The following review was written in 2005 as an example of work for an application to a Journalism degree. It's reproduced below to follow on from David Valjalo's blog If Only They Were Games, and will perhaps explain my points a bit more.

When Rockstar decided to make a game based on cult 70’s NYC gang flick The Warriors, it was something of an odd decision. After all, unlike Rocky Legends, the source material didn’t seem to have the fan base to make a bit of grave digging seem worthwhile. And unlike Rocky, there wasn’t an obvious way of making the game work.

However, this is Rockstar, the home of GTA. If anything, to Rockstar, The Warriors made perfect sense. With a bit of creative thinking, it could easily take the template of GTA and mould it into something unique, yet pleasingly familiar at the same time.

The reason that The Warriors is able to take the free roaming out of the GTA formula and still make it work is that unlike it’s Scottish cousin, The Warriors prime reason for being is to tell a story. Fans of the movie will love this game because rather than rehash the film, it builds on and expands upon it. There wasn’t much background given in the film, and as such it felt a little empty at times. The events of the film don’t even come in till the final levels. Here we learn how The Warriors went from nothing to being important enough to be included in Cyrus mega meeting.

That story doesn’t disappoint either. Taking us through over 20 levels, starting from Rembrandt joining, the game chronicles the rise of The Warriors, throwing us the occasional flashback level where we see how Cleon forms the gang, and how each of the main protagonists join.  The gameplay through these levels is mostly a pure old fashioned beat-em-up, although there are enough moves to keep it varied and always interesting, and enough different weapons, from bricks to bats to boards to chickens to keep things feeling fresh. It’s not an endless swarm of enemies though. The game is broken up by other tasks, including spraying your tag, stealing car stereos, and looting shops. There are also stealth sections where the aim is to avoid confrontation, though admittedly this is probably the weakest part, for the reason that the stealth moves are too difficult to pull off, but are very satisfying when they actually work.

A nice touch was getting most of the original cast to lend their voiced to the game. One notable absence is Marcelino Sánchez, who played Rembrandt. He sadly died in 1986, though Andy Senor is marvellous in his absence. Sound is a much under valued part of the gaming experience, but the developers don’t forget it here. The original score is present and correct, along with some new additions that more than do justice.

The only real letdown is the camera. As seems standard for these kinds of games, the camera is absolutely pathetic. When in enclosed spaces, rather than swing round to where the street is (and therefore looking at you), expect to be looking at the other side of the wall. It’s not a design element intended to make the game harder as other games have claimed for their shoddy camera work, it’s simply the only poorly executed part of an otherwise perfect package.