduces a new playable character, Xu Shu, an advisor of the warlord Liu Bei and bringing the total number of playable characters to 66.

As the ‘Empires’ series is known for its extended tactical action elements, it offers a wide variety of tactics known as Stratagems, from ones that affect the terrain (such as Flood Attacks and Rockslides), to Volleys that can rain arrows down on the enemy, or even ones that can increase characters’ individual abilities. Knowing when to utilise these powerful tools based on the terrain or specific conditions, as well as knowing how to respond to stratagems used by the enemy will play an important part in the success of a battle, adding an even deeper layer of strategy to the gameplay.