Dead or Alive 3 was an impressive launch showcase for the Xbox. It showed that Microsoft’s machine had the processing grunt to produce gorgeous visuals, smooth framerates and nicely bouncing boobies. So, rather than go away and make another sequel to the series on this generation of console, Team Ninja decided to have another look at their back catalogue of Dead Or Alive games and bring Dead or Alive 1 and 2 to the Xbox. And they did so, with a huge bang.
Dead or Alive Ultimate is a double teaming of the original Dead or Alive and Dead or Alive 2, both updated from the originals. Dealing with Dead or Alive 1 Ultimate first, the treatment given here seems to be mostly eye candy. Although the game looks much better than its original incarnation on the PS1 or Saturn, the graphics can’t really hold a candle to today’s modern games. It’s not quite eye-bleedingly bad, but after loading it up, it’s difficult to see why Tecmo felt the need to bother with this, especially after having a look at the new and improved goodies of Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate. You could consider the inclusion of Dead or Alive 1 Ultimate for posterity, or maybe as a bonus feature. Only major fans of the original will put too much time into this disc.
On the second disc is where all the magic has occurred. Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate is nothing short of a magnificent revisitation, with plenty of upgrades that include graphics that put its sequel to shame, a more balanced fighting system and the not insubstantial inclusion of Live! play (on which you can also play Dead or Alive 1 Ultimate, if you so wish).
The graphics upgrade that this game has received is a revelation. Smooth animations make the hugely-polygoned character models flow slickly from one move and stance to another, the movement of hair, clothes (and breasts) has been almost perfected by Team Ninja. The new arenas (and the old ones) are gorgeous to behold, with the destructible scenery behaving just as it should. The highlight for me was the deformable terrain, such as sand or snow, whose properties reacted just as they would in real life. The only complaint with this orgy of eye candy was with the properties of water when the combatants are fighting within a pool. No ripples or splashes.
Sound in the game is not quite as good an upgrade as graphics. All dialogue (what little of it there is) is in the original Japanese and subtitled in English – even the American characters spoke Japanese. The voice acting is audibly stifled, but this is a minor thing. What they have done justice to here is the meaty sound of connecting punches and kicks, the crash and tinkle of glass as a character is hurled through an enormous window, and the thud of a body as it topples to earth from a great height.
The gameplay is similar to the tried and tested formula of the series, with several modes to choose from. The traditional story mode sets your character against others until the boss at the end is defeated. Don’t expect much from the endings though – this is a fighting game, not Metal Gear Solid. The tag team match brings an additional element of strategy, with the ability to swap characters in and out, and occasionally double-team your opponent. In addition, there are the usual team, time attack, survival and practice modes available.
The control of the characters is key in a game such as this and Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate uses the traditional control scheme of the series, which is a series of punch and kick buttons, as well as a hold button and the trademark “free” button that allows the player to engage in the important strategy of reversals. This version of the game has tweaked gameplay to make it accessible to beginners, but also create a deep enough system for advanced users to master combinations and timing. The reversals also have the added bonus of reducing imbalances in characters, so that players who rely on big destructive unblockable moves can have the tables turned on them with the judicious use of a timely reversal. This makes the game fun to play for all experience levels, it just might feel like a slight retrograde step for fans of the series as it obviously lacks some of the moves from DOA3.
The funky additional collectable stuff that endeared gamers to the series is here too, with a wealth of new items to collect, several new costumes for each character and the obligatory unlockables. However, the real proof of the longevity pudding is the Live! playability.
Well for a start all of the offline modes are available on Xbox Live so there are plenty of match options for 2 or 3 - 8 players (Winner stays on, loser stays on, Tournament, Team Battle, Survival, Kumite, single or tag battles) and an amazingly comprehensive amount of stats, including a grade points total and an overall grade. The game mostly played smoothly for us (even transatlantic match ups) but when lag does occur it La-a-a-g-g-g-s, but it never seemed to affect the outcome of a match adversely. The cool spectator mode and clear voice coms mean non-combatants can watch, communicate and heckle (even after you’re knocked out of tournaments, so you don’t just have to sit in a lobby waiting for a new game to start). Unsurprisingly there’s quiet a bit of “trash talking” goes on during heated bouts, but in the main it was always good-humoured and really added to the experience. Dead or Alive Ultimate is what Xbox Live fight fans have been waiting for.
So, I think we can forgive Team Ninja for revisiting an old game, in fact, I think we can applaud them for avoiding the temptation to produce a tired sequel to Dead or Alive 3. The game will appeal to all level of players, is gorgeous to look at, is fun and easy to play online, has loads of collectibles and costumes and sounds reasonable too. Basically an all-round nice package.
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