As fighting games go, perhaps with the exception of and Mortal Kombat, there are few bigger names on the scene than Dead or Alive these days. With its fast paced gameplay, lush visuals and the more recent inclusion of play, Dead or Alive understandably stands out amongst the crowd. Thankfully the newest in the series retains DOA's well earnt glory by making a much welcome return in the form of Dead or Alive 4, a game that is a masterful graphical showpiece, and quite arguably the best in the series so far.

Dead or Alive 4's much improved feature-set includes well over 20 playable characters. Some brand new; such as the unpredictable Kokoro, a stronger-than-he-looks young called Eliot, and the outlandish Mexican style wrestler La-Mariposa. There is also a somewhat out of place 8 foot tall female Spartan akin to Halo's Masterchief. Despite providing a rather basic fighting style, she is bound to be popular with hardcore fans of Bungie's franchise. Dead or Alive 4 also features the return of Brad Wrong from DOA3, who is a master of the unorthodox but exciting 'Drunken Boxing' fighting style. As well as the many new characters DOA4 includes nearly every character from all previous games in the series, including Kasumi, Jan Lee, Hitomi and of course, Hero Ryu Hayabusa, all contributing to a much appreciated range of fighting disciplines.

Playing the game for the first time, it's unlikely you will notice many major changes in terms of gameplay. The DOA series has always boasted its exciting Countering system, which has given it a more technical and tactical approach, in contrast to other fighters where mindless button bashing can suffice. The countering now works a little differently from DOA3 and Ultimate in the way that it has 6 different countering positions rather than the previous 4, making it more difficult to counter, but ultimately more rewarding as it dishes out more damage. Other than that though, the gameplay remains true to its prequels and many of your moves and skills learnt in previous DOA games will transfer nicely over to DOA4.

No fighting game would be complete without a great selection of areas to fight in, and this is one of DOA4's biggest strengths. Back in 2000 when DOA2 was released, a brand new style of level design was implemented into the game, and being highly successful was included in every DOA since. Players have the ability to kick opponents off ledges and into various different levels of elevation, effectively creating a fully interactive environment. In DOA4 a great example of this would be the 'Waterfall Valley' level which starts at the top of a precarious suspended bridge; it's a long way down so you will want to knock your opponent off before they do that to you. Not all the levels in DOA4 include this but many do and can be used to great advantage. It adds another element of the tactical to a very fast paced fighting game. Another notable thing about the level design is moving 'dangerzones', such as the travelling cars on the 'Gamblers Paradise' streets of Las Vegas arena, or the charging animals in the 'Savannah Safari' level. This may not seem like a major leap forward but it sure beats predictably hitting people into walls, and adds a little extra complexity and fun to the game.

DOA4 has the usual single player modes you would except from a beat 'em up. Story mode is the main attraction, with each character having their own series of 8 battles between which are cut scene cinematics that form the story for that character. In many cases one character's story will cross over with another's which inspires the player to continue story mode with all the different characters rather than just one. As well as the story mode there is: Time attack, Survival, Versus, Team Battle and Sparring. There is also a watch mode, allowing you to view the computer playing against another computer controlled character in order to learn some new moves or techniques.

Relatively speaking, DOA4 is a difficult game. The easiest and default difficulty setting labelled 'Normal' provides a good challenge for most players. However for the gaming gurus, there are an extra two difficulty settings should you feel the need for a further challenge. Anyone who grows tired of the intelligent and unpredictable AI can go online and compete for world rankings. Online play is another one of the games strengths as DOA4 provides the most functional and addictive online service in a fully 3D beat 'em up so far. All the modes from the fantastic Dead or Alive Ultimate online service, with a few tweaks and upgrades reappear in DOA4, offering the most complete and authentic arcade style experience so far. More over, DOA4 online also boasts major improvements in overall play speed, and there is much less lag and reliability compared to the 'Ultimate' edition.

Graphically it wouldn't be overemphasis to say that DOA4 is in a league of its own. While the Dead or Alive games have always looked very smooth around the edges, DOA4 with its fantastic arena detail, great looking (if slightly anime style) characters and super smooth 60fps frame rate looks significantly better than its predecessors. It can even be classified as a graphical showpiece for the new 360. The one possible gripe that could be made about the graphics is that when a character with long hair moves in a certain way sometimes that character's hair looks a little glitchy, appearing to move through the body of the character. This is rarely noticeable and every other animation, such as the gentle billowing of loose-fitting clothes in a slight wind, provides a hugely impressive visual experience.

The sound in DOA4 is about what you'd expect. Many of the character voices appear to have been recycled from previous DOA games and have a hint of repetitiveness about them. Also, something which doesn't really make much sense, is that the main bulk of characters speak Japanese in the story mode, even the characters who are European of American. It's not something that's particularly annoying and most other beat 'em ups do the same thing, it can be said to be just a good old-fashioned classic attribute of fighting games, but it seems right that in this day and age you should at least have the option to make the characters talk in English or their native tongues. Other than that, the sound is otherwise solid and the in-game and cut scene works particularly well with the rest of the game.

Dead or Alive 4 is an easy game to recommend. It has the most evolved gameplay system, without loosing the 'pick up and play' feel every beat 'em up should have. With great level design, amazing graphics, decent sound and undoubtedly the best online service seen in a beat 'em up so far this is a highly accomplished game and the most complete package in the series so far. For anyone who is a big fan of 3D beat 'em ups, this is a must buy. For those who haven't played a beat 'em up in a while, this may be just the ticket to getting you back into the genre.

89%

By Steven Embling

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  1. doa5fan Unregistered 2 years ago

    awesome ,hope there is a doa 5