How can it not be fun to wage war in feudal Japan with legions of fierce swordsmen at your command?

“Samurai Warriors 2 Empires” answers that question by hamstringing the concept with redundant hack-and-slash combat against scores of lifeless enemies in even less lively environments.

The game appeals to aspiring battlefield strategists by giving them control over soldier morale, attack patterns and troop formations as they compete for dominion of 16th century Japan. Victory can be contingent on mastering these stratagems, such as the ability to subcontract a mission to ninjas when a key point in the battle must be passed with stealth.

Players can spend more time before the battle setting the sheer number of variables - such as the styles of weaponry or the type of training given to the steeds in the calvary - than on the battlefield itself.

But with as much action as a game of “Magic: The Gathering,” “Samurai Warriors 2” rarely generates fun during the conquest. The combat amounts to simple two-button play with short strike combos. With a quick thumb, players can make obsolete both their and their opponent's strategy simply by slashing away until every enemy is mincemeat.

In the case of warriors of high rank, each attack is capped off with an anachronistic cannon blast from their sword/shooter hybrid weapons. Such fantasy would be fine if “Samurai Warriors 2” chose to relentlessly renounce history and feature, say, dragons. Instead, the game actually touches upon the story of feudal Japan's unification, such as the Battle of Kawanakajima and the downfall of daimyo Oda Nobunaga.

Enemies are programmed with pushover AI and strike back without fire or frequency. One can literally stand for several seconds without once fielding a blow from a foe; most just stand there waiting to be slashed into oblivion with only a few sword strikes.

The graphic quality of “Samurai Warriors 2” is especially evident in the densely detailed armor and weaponry of the warriors. Less engaging are the humdrum battlegrounds, some of which stretch into the horizon with redundant forest floor patterns.

While the gameplay and graphics seldom provoke but mostly bore, the game's sound purely annoys. Pop-up heads from key players in a battle utter unimaginative rallying cries, such as “My best strategies are yet to come!,” often in unintimidating high-pitched voices.

The music - a short-looped generic mid-tempo techno track - is less noticeably bad but nonetheless boring. However, nothing short of a Kurosawa movie score could save this game from becoming a button-mashing snoozer.

Staff writer David Wilcox reviews video games for The Citizen. He can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net

“Samurai Warriors 2 Empires”

Score: C

Parental rating: Teen for alcohol

reference, mild language, mild

suggestive themes and violence

Developer: KOEI

Platform: PlayStation 2, Xbox 360

Retail price: $29.99

Features: 1-2 players

Life span: Approximately 20 hours to complete

The final boss: Although “Samurai Warriors 2 Empires” gives gamers all the strategic say they could want as feudal generals, the game makes battlefield acumen moot by allowing players to always win with one

simple strategy: press buttons fast