The Warriors: Street Brawl
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| Developer(s) | CXTM |
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| Publisher(s) | Paramount Digital Entertainment |
| Platform(s) | Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Live Arcade |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | Beat 'em up |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
The Warriors: Street Brawl is a beat 'em up scroller video game created by CXTM. It was released on the Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox Live Arcade in Summer 2009. It is based on the 1979 movie The Warriors, which in turn is based on the 1965 novel of the same name written by Sol Yurick. The plot of the game is exactly like the film itself, and the 2005 video game of the same name, about a street gang named the Warriors from start to finish with you leading the Warriors street gang back to its home turf on Coney Island, after being unfairly blamed for the assassination of wannabe messiah Cyrus in Van Cortlandt Park.
Gameplay
The Warriors: Street Brawl is a simple fighter with the theme, characters, and setting of Walter Hill's cult 1979 flick splashed on top of it. There are a handful of play modes here, including arena boss battles and mano-a-mano multi-player Versus fights with other Warriors. Players control members of the gang The Warriors, with a total of six playable characters: Swan, Cochise, Vermin and Rembrandt, as well as the unlockable characters Mercy and Ajax. Players are encouraged to use weapons as they battle other gangs, with weapons such as knives, bats and crowbars available for use. The Warriors: Street Brawl features seven levels with three stages, for a total of 21 missions. In the single player mode of the game, players are supported by A.I.-controlled allies. However, the game is also available for multiplayer, with players able to either work together in co-operative play, or battle against each other. While everything is in 3D, the action takes place on a 2D side-scrolling plane identical to that found in a ton of beat-'em-ups from the genre's golden age in the late '80s.
Throughout the Warriors journey back to Coney Island, the player starts on one side of the screen and walk to the other, beating all comers with punch, kick, and combo attacks. Save for the odd end-of-level boss battle, you can get by with good old button mashing. If you alternate rapid-fire punches with blocks, you'll sail through missions. However, Flow is a real problem during battles. Knockdowns are frequent, and it takes way too long to get up from them. Enemies can easily get into impossible-to-counter punch or kick runs that always land you on the pavement. Unlike The Warriors, combats are different as it does not contain wall smash, grab and throws, charges, body cross attack, and snap attacks, although the game itself is 3D. In-game bonuses also provide a little color. Garbage cans can be smashed open to reveal health-boosting treats, like hot dogs and pizza slices. You can also swipe trinkets like gold necklaces, lighters, and boom boxes to up your score and multiplier.
Story
Setting
The Warriors: Street Brawl begins exactly like the events of the film itself and serves as an launching point. The game's setting is a collection of various levels (referred to in-game as "missions") that the player progresses through. This 21-mission brawl, which can be played solo or cooperatively with up to three friends. While in the first game, the Warriors' launching point took place in their home territory, Coney Island. However, after three months before the meeting, the Warriors launching point will be after the meeting. Each world varies in appearance and setting, except it is in 3D. The graphics of the world and characters are meant to resemble the artwork style of the environments and characters from their respective role in The Warriors. Throughout the course of the game, the main players travel from one turf to another, to get back to their home turf, following the aftermath of the meeting. The Lizzies, like the 2005 game with the same name, still inhabits their apartment, along with the Van Courtland Park, where the meeting took place.
Characters
The six playable characters in The Warriors: Street Brawl consists of Warriors members: Swan, Cochise, Vermin and Rembrandt, as well as the unlockable characters Mercy and Ajax. Swan was the protagonist of the The Warriors (2005 video game). Cleon was a playable character in the previous game, but his role has been dismissed and his fate remains unknown after the meeting. The main antagonist continues to the Rogues leader Luther, the man responsible for a respective gang leader, Cyrus' murder and had unfairly blamed for the Warriors for the misprinted assassination. The game also contains a multi-player, that allows the player to have more allies, throughout the course of the game. Throughout the game, there is no voice heard, therefore no voice actor.
Unlike the first game, The Warriors: Street Brawl starts off at launching point after the meeting (1979 film), while The Warriors (2005 game with the same name) game began three months prior to the events before the meeting. During that time, the characters contained the Orphans, a small-time gang the Warriors had once confronted for a false statement for reputation; the Warriors allies the New Bloods; their arch-rivals the Destroyers, primarily led by Virgil; and the dealers, who supply the Warriors' flash, spray and knives. The various worlds that the player explores to get back to Coney Island, the player will encounter the gangs in New York City, from the film on which the world is based. Such gangs are primarily the Turnbull AC's, Baseball Furies, Lizzies, and the Rogues, who the Warriors will confront and have a dramatic showdown. Whilst having an encounter with an opponent, the combats have changed.
Plot
The game takes place in the gritty late 1970's in New York City, and mainly focuses on a street gang, the Warriors throughout the course of the game. The Grameracy Riffs leader, Cyrus calls a summit to unite the gangs. At the conclave, Cyrus discussed how petty the gang battles for territory were, and spoke of the possibilities if all of the gangs present unified under a general truce and became one gang that could rule New York. The majority of gang members in attendance supported Cyrus, consistently cheering as his speech progressed. However, Cyrus is killed by an assailant named Luther, the Rogues leader. Cyrus' murder was wrongfully placed on The Warriors (only because Fox, a member of the Warriors had witnessed Luther with the gun). The other Warriors managed to the escape, with the exception of Cleon, who is beaten down by the Riffs. With Cleon presumed dead or missing, Swan, the gang's second-in-command takes charge. To make matters worse, the Riffs call a hit on the Warriors and now the gangs in New York City is after their blood. The Warriors must now (player's decision on what character to play: Swan, Cochise, Vermin and Rembrandt) head home from the wrath of the other gangs in New York City, battling gangs such as the Turnbull AC's and Lizzies until their showdown on Coney beach against the Rogues, the true culprits behind Cyrus' murder.
Reception
The Warriors: Street Brawl received generally unfavourable reviews. Brett Todd of GameSpot stated in his review that while "Fans of the movie will appreciate the settings and enemy gangs," ultimately "You can't dig it." Todd says that "Ridiculously protracted levels, repetitive punch-ups, and murky graphics make it just about impossible to stick with the game long enough to see Luther clinking beer bottles on Coney Island." Todd closed his review stating that "...to get a real dose of Swan, Ajax, and the boys, you'd be better off popping the movie into your DVD player than spending 800 Microsoft points on this," giving the game only a 4.5/10.
IGN rated the game 3.3/10, classifying it as "Awful"; the review called The Warriors: Street Brawl a "poorly executed side-scrolling beat-'em up", criticising the game for its "sloppy controls, sluggish character movement, and far too little variety". GameSpot gave The Warriors: Street Brawl a 4.5/10 rating, criticising the game for its "long and dreary" campaign, "repetitive punch-ups" and "murky graphics"; however, the review also noted that fans of The Warriors film will "appreciate the settings and enemy gangs". On Metacritic, The Warriors: Street Brawl holds a rating of 40/100 based on 13 critics, which suggests reviews for the game are "Generally unfavourable".
Cyril Lachel of Gaming Nexus said of the game that it is "one of the most disappointing games of the year." Lachel claims that "instead of being a fun extra, it's a full laborious product that sucks all of the fun out of the property." He also says that "The problem with The Warriors is that it doesn't play fair. From the very get-go you are swarmed with more enemies than you can fight at any one time. And just to make things harder (and increase the size of the level) you are forced to deal with reinforcements." Lachel scored the game a "C." The game has a current score of 40% at Metacritic.