The late 70s must've been a hell of a time to spawn visions of a futuristic New York controlled by themed gangs.
You've got the Baseball Furies, the Lizzies and more neon pieces of clothing than you could shake a crowbar at. Seriously, did something happen in 1975 to inspire these strange, strange interpretations of society? Like how you justify calling yourself "The Punks," while flitting around subway stations on roller skates?
What Is It?
The Warriors: Street Brawl is a side-scrolling 2D brawler where players take the role of one of four Warriors who don't immediately die in the film – Ajax and Mercy are unlockable characters.
What We Saw
I played through the demo level and a Lizzie level as Cowboy.
How Far Along Is It?
The game is available on Xbox Live Arcade September 23.
What Needs Improvement?
Gosh It's Dark In Here: The whole movie takes place at night, so I realize things need to be dark. But the Warriors all wear pretty much the same outfit and the camera is too far away to make out individual features. So it would be helpful to have a little more like – or maybe a little more color on the character models – to keep your Warrior straight from other Warriors.
Not A Lot Of Variety: Every gang attacks you in almost the same way – the only variation being the weapons. It gets a little dull, but then, I guess that's how The Warriors must've felt during their long trek back to Coney Island.
What Should Stay The Same?
Decent Combat System: Street Brawl is supposed to be the kind of game where you can just sit back and button mash – but there's also a tiny bit of complexity to the combos and the AI difficulty that keeps it from being dull. There's also a "rage" meter you can build up and activate to do more damage during save brawls. Remember to use that block button!
Crack That Whip! There's a variety to the weapons even outside of what I remember seeing in the film. You've got bats, knives, even a whip you can take off a Lizzie enemy. The whip might be a little overpowered, actually, but it was marvelously entertaining to use on a horde of neon-clad Lizzies.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, you're not going to get much out of The Warriors unless you like the movie – and if that's the case, you might find yourself comparing Street Brawl to the Rockstar video game that came out in 2005. The comparison, sadly, won't be favorable. But if you're looking for a brawler to blow off steam with and maybe a mental trip back to the strangeness that is the late 70s, The Warriors: Street Brawl just might be your ticket.
P.S. You know what would be awesome? A game where you play as that chick Ajax tries to jump in the park.