The Warriors

Rating ESRB: Mature Genre action Publisher Rockstar Games External Links Official The Warriors Website

At the risk of releasing my inner fanboy, I have to say that The Warriors for PSP took advantage of every part of what I loved about the 1979 flick. The game takes place on the rough streets of New York City as our beloved boppers participate in a city-wide conclave lead by a rival gang leader. From the get-go we get to see the cruel twist of events at the conclave-just like the movie- but Rockstar changes things up by taking us back in time to get to know The Warriors before their action-packed journey home.

If you've played the PS2 version released in 2005, you already have a sense of the dark, gritty world ofThe Warriors. When you pick up the PSP version you will be pleasantly surprised at how faithful the port is. Rockstar really knew how to utilize the power of the PSP to bring this title to life. The unique lighting, interactive environments, and innovative warchief commands are back, and the incredibly fun "Armies of the Night" side-game is available from the very beginning. Flashback levels allow you to get to know the beginning of The Warriors, including Cleon's history with his old gang and how the current crew came together.

The sophisticated fighting system in The Warriors is also worth noting. Each Warrior has his own style, and depending on how many enemies are around there is a slew of gruesome attacks to choose from. Weapons can be grabbed from all around the levels, and Rembrandt can even use his spraypaint for an attack. Rival gang members can be thrown into surrounding enemies, and guys coming up from behind can be elbowed. Those of us that have seen the movie can connect these attacks to Rembrandt and Cleon, which is the case for many of the attacks that are available for each character. For fans of Rockstar's other famous games, you'll have a blast beating up everyone in sight, stealing, doing drugs, and chaining attacks together for massive damage.

News of The Warriors' movements throughout New York is announced through the radio deejay in the fashion of the movie. Other sounds include pop music from the original soundtrack, as well as the eerie synthesized sounds of Barry de Vorzon's scoring. It's just like watching the movie.

The long and short of it: if you loved GTA, Bully, Manhunt, and/or the original film you will get a kick out of this game. Rembrandt's tagging skills are played out in multiple missions, Cleon and Ajax get the play time that movie fans crave, the game mechanics are smooth, the graphics are faithful, and you get to fight all of the gangs you love to hate-The Baseball Furies, The Lizzies, The Orphans, The Hi-Hats, The Turnbull ACs, The Rogues, and many more. You can even get friends in on the action with the 2-player story option or ad-hoc multiplayer mode. There is a lot to this game, so if you haven't picked it up yet, it is definitely worth a shot.