The Warriors recounts the career of a Coney Island street gang and is based on the 1979 film of the same name, which most of the original cast voiced. Beginning months before the film’s events, The Warriors expand and defend their Coney Island territory, demonstrating that they are powerful enough to join The Riffs’ network. They can get invited to an important gang meeting where the future of New York street crime will be decided if they have a citywide rep.
The game follows Cleon, Swan, Ajax, Cowboy, Cochise, Snow, Fox, Rembrandt, and Vermin, the nine lead members of The Warriors (with flashback missions showing how they came to The Warriors). The player will control each member during the game, usually serving as a war chief and leading a troop of Warriors on a mission. Missions range from destroying another crew to accomplishing objectives while avoiding jail or worse.
During missions, players can mug pedestrians, take vehicle radios, engage in smash and grabs, tag walls or bomb other gangs’ burners, and stock up on flash. The Warriors return to their Coney Island hangout between story missions, where they can train to increase their stats, go on patrol, analyze their successes, repeat levels, or engage in a series of quick-play combat bouts.
The game is played in the style of a squad-based brawler. Each Warrior has a unique fighting style, and most of the game world can be weaponized. Fights are often harsh and rapid, but subtlety is often an option. Players can use hurled bottles to confuse cops or gang members and perform covert finishing maneuvers. The landscapes in the game are entirely 3D, allowing Warriors to escape along rooftops, hop over fences, and sprint into shadowy corners.
