‘The Warriors' is a cult movie from the 70's that deals with gangs in the New York area, Coney Island specifically. The game follows the same story, and does so exceptionally well – which is no surprise, as it was made by Rockstar, the same company of Grand Theft Auto fame. To this end you can expect a polished third person action game, but I did not expect the quality of narrative to match.

 
It all begins with the classic ‘Can You Dig It' scene, where Cyrus, the "Lord Byron of the City" has called all the gangs in the area to a truce and brought their representatives to band together and take control of New York. Cyrus gets shot and the blame is pinned on ‘The Warriors', the small but strong gang based in Coney Island, who are the protagonists of the tale.

The game follows the leader, Swan taking on new members, going around town, looting, tagging, and collecting ‘protection' money to further their cause. The story begins before the initial scene, leading up to the fateful moment and then concludes with them trying to clear their name.

The controls are very tight, with the only problem being the camera – there is no option to switch the way the camera rotates on the horizontal axis. This was frustrating and hindered the gameplay, until after a few hours it became more natural. The camera is also woeful in multiplayer, which is by and large fantastic – a second player can jump into the story at any time and act as one of the other gang members which brings even more comradery to the game, but the camera splits between the two players vertically and shifts back when both are within a certain distance from the other, which can be highly confusing.

The player gets to control many of the different characters who each have their own strengths and weaknesses, however it would have been even better if there were more obvious differences – it is clear that (tough fighting dude) is a stronger fighter than (graffiti guy), but it is not enough to feel completely different. The characters are all easily identifiable and there is quite an emotional tie to each one, and you do feel like you are in a gang, running around and messing stuff up.

Well paced, good graphics, decent sound, interesting multiplayer, long storyline and fun bonus missions make this one a winner, but don't expect GTA.

Graphics – 86
Sounds – 80
Gameplay – 87
Longevity – 86
Overall – 82

Fun but not life changing. I want a vest now though.