The bounciness is back!

Review

Played on: Xbox 360
Released: 2012

Jokes about the bouncy female characters aside, Dead or Alive is back! It's been quite a wait since DoA4, which arrived at the beginning of the Xbox 360's lifetime. I've always enjoyed this series, all the way back to the first game on PlayStation in '98. I never played the '96 arcade or '97 Sega Saturn version. I thought it was quicker and more responsive than Tekken back then.

I've played the series a lot through the years, and found DoA4 being one of my favourite fighters this generation. It's a game that doesn't take much to get into, is fast and aggressive, and title I continued to bring out to play when friends visited.

So, here Tecmo are back with DoA5. In a genre that's one of slowest to adapt and change from it's original formula. DoA carries a lot of heritage from Sega's famous Virtua Fighter series, with it's three button layout: kick, hit, and defence. DoA, however, adds a grab/throw button and a lot more speed than the VF games.

It's fun to see that DoA5, with a few selected VF characters making an appearance, giving gratitude to it's inspiration.

The first major change in DoA5 you'll notice are the character models, they've been significantly changed and are really impressive. They've gone from the simple, yet characteristic, anime look of the previous titles, to a more realistic and highly detailed look. The character models are something of the best I've seen in fighters for years. They even get get sweaty and muddy from fighting and falling to the ground!

The fighting arenas are large, as usual in a DoA title, and add some cool ways to interact with them. Fighting often continues on a new level after players get pushed or smashed off an edge. The arenas are, however, a varied bunch visually. Some are great, with amazing lighting, others are simple and have some terrible, almost last-gen, textures.

Another big change in DoA5 is the addition of a story mode. I haven't seen something like this in a fighter since the last Mortal Kombat or the older titles in the Soul Calibur series. The story is incredible cheesy and has terrible dialogue. It's so bad it's almost funny, almost, so it ends up being rather embarrassing. Much more so than what it wishes to be.

I like the idea though, making you play each of the fighters in turn and learning about their past, but it could have been done much better. I miss the arcade endings they've sacrificed for this story mode. They could honestly have just added them, content isn't something fighters have a lot of anyway.

It begs to ask the question: Will there be a DoA: Xtreme based on this game, and if so, why isn't it just implemented into DoA's story mode? That would've been a fantastic edition and made room for more variation.

DoA5 really shines when you play it together with friends and I appreciate they've kept a tag mode in there as well, but he classic one-on-one fighting is the best here though. It really is a fighting series I have a strong feeling for through all these years, it never disappoints in how easy it is to get into and how fast it plays.

You'll have hours of fun playing it with friends and it will certainly be one of the favourite games to bring out when you just want a fix for some multiplayer action. There's a bunch of characters to choose from and a corresponding amount of costumes for each.

Combined with the interactive fighting arenas it never fails to entertain it's players and bring out many laughs. There are a couple of new, cool, characters too and a handful of VF fighters to keep things interesting.

DoA5 probably is the best looking fighter out there at the moment, super smooth in 60fps too, and I would recommend people take a look if they want a fast and easy-to-learn fighter. There's even content here that will keep Virtua Fighter fans happy too, although the pacing is a lot quicker and less technical.

It's good to see Tecmo trying to push the genre further and taking a technical jump ahead from it's other rivals. If only these Japanese developers weren't so slow to change and add more content.

Overall, a welcome comeback for DoA fans like myself, warmly recommended!