ON its eighth iteration, and showing no signs of growing tired with age, the latest Dynasty Warriors outing offers up a stunning tactical action game following the stories of the kingdoms of Wei, Wu, Shu and Jin through the actions of historical military and political figures of the time, as they fight to gain control over the Three Kingdoms of China.

The Xtreme Legends Complete Edition is bursting with additional content outside of the main story mode, which is where the history really comes to the fore. The most accurate battlefields of days gone by are supplemented by more fantastical takes on these ancient clashes, which may not be to hardcore fans’ taste.

But underneath either narrative strain, this is a rock solid action title that moves from button-mashing to a much more tactical approach as the difficulty increases.