# Dynasty Warriors 2

Dynasty Warriors 2, known in Japan as Shin Sangokumusō (真・三國無双), is a 2000 hack and slash game developed by Omega Force and published by Koei for the PlayStation 2. It was released outside Japan as a launch title for the console. It is the second game in the Dynasty Warriors series, but the first in the Shin Sangokumusō series.
The game was released in other countries as Dynasty Warriors 2, leading to the assumption that it is a sequel to the original Dynasty Warriors. The entire series was influenced by the game's success, with all future installments following the game's gameplay style. It was released on the PlayStation Network in 2012.

## Gameplay

From this game onward, the player chooses a playable character general, and plays through a number of levels representing particular conflicts in the time of the Three Kingdoms, eventually defeating both of the other kingdoms and becoming the ruler of a unified China. Unlike the one-on-one fighting style of the original Dynasty Warriors, the game is a beat 'em up hack and slash fighting game in full 3D, similar in genre to Fighting Force. Unlike previous games in the beat 'em up genre, Dynasty Warriors 2 allows players the freedom to roam to any point within the limits of the current stage being played.
This game was the first to introduce Free Mode and Musou Mode to the series. Free Mode allows the player to replay any missions that they have already completed in Musou Mode. Musou Mode is the character's main story, where you play as the officer until the kingdom you are fighting for has unified China. However, due to the small scale of the game at the time, many important battles were missing. Some of the missing battles were added in Dynasty Warriors 3.

## Characters

There are a total of 28 characters.
| Shu | Wei | Wu | Other |
| Guan Yu | Cao Cao | Gan Ning* | Diao Chan |
| Huang Zhong* | Zhang Liao* | Lu Meng* | Dong Zhuo* |
| Jiang Wei* | Dian Wei | Lu Xun | Lu Bu |
| Liu Bei* | Sima Yi* | Sun Jian* | Yuan Shao* |
| Ma Chao* | Xiahou Dun | Sun Quan* | Zhang Jiao* |
| Zhang Fei | Xiahou Yuan* | Sun Shang Xiang | |
| Zhao Yun | Xu Zhu | Taishi Ci | |
| Zhuge Liang | | Zhou Yu | |
* Denotes new characters to the series Bold denotes default characters

## Stages

Many of the stages are recreations of notable battles from history or from the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, while original creations became more common with the newer instalments. This is a list of stages in Dynasty Warriors 2.
| Year | Stage |
| 184 | The Yellow Turban Rebellion |
| 191 | Battle of Hu Lao Gate |
| 200 | Battle of Guan Du |
| 208 | Battle of Chang Ban |
| 208 | Battle of Chi Bi |
| 215 | Battle of He Fei |
| 222 | Battle of Yi Ling |
| 234 | Battle of Wu Zhang Plains |

## Reception

Aggregate score :
| Aggregator | Score |
| Metacritic | 75/100 |
Review scores :
| Publication | Score |
| AllGame | |
| CNET Gamecenter | 7/10 |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 6.67/10 |
| Eurogamer | 6/10 |
| Famitsu | 31/40 |
| Game Informer | 8/10 |
| GameFan | (J.W.) 89% 75% |
| GamePro | |
| GameRevolution | B− |
| GameSpot | 7.8/10 |
| GameSpy | 80% |
| IGN | 7.9/10 |
| Next Generation | |
| Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | |
The game received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Daniel Erickson of NextGen said of the game, "While it is the first third-person, 3D action game to feature a real-time battlefield, the gameplay is strictly old-school. Fun but not terribly deep." In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 31 out of 40.
The game sold 300,000 units in its first six weeks of release in Japan.