The Warriors

You've probably heard this on more than a few occasions but most movie related games are terrible and that is a fact. The worrying part of this, of course, is that they make up a growing percentage of actual games released and here's why: they don't have to be good to sell. Strangely, the general public will buy a game based on a movie, not because the reviews of the game are good, but because they enjoyed the movie. Because of the market for this genre developers and producers alike are even looking into movie classics and both The Warriors, and the recently released Godfather are from the 1970s. There is also a noted space saga from the same decade whose characters have inspired countless games, but there's simply no way on earth you could have overlooked Star Wars.

For those of you, however, who have somehow missed out on this Walter Hill cult classic here's a quick plot recap: The Warriors centers on the ups and downs of a street game in late 1970s NYC. A huge meeting has been called by the Gramercy Riffs with their leader (Cyrus) outlining their plans to take over the city, should the gangs agree to put previous turf wars behind them and act as a single 60,000 plus force. It's at this point that Cyrus is gunned down, by a lone sniper, and the police move into to do their thing. The game itself takes place some three months before these events and this is where we join The Warriors as they attempt to build up their all-important 'rep'.

You play the part of graffiti artist Rembrandt as he's put through his initiation, which also doubles as a tutorial to the game’s control and combat systems. The control here is solid and very responsive and it really has to be given the sheer volume of things you'll have to do during the game. Fortunately this is all explained as the game progresses in a series of on-screen tutorials meaning you'll never really have to thumb through the manual to find out how to mug someone or even restrain them without actually causing them any harm. In addition to working alone you also have control over a handful of gang members and a simple press of a button can have them tearing right into the thick of the action. This generally allows you to get on with other things as they keep the police and other gang members occupied. Unfortunately they're also a little dumb and any interaction with the police generally sees them captured. It's then up to you to rescue them (by undoing their handcuffs) and while this is not essential it seems only polite as you are all part of the same gang.

It's not all about simply beating up rival gang members though and Rembrandt will also indulge in muggings, shop lootings and 'liberating' the odd car radio from its owner. You also have a number of sub missions and, as a graffiti artist, you'll have to 'tag' rival territories with 'The Warriors' logo in order to rile a particular gang. It doesn't stop there either, there's more than enough depth in the Story Mode to keep you playing right to the end and the developers have also added a few more modes including a Multiplayer, a full on brawler (known as Armies of the Night here) and finally a Rumble Mode. This is a series of mini-games to be played out in an arena setting and rounds off what can only be described as an impressive package.

One potential problem for the PSP was to reproduce the wonderfully gritty environments from the film; the dark and run down Coney Island of the 1970s at the core of Walter Hill's movie. Surprisingly though Sony's handheld appears to make easy work of it all, displaying visuals just as impressive as on the larger, more powerful consoles. There are occasional problems with camera angles but this never really detracts from the overall enjoyment. The audio elements are just as good with some great tunes backed up with a whole cast of top-notch voice acting.

The Warriors represents another triumph for Rockstar and this latest release surely puts them up there as one of the best PSP developers around. With The Warriors they've not only managed to complement the original source material but also improved upon it by producing a deeper and more immersive back-story. In addition there's a well-designed combat system and enough game variety to keep you playing right to the end. If you have already played any of the console versions then there’s little that’s new but what there is, is just as good as the much more powerful console versions meaning you never feel short changed just because you opted for the portable version.

You can find our original summary here.