In an announcement made just moments ago by the folks at the American branch of Corporation, the highly popular Japanese strategy puzzle game has been officially confirmed for a Stateside release this September. Based in the same universe as the company's famous Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Dynasty Warriors franchises, Tactics 2 is slated to include several new features meant to expand upon the efforts that helped to garner a 2002 IGN Reader's Choice award for Best Strategy game.' Two thousand years later, the history of the Three Kingdoms continues to play a significant role in Chinese popular culture.

Everything you need to know about Dynasty Tactics 2. Dynasty Tactics 2 Dynasty Tactics 2 PlayStation 2 Gameplay. Rusty lake hotel walkthrough. May 16, 2003.

The legend continues to gain popularity in the West as evidenced by the success of the Dynasty Tactics and Dynasty Warriors series,' said Amos Ip, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at KOEI Corporation. 'With multiple story branches and endings, players will add their own chapter to the Three Kingdoms saga. More dynamic visual effects, a new tactics combo system, and new characters are certain to make this series as enduring as the legend on which it was based.' For the unfamiliar, Dynasty Tactics 2 chronicles the disorder throughout China after the fall of the Han Empire.

The spark that triggered a massive civil war, the Three Kingdoms period brought about the rise of bandits, corrupt officials, supreme warlords, and hordes of mercenaries who exploited the lands and its people for all that it was worth. The results were three warring states of loyalty, and one of the bloodiest prolonged conflicts in all of recorded history. Your role in Dynasty Tactics 2 the player assumes the role of a general whose seeking to unite the three kingdoms under one banner. The action unfolds in a similar fashion to that of a typical turn-based war game with several grid-based decisions dictating the flow of the game. As each unit moves, players are given the choice to choose a certain tactic (be it defend, attack, or whatever) in order to win their turn until a scenario has been conquered.

Developed by KOEI's internal development squad in Yokohama, Dynasty Tactics 2 will not only expand upon DT by adding three times the tactical maneuvers that the original had, but by also inserting the first game's mysteriously absent personality, Lu Bu. Of course, the 84 stages, 200 battle events, and 96 different strategies may be a little more appealing for returning fans of the series, but for those of us who are attached to the period's characters, Lu Bu's appearance is a welcome one (especially considering his treacherous past and unique individual scenario). Also on tap are several new features that should open up the battlefield in a more flexible way and allow for more possibilities than ever before. The biggest of which is probably the Tactical Chain System: Implemented by fulfilling certain game conditions, the TCS enables a single military unit to link together several tactics in a row for maximum efficiency.

Using this new sequenced strike system, a single soldier can now perform up to 10 tactical combo links and should speed the pace of the game up considerably while making 'come from behind' victories more feasible. Another cool feature is the planned Tactics Training Camp that will advance armies and officers while simultaneously teaching you new tactics and building relationships with other commanders. The new points evaluation mechanism sounds pretty intriguing as well; as once the game is over the player's performance is evaluated in several categories like complete defeats, tactics links, leadership, ingenuity, martial arts, and so on. Using the information compiled from these stats, the game automatically matches the human player with commander that has a similar ability level. From which you can gain new items and goodies. Gamers can explore cities now too, and travel on their own to the aforementioned training schools, villages, and wizard huts without restrictions. Once finished, Dynasty Tactics 2 could give its brother Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII the same tough competition that the previous installments gave each other last year.

With a ton of new options (some of which, we haven't even gone into yet), drastically improved visuals, and a soundtrack that's said to kick some major ass, we could be looking at yet another sleeper hit from KOEI. Stay tuned to IGN for hands-on impressions and more from the show floor at E3 in two weeks, and click on our media page below for the first batch of official images.