The "Retro Game Reviews" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
This thread has been linked to the game 'Dead or Alive 5'.
''Contains violence and sexualised gameplay'' warns the bold sticker on the case of Tecmo's latest instalment in their long running fighting game series. It's been nearly 6 years since the last 'proper' entry in the Dead Or Alive series and in this time we have seen some notable efforts from the likes of Namco, Capcom and Arc Systemworks. Could Tecmo have actually produced something that can really hit back or is Dead Or Alive 5 just too little, half a decade too late?
Right, lets get this ''sexualised gameplay'' nonsense out of the way first as it would seem that this is what the Dead Or Alive series is most famous for these days. For sure Tecmo really haven't helped themselves with releases such as Dead Or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball or for this latest game DLC which allows all female characters to play in their swimwear and who could forget that awful film spin off from 2006, thankfully though there is far more to this series than just gratuitous boobage. As once you see past this content, (which actually seems a tad toned down compared with previous games) you will see that there is so much more to Dead Or Alive 5 than just mindless titillation.
The game loads up and you are faced with a rather bland but functional menu, from here you can select the usual Story, Versus, Time Attack modes etc. that you would expect to find on a title of this kind. But once the game begins you are in for an audio/visual treat. The graphics are amongst the best seen on the current generation of consoles and are superbly detailed and animated. However, the real 'wow factor' comes from this games incredible backdrops, buildings explode, a helicopter crash lands and even a tiger runs through one of the stages. At times there can be so much going on that it can actually be pretty difficult to concentrate on playing the game. Audio wise things are just as impressive, hard kicks and punches land with bone crunching authenticity while things like explosions (of which there are quite a lot in this game) and crashing buildings all sound excellent. There is a soundtrack playing throughout the fight sequences but apart from generally being drowned out by the games incredibly over the top effects, it does an acceptable if unspectacular job. This really is one of the best looking and sounding fighting games around.
The gameplay is really what impresses with this game though as there has clearly been a lot of thought gone into it. Unlike some similar titles which have been criticised at times for being too difficult for new players to get to grips with Dead Or Alive 5 is surprisingly 'noob friendly'. The control system is basically a 4 button configuration consisting of punch, kick, hold (also block) and throw. Many of the commands in this game require generally pretty basic input from the D-pad, followed by the button(s) for the attack (or block) you wish to launch. This gives the game a real 'pick up and play' feel which many other beat em ups lack. The fighting mechanics are based around the games ''Triangle System'', this is very often compared to as a game of 'scissors, paper, stone'. The idea behind this being that one move can nearly always beat another. The 3 points of the ''Triangle System'' are, strikes beat throws, throws beat holds and holds beat strikes. Of course for this system to work these moves must be perfectly timed, a badly timed response will usually fail to beat an attack it should (in theory) have overcome. Dead Or Alive 5 can of course be played taking no notice whatsoever of the ''Triangle System'' as sometimes it can be quite difficult to instantly remember which attack beats another but as with any decent fighting title a skilled player will usually defeat a button masher. Generally speaking strikes are usually going to be the preferred method of attack as you can link them together in quick succession, or as it more commonly known a 'combo'. How you choose to block attacks differs depending on whether it is a high, medium or low attack you are attempting to defend against, if timed correctly a successful block can allow you to reverse an opponents attack, this gives a great feeling of satisfaction (especially if that person happens to be sitting alongside you!). I would say that Dead Or Alive 5 offers the best and most accessible gaming experience seen in the series so far.
So what's really new in this latest instalment in the Dead Or Alive series? Firstly there are a couple of new fighters as well as guest characters from Sega's Virtua Fighter games (all of which seem easier to use here than they did in their native series), they all blend in perfectly with the longstanding Dead Or Alive regulars (not like the Star Wars characters from Namco's Soul Calibur IV!). There are 24 characters in total all of which are pretty different in style, I cleared the games Arcade stage using one of my old favourites without losing a round, switched to a different character and could not get past the third stage. Also players now have full 3D movement of their characters, you are now able to move in and out (as well as the usual side to side) of the fighting arena, this allows you to dodge oncoming attacks as well a spring a sneaky sideways response. The 'Critical Burst' feature allows you to put your opponent into a momentary state of stunned helplessness which allows you to unleash a full on devastating attack while the idea behind the 'Power Blow' is to inflict huge damage to your opponent by slamming them into certain areas of the fighting stage. As 'Power Blows' cannot be used unless at least half of your energy has been depleted they can act as a great way to instantly even up a match that hasn't been going your way, this restricted use also means that they cannot be overly used as this could make some players too powerful creating an unfair advantage. The all new 'Danger Zones' can inflict major damage (again this usually involves lots of stuff exploding!) as you slam your opponent into them. Smashing your opponent into one is a great way to finish off an attack. Any players who may feel this is nothing more than a flashy gimmick can turn them off if required (and only certain stages have them anyway).
OK, so what's not so good about this game then? Well, for a start there is no Team Battle Mode, this was a massive part of the previous Dead Or Alive game for me. As the game is very fast paced some rounds can be over in literally a matter of seconds, this can at times leave you feeling somewhat short changed. The ability to pitch teams of fighters against each other really would not have gone amiss here. There is the usual Tag Team Mode which actually works very well but somehow it just isn't the same. The games Story Mode is basically awful, I'm fully aware that most people would not buy a fighting game for its story but this makes no sense whatsoever. I actually gave up watching the drawn out, banal cut scenes about half way through the game as I had no idea what the hell was going on. The dialogue is complete drivel, the voiceovers terrible. Remember Kate Beckinsale's abysmal accent in that Van Helsing film?, well some of the stuff on offer here makes that performance seem Oscar worthy! Another thing, after the very pleasant ladies have finished beating the living daylights out of each other they seem to have a strange knack of then becoming overly friendly...? Regardless of all of this nonsense the real letdown in the Story Mode comes from the fact that it is pretty much a very drawn out tutorial mode. The problem with this is that you are supposed to beat these challenges whilst winning the matches. Sure, I could do most of the challenges but that tended to lead to me losing the match or I could win the match but not complete the challenge. In the end I just got fed up and concentrated on winning the fights so I could progress through the Story Mode (which is the only way to unlock some of the characters). My last gripe is regarding the unlocking of the final hidden characters, these can only be done by earning titles, some of these include completing the challenges I have just admitted to getting fed up with and not bothering to do! The amount of titles required to unlock the character Alpha-152 (the final boss from Dead Or Alive 4 who is now playable in this game) is just ridiculous in my view. I would imagine that many casual gamers like myself really could not be bothered with putting in the huge amount of time you would need to do this. An option to unlock these characters without having to do this really would be a very good idea. Oh and drunken master style fighter Brad Wong is still annoying as hell and anyone buying the game second hand will probably need to purchase an online pass.
So what is my overall opinion of Dead Or Alive 5? Well, it's certainly the best and most polished entry in the series and it's definitely a lot of fun to play. It's accessible for new players to the series whilst maintaining its reputation for being a fighter for die hard fans. The ability to use parts of the background as an extension of your offensive attacks works brilliantly, the Soul Calibur series may have the 'Ring Out' feature but Dead Or Alive 5's ''Danger Zones'' take this idea to a whole new level, which I loved. Series creator Tomonobu Itagaki famously named this series after placing a bet that he could produce a title that would revive the (then struggling) developers fortunes, hence the ''Dead'' or ''Alive'' (referring to the wager). Tomonobu Itagaki left Tecmo/Team Ninja in 2008 and many feared that was the end of the Dead Or Alive series as we have come to know it.
Newsflash!, Itagaki's series is still alive.......very much alive.
8/10
(would have been a 9 with a Team Battle Mode and easier to unlock final hidden characters).
Xbox 360 version reviewed.
Right, lets get this ''sexualised gameplay'' nonsense out of the way first as it would seem that this is what the Dead Or Alive series is most famous for these days. For sure Tecmo really haven't helped themselves with releases such as Dead Or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball or for this latest game DLC which allows all female characters to play in their swimwear and who could forget that awful film spin off from 2006, thankfully though there is far more to this series than just gratuitous boobage. As once you see past this content, (which actually seems a tad toned down compared with previous games) you will see that there is so much more to Dead Or Alive 5 than just mindless titillation.
The game loads up and you are faced with a rather bland but functional menu, from here you can select the usual Story, Versus, Time Attack modes etc. that you would expect to find on a title of this kind. But once the game begins you are in for an audio/visual treat. The graphics are amongst the best seen on the current generation of consoles and are superbly detailed and animated. However, the real 'wow factor' comes from this games incredible backdrops, buildings explode, a helicopter crash lands and even a tiger runs through one of the stages. At times there can be so much going on that it can actually be pretty difficult to concentrate on playing the game. Audio wise things are just as impressive, hard kicks and punches land with bone crunching authenticity while things like explosions (of which there are quite a lot in this game) and crashing buildings all sound excellent. There is a soundtrack playing throughout the fight sequences but apart from generally being drowned out by the games incredibly over the top effects, it does an acceptable if unspectacular job. This really is one of the best looking and sounding fighting games around.
The gameplay is really what impresses with this game though as there has clearly been a lot of thought gone into it. Unlike some similar titles which have been criticised at times for being too difficult for new players to get to grips with Dead Or Alive 5 is surprisingly 'noob friendly'. The control system is basically a 4 button configuration consisting of punch, kick, hold (also block) and throw. Many of the commands in this game require generally pretty basic input from the D-pad, followed by the button(s) for the attack (or block) you wish to launch. This gives the game a real 'pick up and play' feel which many other beat em ups lack. The fighting mechanics are based around the games ''Triangle System'', this is very often compared to as a game of 'scissors, paper, stone'. The idea behind this being that one move can nearly always beat another. The 3 points of the ''Triangle System'' are, strikes beat throws, throws beat holds and holds beat strikes. Of course for this system to work these moves must be perfectly timed, a badly timed response will usually fail to beat an attack it should (in theory) have overcome. Dead Or Alive 5 can of course be played taking no notice whatsoever of the ''Triangle System'' as sometimes it can be quite difficult to instantly remember which attack beats another but as with any decent fighting title a skilled player will usually defeat a button masher. Generally speaking strikes are usually going to be the preferred method of attack as you can link them together in quick succession, or as it more commonly known a 'combo'. How you choose to block attacks differs depending on whether it is a high, medium or low attack you are attempting to defend against, if timed correctly a successful block can allow you to reverse an opponents attack, this gives a great feeling of satisfaction (especially if that person happens to be sitting alongside you!). I would say that Dead Or Alive 5 offers the best and most accessible gaming experience seen in the series so far.
So what's really new in this latest instalment in the Dead Or Alive series? Firstly there are a couple of new fighters as well as guest characters from Sega's Virtua Fighter games (all of which seem easier to use here than they did in their native series), they all blend in perfectly with the longstanding Dead Or Alive regulars (not like the Star Wars characters from Namco's Soul Calibur IV!). There are 24 characters in total all of which are pretty different in style, I cleared the games Arcade stage using one of my old favourites without losing a round, switched to a different character and could not get past the third stage. Also players now have full 3D movement of their characters, you are now able to move in and out (as well as the usual side to side) of the fighting arena, this allows you to dodge oncoming attacks as well a spring a sneaky sideways response. The 'Critical Burst' feature allows you to put your opponent into a momentary state of stunned helplessness which allows you to unleash a full on devastating attack while the idea behind the 'Power Blow' is to inflict huge damage to your opponent by slamming them into certain areas of the fighting stage. As 'Power Blows' cannot be used unless at least half of your energy has been depleted they can act as a great way to instantly even up a match that hasn't been going your way, this restricted use also means that they cannot be overly used as this could make some players too powerful creating an unfair advantage. The all new 'Danger Zones' can inflict major damage (again this usually involves lots of stuff exploding!) as you slam your opponent into them. Smashing your opponent into one is a great way to finish off an attack. Any players who may feel this is nothing more than a flashy gimmick can turn them off if required (and only certain stages have them anyway).
OK, so what's not so good about this game then? Well, for a start there is no Team Battle Mode, this was a massive part of the previous Dead Or Alive game for me. As the game is very fast paced some rounds can be over in literally a matter of seconds, this can at times leave you feeling somewhat short changed. The ability to pitch teams of fighters against each other really would not have gone amiss here. There is the usual Tag Team Mode which actually works very well but somehow it just isn't the same. The games Story Mode is basically awful, I'm fully aware that most people would not buy a fighting game for its story but this makes no sense whatsoever. I actually gave up watching the drawn out, banal cut scenes about half way through the game as I had no idea what the hell was going on. The dialogue is complete drivel, the voiceovers terrible. Remember Kate Beckinsale's abysmal accent in that Van Helsing film?, well some of the stuff on offer here makes that performance seem Oscar worthy! Another thing, after the very pleasant ladies have finished beating the living daylights out of each other they seem to have a strange knack of then becoming overly friendly...? Regardless of all of this nonsense the real letdown in the Story Mode comes from the fact that it is pretty much a very drawn out tutorial mode. The problem with this is that you are supposed to beat these challenges whilst winning the matches. Sure, I could do most of the challenges but that tended to lead to me losing the match or I could win the match but not complete the challenge. In the end I just got fed up and concentrated on winning the fights so I could progress through the Story Mode (which is the only way to unlock some of the characters). My last gripe is regarding the unlocking of the final hidden characters, these can only be done by earning titles, some of these include completing the challenges I have just admitted to getting fed up with and not bothering to do! The amount of titles required to unlock the character Alpha-152 (the final boss from Dead Or Alive 4 who is now playable in this game) is just ridiculous in my view. I would imagine that many casual gamers like myself really could not be bothered with putting in the huge amount of time you would need to do this. An option to unlock these characters without having to do this really would be a very good idea. Oh and drunken master style fighter Brad Wong is still annoying as hell and anyone buying the game second hand will probably need to purchase an online pass.
So what is my overall opinion of Dead Or Alive 5? Well, it's certainly the best and most polished entry in the series and it's definitely a lot of fun to play. It's accessible for new players to the series whilst maintaining its reputation for being a fighter for die hard fans. The ability to use parts of the background as an extension of your offensive attacks works brilliantly, the Soul Calibur series may have the 'Ring Out' feature but Dead Or Alive 5's ''Danger Zones'' take this idea to a whole new level, which I loved. Series creator Tomonobu Itagaki famously named this series after placing a bet that he could produce a title that would revive the (then struggling) developers fortunes, hence the ''Dead'' or ''Alive'' (referring to the wager). Tomonobu Itagaki left Tecmo/Team Ninja in 2008 and many feared that was the end of the Dead Or Alive series as we have come to know it.
Newsflash!, Itagaki's series is still alive.......very much alive.
8/10
(would have been a 9 with a Team Battle Mode and easier to unlock final hidden characters).
Xbox 360 version reviewed.
Sonic Chris wrote:
How have I not yet commented on an (in)famous pete review? Love it :-)
Cheers Chris, glad you thought it was alright, not sure about the ''(in)famous'' bit though! :)
BTW, don't know if anyone on here has managed to get (final hidden character) Alpha-152 yet? I have clocked up around 9 hours on this game and only have about a 3rd of the titles required for the unlock. Apparently some of these titles need to be earned playing online which (although I do have a pass) don't want to do with this game. Think this sucks a bit TBH, reckon there should be an easier way to do this.
How have I not yet commented on an (in)famous pete review? Love it :-)
Cheers Chris, glad you thought it was alright, not sure about the ''(in)famous'' bit though! :)
BTW, don't know if anyone on here has managed to get (final hidden character) Alpha-152 yet? I have clocked up around 9 hours on this game and only have about a 3rd of the titles required for the unlock. Apparently some of these titles need to be earned playing online which (although I do have a pass) don't want to do with this game. Think this sucks a bit TBH, reckon there should be an easier way to do this.
How have I not yet commented on an (in)famous pete review? Love it :-)
pb wrote:
It's those defeat scenes that make me chuckle. Girls lying on the floor panting hard, their chest heaving.
But, yes, great fighting all the same.
Yep, that's DOA for you!
Some of the innuendos (particularly in the games story mode) are pretty laughable and think I may have actually pulled an eye muscle due to the amount of rolling I did enduring some of the dialogue in this game.
But I agree 100%, the fighting in this game is superb (and most of all fun). My friend (a lifelong Playstation user) had never played a DOA title (the last entry seen on a Sony console was DOA 2 on the PS2), I had a few games with him on DOA 5 the other night and he absolutely loved it. Not only did I show him how to generally play the game in about 10 minutes (and using a famously beat em up unfriendly standard 360 controller), he was actually pretty damn good at it in no time at all. He actually intends to buy it now and said it was never a title he would ever of considered owning.
As fighting games traditionally tend to make their way to bargain bins faster than probably any other genre, DOA 5 really is one to consider if spotted in one in the near future IMO. Unless of course you're a person who's really not into beat em ups................or boobs! :)
It's those defeat scenes that make me chuckle. Girls lying on the floor panting hard, their chest heaving.
But, yes, great fighting all the same.
Yep, that's DOA for you!
Some of the innuendos (particularly in the games story mode) are pretty laughable and think I may have actually pulled an eye muscle due to the amount of rolling I did enduring some of the dialogue in this game.
But I agree 100%, the fighting in this game is superb (and most of all fun). My friend (a lifelong Playstation user) had never played a DOA title (the last entry seen on a Sony console was DOA 2 on the PS2), I had a few games with him on DOA 5 the other night and he absolutely loved it. Not only did I show him how to generally play the game in about 10 minutes (and using a famously beat em up unfriendly standard 360 controller), he was actually pretty damn good at it in no time at all. He actually intends to buy it now and said it was never a title he would ever of considered owning.
As fighting games traditionally tend to make their way to bargain bins faster than probably any other genre, DOA 5 really is one to consider if spotted in one in the near future IMO. Unless of course you're a person who's really not into beat em ups................or boobs! :)
It's those defeat scenes that make me chuckle. Girls lying on the floor panting hard, their chest heaving.
But, yes, great fighting all the same.
But, yes, great fighting all the same.
Checked out the first DLC pack on XBL last night and to my surprise Tecmo have made it available for free, don't see that very often these days.
''Contains violence and sexualised gameplay'' warns the bold sticker on the case of Tecmo's latest instalment in their long running fighting game series. It's been nearly 6 years since the last 'proper' entry in the Dead Or Alive series and in this time we have seen some notable efforts from the likes of Namco, Capcom and Arc Systemworks. Could Tecmo have actually produced something that can really hit back or is Dead Or Alive 5 just too little, half a decade too late?
Right, lets get this ''sexualised gameplay'' nonsense out of the way first as it would seem that this is what the Dead Or Alive series is most famous for these days. For sure Tecmo really haven't helped themselves with releases such as Dead Or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball or for this latest game DLC which allows all female characters to play in their swimwear and who could forget that awful film spin off from 2006, thankfully though there is far more to this series than just gratuitous boobage. As once you see past this content, (which actually seems a tad toned down compared with previous games) you will see that there is so much more to Dead Or Alive 5 than just mindless titillation.
The game loads up and you are faced with a rather bland but functional menu, from here you can select the usual Story, Versus, Time Attack modes etc. that you would expect to find on a title of this kind. But once the game begins you are in for an audio/visual treat. The graphics are amongst the best seen on the current generation of consoles and are superbly detailed and animated. However, the real 'wow factor' comes from this games incredible backdrops, buildings explode, a helicopter crash lands and even a tiger runs through one of the stages. At times there can be so much going on that it can actually be pretty difficult to concentrate on playing the game. Audio wise things are just as impressive, hard kicks and punches land with bone crunching authenticity while things like explosions (of which there are quite a lot in this game) and crashing buildings all sound excellent. There is a soundtrack playing throughout the fight sequences but apart from generally being drowned out by the games incredibly over the top effects, it does an acceptable if unspectacular job. This really is one of the best looking and sounding fighting games around.
The gameplay is really what impresses with this game though as there has clearly been a lot of thought gone into it. Unlike some similar titles which have been criticised at times for being too difficult for new players to get to grips with Dead Or Alive 5 is surprisingly 'noob friendly'. The control system is basically a 4 button configuration consisting of punch, kick, hold (also block) and throw. Many of the commands in this game require generally pretty basic input from the D-pad, followed by the button(s) for the attack (or block) you wish to launch. This gives the game a real 'pick up and play' feel which many other beat em ups lack. The fighting mechanics are based around the games ''Triangle System'', this is very often compared to as a game of 'scissors, paper, stone'. The idea behind this being that one move can nearly always beat another. The 3 points of the ''Triangle System'' are, strikes beat throws, throws beat holds and holds beat strikes. Of course for this system to work these moves must be perfectly timed, a badly timed response will usually fail to beat an attack it should (in theory) have overcome. Dead Or Alive 5 can of course be played taking no notice whatsoever of the ''Triangle System'' as sometimes it can be quite difficult to instantly remember which attack beats another but as with any decent fighting title a skilled player will usually defeat a button masher. Generally speaking strikes are usually going to be the preferred method of attack as you can link them together in quick succession, or as it more commonly known a 'combo'. How you choose to block attacks differs depending on whether it is a high, medium or low attack you are attempting to defend against, if timed correctly a successful block can allow you to reverse an opponents attack, this gives a great feeling of satisfaction (especially if that person happens to be sitting alongside you!). I would say that Dead Or Alive 5 offers the best and most accessible gaming experience seen in the series so far.
So what's really new in this latest instalment in the Dead Or Alive series? Firstly there are a couple of new fighters as well as guest characters from Sega's Virtua Fighter games (all of which seem easier to use here than they did in their native series), they all blend in perfectly with the longstanding Dead Or Alive regulars (not like the Star Wars characters from Namco's Soul Calibur IV!). There are 24 characters in total all of which are pretty different in style, I cleared the games Arcade stage using one of my old favourites without losing a round, switched to a different character and could not get past the third stage. Also players now have full 3D movement of their characters, you are now able to move in and out (as well as the usual side to side) of the fighting arena, this allows you to dodge oncoming attacks as well a spring a sneaky sideways response. The 'Critical Burst' feature allows you to put your opponent into a momentary state of stunned helplessness which allows you to unleash a full on devastating attack while the idea behind the 'Power Blow' is to inflict huge damage to your opponent by slamming them into certain areas of the fighting stage. As 'Power Blows' cannot be used unless at least half of your energy has been depleted they can act as a great way to instantly even up a match that hasn't been going your way, this restricted use also means that they cannot be overly used as this could make some players too powerful creating an unfair advantage. The all new 'Danger Zones' can inflict major damage (again this usually involves lots of stuff exploding!) as you slam your opponent into them. Smashing your opponent into one is a great way to finish off an attack. Any players who may feel this is nothing more than a flashy gimmick can turn them off if required (and only certain stages have them anyway).
OK, so what's not so good about this game then? Well, for a start there is no Team Battle Mode, this was a massive part of the previous Dead Or Alive game for me. As the game is very fast paced some rounds can be over in literally a matter of seconds, this can at times leave you feeling somewhat short changed. The ability to pitch teams of fighters against each other really would not have gone amiss here. There is the usual Tag Team Mode which actually works very well but somehow it just isn't the same. The games Story Mode is basically awful, I'm fully aware that most people would not buy a fighting game for its story but this makes no sense whatsoever. I actually gave up watching the drawn out, banal cut scenes about half way through the game as I had no idea what the hell was going on. The dialogue is complete drivel, the voiceovers terrible. Remember Kate Beckinsale's abysmal accent in that Van Helsing film?, well some of the stuff on offer here makes that performance seem Oscar worthy! Another thing, after the very pleasant ladies have finished beating the living daylights out of each other they seem to have a strange knack of then becoming overly friendly...? Regardless of all of this nonsense the real letdown in the Story Mode comes from the fact that it is pretty much a very drawn out tutorial mode. The problem with this is that you are supposed to beat these challenges whilst winning the matches. Sure, I could do most of the challenges but that tended to lead to me losing the match or I could win the match but not complete the challenge. In the end I just got fed up and concentrated on winning the fights so I could progress through the Story Mode (which is the only way to unlock some of the characters). My last gripe is regarding the unlocking of the final hidden characters, these can only be done by earning titles, some of these include completing the challenges I have just admitted to getting fed up with and not bothering to do! The amount of titles required to unlock the character Alpha-152 (the final boss from Dead Or Alive 4 who is now playable in this game) is just ridiculous in my view. I would imagine that many casual gamers like myself really could not be bothered with putting in the huge amount of time you would need to do this. An option to unlock these characters without having to do this really would be a very good idea. Oh and drunken master style fighter Brad Wong is still annoying as hell and anyone buying the game second hand will probably need to purchase an online pass.
So what is my overall opinion of Dead Or Alive 5? Well, it's certainly the best and most polished entry in the series and it's definitely a lot of fun to play. It's accessible for new players to the series whilst maintaining its reputation for being a fighter for die hard fans. The ability to use parts of the background as an extension of your offensive attacks works brilliantly, the Soul Calibur series may have the 'Ring Out' feature but Dead Or Alive 5's ''Danger Zones'' take this idea to a whole new level, which I loved. Series creator Tomonobu Itagaki famously named this series after placing a bet that he could produce a title that would revive the (then struggling) developers fortunes, hence the ''Dead'' or ''Alive'' (referring to the wager). Tomonobu Itagaki left Tecmo/Team Ninja in 2008 and many feared that was the end of the Dead Or Alive series as we have come to know it.
Newsflash!, Itagaki's series is still alive.......very much alive.
8/10
(would have been a 9 with a Team Battle Mode and easier to unlock final hidden characters).
Xbox 360 version reviewed.
Right, lets get this ''sexualised gameplay'' nonsense out of the way first as it would seem that this is what the Dead Or Alive series is most famous for these days. For sure Tecmo really haven't helped themselves with releases such as Dead Or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball or for this latest game DLC which allows all female characters to play in their swimwear and who could forget that awful film spin off from 2006, thankfully though there is far more to this series than just gratuitous boobage. As once you see past this content, (which actually seems a tad toned down compared with previous games) you will see that there is so much more to Dead Or Alive 5 than just mindless titillation.
The game loads up and you are faced with a rather bland but functional menu, from here you can select the usual Story, Versus, Time Attack modes etc. that you would expect to find on a title of this kind. But once the game begins you are in for an audio/visual treat. The graphics are amongst the best seen on the current generation of consoles and are superbly detailed and animated. However, the real 'wow factor' comes from this games incredible backdrops, buildings explode, a helicopter crash lands and even a tiger runs through one of the stages. At times there can be so much going on that it can actually be pretty difficult to concentrate on playing the game. Audio wise things are just as impressive, hard kicks and punches land with bone crunching authenticity while things like explosions (of which there are quite a lot in this game) and crashing buildings all sound excellent. There is a soundtrack playing throughout the fight sequences but apart from generally being drowned out by the games incredibly over the top effects, it does an acceptable if unspectacular job. This really is one of the best looking and sounding fighting games around.
The gameplay is really what impresses with this game though as there has clearly been a lot of thought gone into it. Unlike some similar titles which have been criticised at times for being too difficult for new players to get to grips with Dead Or Alive 5 is surprisingly 'noob friendly'. The control system is basically a 4 button configuration consisting of punch, kick, hold (also block) and throw. Many of the commands in this game require generally pretty basic input from the D-pad, followed by the button(s) for the attack (or block) you wish to launch. This gives the game a real 'pick up and play' feel which many other beat em ups lack. The fighting mechanics are based around the games ''Triangle System'', this is very often compared to as a game of 'scissors, paper, stone'. The idea behind this being that one move can nearly always beat another. The 3 points of the ''Triangle System'' are, strikes beat throws, throws beat holds and holds beat strikes. Of course for this system to work these moves must be perfectly timed, a badly timed response will usually fail to beat an attack it should (in theory) have overcome. Dead Or Alive 5 can of course be played taking no notice whatsoever of the ''Triangle System'' as sometimes it can be quite difficult to instantly remember which attack beats another but as with any decent fighting title a skilled player will usually defeat a button masher. Generally speaking strikes are usually going to be the preferred method of attack as you can link them together in quick succession, or as it more commonly known a 'combo'. How you choose to block attacks differs depending on whether it is a high, medium or low attack you are attempting to defend against, if timed correctly a successful block can allow you to reverse an opponents attack, this gives a great feeling of satisfaction (especially if that person happens to be sitting alongside you!). I would say that Dead Or Alive 5 offers the best and most accessible gaming experience seen in the series so far.
So what's really new in this latest instalment in the Dead Or Alive series? Firstly there are a couple of new fighters as well as guest characters from Sega's Virtua Fighter games (all of which seem easier to use here than they did in their native series), they all blend in perfectly with the longstanding Dead Or Alive regulars (not like the Star Wars characters from Namco's Soul Calibur IV!). There are 24 characters in total all of which are pretty different in style, I cleared the games Arcade stage using one of my old favourites without losing a round, switched to a different character and could not get past the third stage. Also players now have full 3D movement of their characters, you are now able to move in and out (as well as the usual side to side) of the fighting arena, this allows you to dodge oncoming attacks as well a spring a sneaky sideways response. The 'Critical Burst' feature allows you to put your opponent into a momentary state of stunned helplessness which allows you to unleash a full on devastating attack while the idea behind the 'Power Blow' is to inflict huge damage to your opponent by slamming them into certain areas of the fighting stage. As 'Power Blows' cannot be used unless at least half of your energy has been depleted they can act as a great way to instantly even up a match that hasn't been going your way, this restricted use also means that they cannot be overly used as this could make some players too powerful creating an unfair advantage. The all new 'Danger Zones' can inflict major damage (again this usually involves lots of stuff exploding!) as you slam your opponent into them. Smashing your opponent into one is a great way to finish off an attack. Any players who may feel this is nothing more than a flashy gimmick can turn them off if required (and only certain stages have them anyway).
OK, so what's not so good about this game then? Well, for a start there is no Team Battle Mode, this was a massive part of the previous Dead Or Alive game for me. As the game is very fast paced some rounds can be over in literally a matter of seconds, this can at times leave you feeling somewhat short changed. The ability to pitch teams of fighters against each other really would not have gone amiss here. There is the usual Tag Team Mode which actually works very well but somehow it just isn't the same. The games Story Mode is basically awful, I'm fully aware that most people would not buy a fighting game for its story but this makes no sense whatsoever. I actually gave up watching the drawn out, banal cut scenes about half way through the game as I had no idea what the hell was going on. The dialogue is complete drivel, the voiceovers terrible. Remember Kate Beckinsale's abysmal accent in that Van Helsing film?, well some of the stuff on offer here makes that performance seem Oscar worthy! Another thing, after the very pleasant ladies have finished beating the living daylights out of each other they seem to have a strange knack of then becoming overly friendly...? Regardless of all of this nonsense the real letdown in the Story Mode comes from the fact that it is pretty much a very drawn out tutorial mode. The problem with this is that you are supposed to beat these challenges whilst winning the matches. Sure, I could do most of the challenges but that tended to lead to me losing the match or I could win the match but not complete the challenge. In the end I just got fed up and concentrated on winning the fights so I could progress through the Story Mode (which is the only way to unlock some of the characters). My last gripe is regarding the unlocking of the final hidden characters, these can only be done by earning titles, some of these include completing the challenges I have just admitted to getting fed up with and not bothering to do! The amount of titles required to unlock the character Alpha-152 (the final boss from Dead Or Alive 4 who is now playable in this game) is just ridiculous in my view. I would imagine that many casual gamers like myself really could not be bothered with putting in the huge amount of time you would need to do this. An option to unlock these characters without having to do this really would be a very good idea. Oh and drunken master style fighter Brad Wong is still annoying as hell and anyone buying the game second hand will probably need to purchase an online pass.
So what is my overall opinion of Dead Or Alive 5? Well, it's certainly the best and most polished entry in the series and it's definitely a lot of fun to play. It's accessible for new players to the series whilst maintaining its reputation for being a fighter for die hard fans. The ability to use parts of the background as an extension of your offensive attacks works brilliantly, the Soul Calibur series may have the 'Ring Out' feature but Dead Or Alive 5's ''Danger Zones'' take this idea to a whole new level, which I loved. Series creator Tomonobu Itagaki famously named this series after placing a bet that he could produce a title that would revive the (then struggling) developers fortunes, hence the ''Dead'' or ''Alive'' (referring to the wager). Tomonobu Itagaki left Tecmo/Team Ninja in 2008 and many feared that was the end of the Dead Or Alive series as we have come to know it.
Newsflash!, Itagaki's series is still alive.......very much alive.
8/10
(would have been a 9 with a Team Battle Mode and easier to unlock final hidden characters).
Xbox 360 version reviewed.