The Warriors is a 2005 beat 'em up video game developed by Rockstar Toronto and published by Rockstar Games. Based on the 1979 film of the same name; it was released in October 2005 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and February 2007 for the PlayStation Portable; the PSP port was developed by Rockstar Leeds. The game was re-released on the PlayStation 3 in May 2013 and PlayStation 4 in July 2016, via the PlayStation Network. Set in gritty 1970s New York City, the story follows the eponymous street gang, who are framed for the murder of a respected gang leader and must return to their home turf in Coney Island while being hunted by rival gangs and the police. The game expands on the film's plot, with the first half covering events that took place three months before the events of the film.
The gameplay revolves around large scale brawling in 3D environments interspersed with other activities such as chase sequences. The game features songs from the film's soundtrack; however, as of 2016, some of them have been removed from the PS3 and PS4 versions, including "I Love Livin' in the City" and "In the City", due to licensing restrictions. Several cast members from the film returned to voice their characters in the game. Following its release, The Warriors received very positive reviews, with critics praising its controls, design, sound, music, and plot; many deemed the game to be a worthy adaptation of the film.
Gameplay
The Warriors is an action-adventure survival game with a heavy focus on melee combat (specifically brawling). Other minor gameplay elements are mixed into the experience, such as the ability to use spray paint to mark turf or insult people. The game features multiple playable characters, including the Warriors' Warchief (leader) Cleon, lieutenant Swan, heavy muscles Ajax and Snow, Cleon and Swan's friends Vermin and Cowboy, the scout Fox, Harlem native Cochise, and graffiti artist Rembrandt. The player can control only one character per mission, while the others are computer-controlled. Cleon, Swan, Ajax, and Rembrandt are the most heavily featured characters. Most missions revolve around the Warriors attacking rival gangs' territory, though there are five bonus "flashback" missions that explain how certain members joined the gang; all gangs, save for the Destroyers, are taken from the film, even though they were only mentioned or briefly featured in the film itself, such as the Electric Eliminators, the Panzers and the Van Cortlandt Rangers. An arcade game called Armies of the Night (heavily based on Double Dragon) is unlocked after the main storyline of the game is completed. The playable characters are Swan and Ajax.
The Warriors' headquarters serves as a hub. From inside, the player can train (10 ranks of physical fitness such as, sit-ups, press ups, chin ups, and heavy bag, that increase stamina), talk to fellow gang members, play through rumble mode and other bonus material, walk outside to Coney Island for extra missions, or begin the next level of the story proper. This menu is manipulated by using the right analog stick, while movement is controlled in the 3D environment using the joystick, and camera controls are managed using the up arrow on the digital pad and the analog joystick, allowing the player to navigate the menu while avoiding or approaching enemies.
The playable character has a bar below their feet to determine their health level, reducing whenever the character takes damage, although it can be replenished by using flash. The circular grey bar inside the health bar represents the player's grappling stamina, draining upon grabbing or mounting an opponent. The top-left hand side represents the character rage meter, which, when filled, allows the player to pull off a variety of combos and styles. In rage, the player will become temporarily invincible, using finishing moves and inflicting serious damage on the opponent. The player's allies, if they are knocked out, the player can use flash to replenish their health. However, if the playable character loses all of their health, the mission ends and the player will be prompted to resume from the checkpoint or restart the mission from the beginning. Defeating enemies will cause items to fall from their bodies; flash to restore health; spray to spray over enemy gang territories; and money which can be used to purchase items from dealers.
Character development
The player can choose to help other people in Coney Island. In return for helping these people, the Warriors will learn abilities, such as defeating policemen to receive cuffs to subdue and arrest anybody, cuff-keys that will allow the player to free Warriors with keys instead of breaking cuffs, escape from cuffs themselves with cuff-keys, increase flash capacity, and earn brass knuckles and steel-toed boots to inflict more damage to the enemy. The player can choose to have the Warriors exercise in the headquarters to increase stamina. and to unlock an arcade machine that will allow you to play Armies of the Night.
The design and casting of the characters was faithful to what was seen in The Warriors. Each character is portrayed as their respective role from the film ― Cyrus, the Riffs leader, inhabits Gramercy Park. Luther, the Rogues leader, is based out of his hearse. The Baseball Furies' territory is Riverside Park, the Lizzies' their apartment, with other smaller gangs based around the city. When starting a mission, the Warriors will occasionally stay at their home turf or travel to another place via train to use as a starting point.
Missions and events normally begin at the Coney Island headquarters, which is mostly used as a launching point throughout the game. The player can travel to places across New York City, including Tremont where the Warriors encounters the Orphans, a low-class gang, and Riverside Park which is run by the Baseball Furies, a well-respected gang. The main players travel from one turf to another across New York, to let the public radio station know there is a new gang in town.
Characters
The primary protagonist is Cleon, the Warriors' leader in the first two-thirds of the game until after the meeting. Cleon's role was to increase the Warriors' reputation and rid Coney Island of the Destroyers. The major protagonist is Swan, the second-in-command throughout most of the game, covering the film itself. The other Warriors feature an important role with each Warrior having a role, like the heavy muscles Ajax and Snow, Virgil, leader of the Destroyers, serves as an antagonist during the first half of the game and a rival and former best friends of Cleon and Vermin after betraying them.
The Turnbull AC fail to kill the Warriors as they board a train en route to Coney Island, only for the train to be stopped by a fire on the tracks at Tremont. While continuing their journey on foot, the Warriors re-encounter the Orphans, who hold a grudge against the Warriors after being humiliated by them. Swan parleys and calls a truce with the Orphans' leader, Sully, and the Warriors are allowed to walk through the Orphans territory unharmed. However, Sully's partner Mercy mocks him, causing him to change his mind and order his men to attack the gang. During the fight, the Warriors use a Molotov cocktail, blowing up Sully's car; impressed, Mercy joins the Warriors. The gang arrives on the 96th Street and Broadway in Manhattan, where they are chased by the police and separated. Three Warriors – Rembrandt, Vermin, and Cochise – escape via train and Mercy runs away on foot, while Fox, wrestling with a police officer, falls onto the tracks and is fatally hit by a passing train.
Swan and the remaining Warriors – Snow, Ajax, and Cowboy – are chased into Riverside Park by the Baseball Furies, where they defeat them. Afterward, Ajax notices a lone woman in the park and leaves the group to stay with her despite Swan's objections. When Ajax becomes sexually aggressive, the woman, revealed to be an undercover police officer, handcuffs him to the bench and arrests him. Arriving at Union Square, Rembrandt, Vermin, and Cochise are seduced by an all-female gang, the Lizzies, and invited into their warehouse, but escape when it's revealed to be a trap, learning the truth, everyone believes they murdered Cyrus. Meanwhile, Swan returns to 96th Street station and finds Mercy. The pair travel to Union Square on foot while forming a close bond and being stalked by the Punks, whom they eventually defeat upon reuniting with the other Warriors. Meanwhile, a gang member informs Masai and the rest of the Riffs that Luther framed the Warriors for killing Cyrus.
The Warriors finally arrive at Coney Island, only to find the Rogues waiting for them. Luther admits to murdering Cyrus for no particular reason, and challenges Swan to a one-on-one fight, before pulling out a gun. Swan dodges his shot and throws a switchblade at his hand, disarming him. The Riffs then arrive to deal with the Rogues. Luther tries to convince them the Warrior were the culprit to no avail, but Masai refused to be bamboozled for a second time and acknowledged the Warriors' courage before punishing the Rogues. The radio DJ announces the hit on the Warriors has been called off and salutes them with a song―"In The City". The game ends with the Warriors walking down the beach, finally safe and home.
Development
Rockstar Games began working on The Warriors in 2002. The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game were developed by Rockstar Toronto, who were previously known as Rockstar Canada. Promotion of the game was aided by its appearance at E3 2005. The game was later ported to the PlayStation Portable platform, and developed by Rockstar Leeds. This was first announced in October 2006, and Rockstar Leeds worked with original developers Rockstar Toronto in order to make the port easier. A spokesperson had said "We have worked closely with Rockstar Toronto to maintain the extremely high standards they've set for this game," said Gordon Hall, President of Rockstar Leeds. "The PSP system allows us to deliver the experience in an entirely different way, while staying very faithful to the original source material and maintaining the high standards we set for ourselves as a developer."
Promotion
The Warriors then began to look a lot like several of Rockstar's other projects such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Manhunt, and Red Dead Revolver. The look and presentation are definitely familiar, despite coming from different production houses, each developer shares their toolsets and proprietary technologies with each other on a consistent basis A combination of the company's biggest hits like State of Emergency and Manhunt, The Warriors successfully mixed multi-character co-op brawling with stealth action. Just as was the case on PlayStation 2, if there is anything that positively sticks out regarding how The Warriors plays, it's the surprising depth of its characters. All nine playable fighters, while similar, have their own unique selection of moves and strengths and offer slightly different takes on the same concept.
Voice cast
The Warriors features several actors from the 1979 film reprising their roles, including Michael Beck as Swan, James Remar as Ajax, Deborah Van Valkenburgh as Mercy, Dorsey Wright as Cleon, Thomas G. Waites as Fox, and David Harris as Cochise. and made about $37 million worldwide. "Like the best of Rockstar's games, 'The Warriors' immerses you in a world that feels at once authentic and highly stylized, and it might just be the best game adaptation of a film ever in terms of capturing the mood of the original movie."
Game Informer praised the feel and style of the game, stating: "The Warriors immerses you in a world that feels at once authentic and highly stylized, and it might just be the best game adaptation of a film ever in terms of capturing the mood of the original movie. Fans will notice that all of the iconic scenes of the film are recreated almost shot for shot. In addition, Rockstar Toronto has gone to the trouble of creating a completely new storyline that shows players how the Warriors came together, and the events leading up to the start of the film."
Lawsuit
In 2006, Roger Hill, who played Cyrus in the movie, filed a lawsuit of US$250,000 ($ when adjusted for inflation) against Take-Two for using his voice and depiction in the game without his permission. He claimed that it would not have been difficult for Take-Two to pay, since the game made $37 million ($ when adjusted for inflation).
Cancelled sequel and other games
A spiritual successor was planned by Rockstar Games, which was to be unrelated to The Warriors. The game was to be titled We Are the Mods and was to be set in 1960s England during the mods and rockers brawls. However, later in 2009, an arcade game was released entitled The Warriors: Street Brawl, which is a beat 'em up scroller video game created by CXTM and released on Xbox Live Arcade.
Legacy
The Warriors is featured in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die.