Game Review:Dead or Alive 4

I have exhausted all my current available games while waiting for the much-anticipated Lost Planet: Extreme Condition and Dead or Alive 4 arrived in my home as a temporary entertainment package (sorry for the late review as I did not intend to get it in the first place). Having mentioned that, I did not expect much from it. So, did Dead or Alive 4 give me a surprise and impress me? Well, a little.

A rehash of Dead or Alive 3 the game is, but only to a certain extent. You will find all your favorite modes there: Survival, Time Attack, Versus, Story, Team Battle, Sparring and Watch. At the same time, you now have the ability to record battles and take screenshots in Watch mode, all of which can be accessed later from their respective icons on the menu.

Perhaps the second change that you will notice about Dead or Alive 4 are the visuals, which have been vastly improved from Dead or Alive 3. There are more destructible objects and additional platforms in each environment. Colors are generally vibrant and everything looks more realistic than in Dead or Alive 3.

Of course, it would not be Dead or Alive 4 without new moves for the characters, not forgetting new characters, which do well to add new fighting styles into the game. Surprisingly, I find piecing attacks together in this game much easier than before. To top it off, Dead or Alive 4 is filled with tons of unlockables and it is recommended of you to play through the story mode with each character including lockable character Helena. The story ending cut scenes are simply stunning and some of them are hilarious as well, not to mention satisfying and rewarding. The story ending cut scene for Helena pieces some of the other cut scenes from other characters together and provides an exciting closure to the Dead or Alive 4 story. This is the best part of Dead or Alive 4.

However, it takes only 3 to 4 hours to complete the story mode for each character in Dead or Alive 4 and beyond that, Dead or Alive 4 has little to sustain your attention for any longer. You would not find yourself playing for hours (unless you are chasing the online achievements). In fact, saying Dead or Alive 4 is a game that can only be played in short bursts would be more appropriate. It is unfortunate that Dead or Alive 4 does not provide any new modes of play besides the said ones in the second paragraph. Otherwise, Dead or Alive 4 is one fun game that any fighting fan should get.

Overall score: 8.7/10

What’s good: Stunning, rewarding, satisfying and some hilarious story ending cut scenes, ability to record battles and take screenshots, new characters and new moves, several unlockables, improved visuals
What’s bad: Story mode takes only 3 to 4 hours to complete, not enough content to sustain attention for long, suitable for playing in short bursts, no new modes of play

Also try: Soul Calibur games and Tekken games