| Dead Or Alive 4 review |
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When is something entitled 'Ultimate' not actually meant to be 'Ultimate'? When you're Team Ninja of course. Painfully unfunny jokes aside, Tomonobu Itagaki was certainly suffering from a case of premature appellation with his stop-gap DoA reimagining for Microsoft's original games system. Dead or Alive 4 is actually the 'ultimate' Dead or Alive game so far, but for the purposes of clarity (and conformity) we’ll continue to call it Number Four.
On 360 it was impossible to think that DoA4 would look anything less than stunning. Certainly DoA3 was one of the Xbox’s best-looking earlier titles and the apple certainly hasn’t fallen far from the tree. While the cherry blossom-strewn courtyards, Las Vegas-style strip and wrestling-ring levels are all graphically impressive, this time around it’s the little things that make the major difference. The wavy heat haze on the Savannah level, the reflections of the characters and environment in glass and puddles, the neon lighting effects, the sense of scale provided by distant mountains visible from the top of the temple steps, even down to spectators in the wrestling-ring stage holding up boards with slogans and pictures that actually correspond to the fighters taking part (or booing if the fighters don’t land a punch for a while) – these are just a few examples of some of the small details that, when combined, add up to a very large and juicy cherry atop the cake.
Characters have also received extra attention to detail, with clothing fabrics looking even more impressive than ever before. Fur, mesh and silk are all wonderfully recreated and richly produced. An attempt has also been made to accurately provide long flowing hair for the female fighters, however this is not always successful with some odd results where it appears to flow around their shoulders like liquid. There are also some Soul Calibur 2-esque clipping issues with hair and some characters' clothing. The game also allows for photos and replays of the action to be saved for posterity, preserving forever that moment when you dished out (or received) punishment.
The attention lavished on fine detail is unsurprising however when you look at the game's character models. As exquisitely produced as they are, again Team Ninja have backed themselves into a narrow cul-de-sac with the art direction of the game which now seems to have gone as far as it can and even peeked around Number Three. DoA has and always been the digital equivalent of playing Barbie Vs. Ken for adults, with characters that have an almost plastic sheen to them and with some male characters looking very much identikit aside from hair and clothing.
Following criticism of the earlier games' fighting system, Team Ninja have made quite a few changes to address issues such as unbalanced fighters and problematic mechanics. More emphasis has been placed on the Critical Hit and Counter system and while it may take a while to adapt, it certainly makes the game more tactical and interesting to play. Fights are much faster (to a giddying degree in later rounds and higher difficulties) and it certainly feels more fluid and fun, with amendments made to characters like Kasumi and Ayane to balance them. This tinkering will certainly go some way to making the game more appealing to those who found it unbearable before.
Scenery-smashing moves are again present and have been, quite literally, expanded upon. Levels now often sprawl in a multitude of different directions meaning fights can take any number of paths. As an example, brawling on the Temple Steps means players can fight under the archway and into the courtyard, or in the opposite direction down the steps. This in turn leads them to being able to knock opponents over a barrier and off a tiled rooftop, or down another flight of steps. Players can never be sure of which direction a fight will take them, meaning a new dimension of intra-level variety is created.
There are also static and moving obstacles such as benches, trees, fences, traffic and even dinosaurs. There’s a real sense of showmanship in belting your opponent into an oncoming police car (as it swerves to avoid the two nutters fighting in the middle of the road), watching with glee as they roll over the bonnet with a thud of metal and a 'plink' of shattering glass. Or much more simply, but just as satisfyingly, kicking your nemesis over a stone table, following it up by vaulting across and punching them in the head as they struggle to recover.
Disappointingly Team Ninja is guilty of committing the same crime as in DoA3 (and a felony duplicated recently by Namco in Tekken 5); that of the cheap and dirty boss fight. Alpha-152, a see-through version of Kusami, is a nasty and unforgivable little addition to the game that introduces a difficulty spike that spoils the Story and Time Attack modes. Complete with a low-down, dirty, unavoidable charge-blast attack that decimates half your energy bar (something which should be outlawed from modern-day fighters under pain of death) players will find themselves (at the very least) gnashing their teeth at the vile tactics employed. Thankfully Alpha-152 is not present as the final encounter for every character in Story mode, meaning it’s not all frustration and tears.
The A.I. also seems to occasionally lose all control and self-restraint, with characters like Hitomi, and most notably Jann Lee, presenting a spike in difficulty that is off-putting and soul-destroying at times.
There are noticeable problems with collision detection, meaning some grabs, punches or kicks don’t connect. Thankfully there are workarounds as the player adjusts their gaming style, learning when these may occur. However a more sordid glitch means that floored opponents sometimes correct themselves and break into combos in a heartbeat, an almost impossible feat that no recovery move could ever produce and which feels like the A.I. is cheating. In a game where contact is everything, such activity will frustrate when, during a pivotal moment, the player finds their breathing space throttled from them and their opponent attacks instead of going prone.
The game's saving grace from niggly faults with the A.I. comes from the system's Live capability. While first unveiled in DoA: Ultimate, Live’s seamless integration with the 360 and its games makes taking fighting online easier and much more fun than ever before. DoA4 contains an avatar-based lobby system that allows players to fight, meet others, or simply hang out and spectate. Winning the various online matches (including Winner Stays On, Loser Stays On, Team Battle, Survival etc) results in the player earning Zack Points which can be spent in Zack's shop to change the appearance of avatars or to buy new wacky costumes for the fighters themselves. Taking a leaf from DoA’s Volleyball outing, items available change on a daily basis meaning that it will be some time before a full wardrobe of accessories and outfits is accrued. Online play is given a further edge in that losing fights means Zack Points are deducted, adding that real incentive to keep winning.
Although unique, DoA’s lobby is not as innovative as it could have been. While understandably limited to one fight at a time per lobby, in order to join the queue to fight, players must leave and enter the in-game spectator view. If they choose to go back to the lobby, they then lose their place in the queue, making the fanciful and delightful lobby almost redundant. Far better would have been a system that allowed you to register your place in the queue and then transport you back into the game appropriately. Of course there's nothing stopping those who want to go off and challenge someone to a one-on-one in their own lobby (which is graciously donated free of charge the first time they go online), but that seems overly fiddly and may be far more trouble for some than it's worth. Presently some games also suffer serious lag that can stop proceedings mid-combo as everything plays catch up.
As an overall experience DoA4 is thoroughly capable and enjoyable, proving through its latest incarnation that it has certainly evolved into a fighter that can be taken seriously and seen as more than cheap titillation or a T&A simulator for prepubescents. While not as close to perfection as Team Ninja would have everyone believe, there is certainly enough substance to put the series back on track and offer a serious contender to the next round of Virtua Fighter and Tekken games.
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System: Microsoft Xbox 360
Genre: Fighter
Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Tecmo
Players: 1-16
Version: United States
Reviewed: Jan 2006
Writer: Jamie Davies
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Pros:
- The best DoA game yet
- Tweaked fighting system
- Robust online play
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Cons:
- Alpha 152’s cheap boss fights
- Some small collision issues and glitches
- Online lobby not as user friendly as it could have been
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Dead Or Alive 4 Video: 12.9MB
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