Dead or Alive 4 – Review

Dead or Alive 4 is the latest entry in the long-running fighting series and the first of its kind to make an appearance on the Xbox 360. DOA has actually had quite a restless and colorful history; the first game in the series was a PlayStation release, yet its resulting sequel arrived on the ill-fated Sega Dreamcast. Microsoft then stumped up the cash and secured the third incarnation as a launch title for their Xbox. The first two games were successfully ported over to the Xbox in 2005 for Dead or Alive Ultimate, which successfully reunited the entire DOA family on one platform. So how has the transition of the series to the 360 affected the Xbox’s premier fighter? Well, to be honest, like the hardware it plays on, Dead or Alive 4 has simply become bigger and better.

The central story on show plays out as follows: The Dead or Alive Tournament Executive Committee (DOATEC) has cloned the lovely Kasumi to develop a super-human killing machine, and all the opposing ninja are saddling up and riding for all-out war against DOATEC. There are, of course, many other storylines within the game and each character has their own narrative viewpoint, be it an assassin trying to kill her No.1 mark, or a student trying to best his master, or a young Geisha struggling with her identity. Each included storyline is rich and will surely appease any diehard DOA fans.

Graphically, Dead or Alive 4 looks the business, with each character and costume lovingly rendered in sumptuous detail. Unlike in previous games, textures actually appear like fabric; Tina’s jeans seem genuinely faded, Gen-fu’s tiger-pattern robes look furry, and Kokoro’s komodo is convincingly silken. And, to top it all off, fabric and hair both move realistically and rarely clip through the characters’ bodies. Aside from the blatant wardrobe upgrade, DOA4 has an upgraded polygon count too, which makes each character appear super smooth with no apparent jaggies.

Fight arenas have also received a considerable tuning, with such environments as small ninja lairs suddenly opening out onto an entire fortress, and seaside markets spilling over onto sweeping sandy vistas. This upturn in scope of course means you can now kick and punch your opponents practically across the planet. Another addition to the massive arenas is the inclusion of background traffic, be that cars on the Las Vegas strip or a cheetah on the African savannah. Either way, if you’re struck by peripheral extras then you can say goodbye to a fair chunk of health while your opponent secretly chuckles at their spectacularly unexpected acrobatic good fortune.

The gameplay in Dead or Alive 4 has been considerably tweaked since DOA3. Countering has been changed, which now sees counter moves arrive as slightly less damaging and they’ve also been made that little bit harder to execute, with some requiring different movement depending on the incoming attack. However, the change in countering does make for a more fluid and skilful game. DOA4’s characters are all fairly detailed when it comes to moves, and each fighter possesses between 80 and 100 separate moves. The only fighter that doesn’t is ‘Nichole the Spartan’ (though she’s little more than a cheesy add-in anyway). The variety of different combos and individual fight moves means that combat rarely feels repetitive; instead remaining fresh and interesting for a worthy and prolonged period.

Arcade mode in Dead or Alive 4 remains its usual challenging self, with the final boss ‘Alpha-152’ arriving as a tricky gelatinous lady. The usual favourites such as Time Attack (completion with each character unlocks Tengu—the DOA2 final boss), Survival mode (completion unlocks all character costumes) and Tag Battle all remain.

The Xbox Live component of DOA4 has been given a considerable boost from that seen in DOA2 Extreme. In the Live lobby you have a customizable avatar that you can buy clothes for, which makes them unique to your persona, and a ranking system that logs the results of your battles has also now been introduced. This not only means you can show off how good you are to the world, it also means you can fight against Live players with similar skill levels—as it’s always more fun to avoid repeatedly getting your ass handed to you on a plate.

The Dead or Alive series has always been deaf-gamer friendly, with every bit of dialogue executed with accompanying subtitles, and combo and counter moves visually noted just beneath the on-screen health bar. DOA4 is no exception and support for deaf gamers is superb, meaning those players with unhindered hearing have no specific in-game advantage.

Many female gamers see the Dead or Alive series as somewhat of a geek-boy, boob-bouncing fantasy—a view thoroughly compounded by Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball. Yet, Dead or Alive 4 is not about that, and the playable in-game female characters are all headstrong and powerful, as well as being blessed with the ability to pound their male counterparts into the floor. Okay, there is still some semblance of boob jiggling during and after fights and this hasn’t been toned down overly, it’s fairly similar to previous incarnations, but you have to take the girls strengths into consideration also. It will no doubt still be some 14-year-old boy’s pixelated wet dream, but at least they do kick ass.

Overall, Dead or Alive 4 is an impressive return to form. With fabulous graphics, furiously intense combat, and stunning backdrops, the Dead or Alive series never looked or felt so good. New characters Kokoro, Elliot, and La Mariposa freshen up the game roster, which now boasts an impressive 23-character line up. Some gamers may find that the Arcade mode offers a very steep learning curve since the easy mode has been cast aside with reckless developmental abandon. Another point is Nichole the Spartan; although being undoubtedly cool she feels tacked on due to her appalling combat list, which is limited and contains repeats of other characters’ moves. That aside, it’s certainly not hard to recommend Dead or Alive 4 to anyone who enjoys beat ‘em ups, and even those who don’t. Class.

Review by Nige