Get a bow. If you persist in buying Strikeforce, harrumphing over reviews that you skim because you’re sure they’ll contain yet more derogatory statements about your inexplicably favourite series, then take that bit of advice and make the first thing you do in the game the purchase of a bow. And get some friends to play with (although it’s up to you whether you’ll also need to buy them or not). It’ll make things a lot easier.

The graphics aren't the game's strong point, but it has its moments

If you’re still reading then you’re also probably in for a surprise: we don’t hate Strikeforce. In some ways, we might – deep breath – even kind of like it. Unfortunately for the wider game-buying public, Strikeforce does its best to make itself as unattractive as possible. It’s a port of a PSP game, and it really shows. The game generally looks pretty terrible, with ghastly texturing and unbelievable clipping problems. It’s not a looker, that’s for sure.

The problems also extend beyond the aesthetics, however. The clipping problems also mean enemies can strike you through walls, and you’ll find that, not surprisingly for a PSP port, the camera is atrocious, making the act of hacking and slashing your way through an entire nation far more tedious and laborious than it should be.

But we would dare to say that graphics aren’t what this game is about, and luckily the gameplay is, for the interested, decent enough to go someway to allay these myriad issues. The camera problems are unforgivable in this generation of games – there can be no defence of that (or the squirrelly lock-on mechanic, a hangover from the PSP’s single analogue design flaw) – but for those willing to put up with this, there is something there.

You may well come across more than a couple of bandit chiefs

Taking game structure cues from Capcom’s Japanese megaton franchise Monster Hunter, as well as previous instalment Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires, Strikeforce enables up to four players to meet up in a hub world, before venturing out together to rampage through the Three Kingdom’s dynasty.

This hub world and Monster Hunter influence mark Strikeforce apart from the other trillion games in the series, and it’s a welcome and overdue change. Players can take on side quests to level up their stats (grind, to put not too fine a point on it), loot various items with which to create and cultivate specialised skills, and also assign ‘chi’ powers to your selected fighter for more efficient genocide.

When on the quests, the gameplay is much the same as the other titles in the series: hammer X, kill everyone around you, then kill some more, then kill a general, then collect the loot and propel yourself through the standard-fare story. On your own against the hordes the game is undeniably tough and, crucially, not very fun to play, but that’s because Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce, like its inspiration, is undeniably multiplayer focused. It’s just not designed for the solitary gamer, but find three other like-minded players and the whole outlook changes, which isn’t surprising for a game with ‘Multi-Raid’ in the original Japanese title.

Suddenly all of that tactical tinkering made earlier in the hub comes to the fore; characters can play to each other’s strengths and weaknesses, comboing into each other’s attacks, splitting objectives and teaming up to take down bosses that would be nigh on impossible on your own. In these moments, the game is actually quite enjoyable, and we never thought we’d say that.