Back in 1997, Dynasty Warriors musou attacked its way into our hearts and minds. Since then, the success of the franchise has defied logic with numerous sequels and spin-off series such as Samurai Warriors.

Tecmo Koei released a ton new screenshots for their upcoming hack and slasher.

Dynasty Warriors 8 will have over 70 colorful characters all with unique weapons. Rage mode is back along with a new Switch Counter system that lets you parry an attack before switching weapons.

Also new to the series will be "Ambition Mode" where you'll take part of a series of skirmishes to gradually improve your home village to become the newest hot spot in all of feudal China. The idea here is to build up your village to garner a visit from the emperor and get his his good side.

Anyone excited for this? I always found the DW series to be some gamer's guilty pleasure which could explain why the game sells well enough to merit sequels despite the often critical bashing. Perhaps there's something cathartic about pounding through thousands of peasants with a bald guy brandishing a seven foot sword?

Expect Dynasty Warriors 8 this week in the US and later this month for the rest of the globe on Xbox 360/PlayStation 3.