Dead or Alive 4

Has Team Ninja produced fighting game euphoria, or is DOA still plagued with little problems?

	Version Xbox 360	Developer Team Ninja	Publisher Tecmo	Genre Fighting

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By Andrew Alfonso

Love him or hate him, Tomonobu Itagaki has a knack for making quality titles while at the same time, getting under the skin of everyone who hates his games. But then again, when you were the sole reason for the entire Japanese population buying an Xbox, you could say that the right to be eccentric has been earned. While delayed twice, Dead or Alive 4 is the cornerstone of Microsoft's X360 contingency plan.

Sporting lush graphics and innovative online features, it's not surprising that this is one of the games that's absolutely worth every dollar.

One of the main criticisms from mainstream gamers was that during the transition from DOA2 to DOA3, there weren't many changes in the underlying game system, despite proclaims from hardcore gamers that they were quite different. This time around, there's no mistaking it; DOA4 is a much more developed beast than its predecessors. First off, the counter system has remained the same, but there are many more options to choose from.

Aside from the usual counters, the game now features parries if you have your back towards your opponent, as well as a reintroduction of DOA2's complex counterhold system, which was ditched in favor of a streamlined version. This will probably excite many fans, as DOA3's counter system was a little too easy for most people. Now, guessing right will be much more difficult, as you have far more options to choose from.

Another new feature to the game are attacks called Sabaki, which is something that was introduced by Sega's Virtua Fighter 4. Essentially, a Sabaki will stop certain attacks cold as you bust through with your own attack. Every character has at least one Sabaki attack, so learning how to use them will eventually become an essential part of anyone's gameplan. Finally, an old feature that's been recently implemented again are Offensive Holds. These were present in Dead or Alive 1, and are similar to the Catch Throws you'll find in DOA2 or DOA3. However, this time around, every character has one Offensive Hold.

That's not the only thing that has changed; the characters themselves are also very different from their previous incarnations. Each character has been given several new moves and stances to choose from, which makes this the most difficult DOA game to get into, since there are so many new moves to study, and strategies to create. For example, Ryu received a new stance where he can teleport and attack enemies at will, while Jann-Lee has some deadly new string to wreck havoc with.

And what of the new characters, Eliot, La Mariposa and Kokoro? Each of them are well designed, and stay true to the fighting art that they represent. Both Eliot and Kokoro have some vicious single strike attacks, although the latter is also well-developed (forgive the pun) with a multitude of strings as well as setups involving her stumble throws.

La Mariposa is a Capoeria fighter, but don't expect anything like Christie or Eddy from Tekken; while she's a fun character to play, she's not nearly as complex as her Tekken counterparts, which may be good or bad, depending on your tastes.

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