"Tecmo hits it off again a third time."

The Dead or Alive series, brought to you by Tecmo, once again achieves in delivering a fighting game with good, if not deep, proportions. Now some people simply consider the series as simply a sex seller, but personally I don't think that's the case. Aside from the tough and beautiful females that are featured, there IS a game within. And that is where the next and latest installment comes in, which is Dead or Alive 3.

Story - DOA3 has little story. Basically, a superhuman experiment called Genra was created, and it proves to be extremely powerful, dubbed Omega. The people come together once again to enter the Dead or Alive tournament, with each fighter having their own ambitions, and to stop Omega for good.

Graphics - This is where the game truly shows off the Xbox's capabilities. All of the fighters have improved visually a step up from DOA2, and appear much smoother and more fluidly when performing their signature moves. Stages such as the DOATEC facility and more are ''multi-tiered'', meaning that by using a strong attack, it is possible to send your opponent crashing through a window and slamming against electric lights, or knock them off a high rise cliff, sending them flying 50 feet down to the ground. Other stages such as a beach, an underground ice cavern, and a snowy forest also sport impressive visuals.

Gameplay - There are 16 characters to choose from, with each of them having their own unique fighting style. They all also have a varying amount of special moves which are separated into normal moves, throws, holds, reversals, and counters, giving the characters a wide array of moves for you to practice and master. With lightning quick movement, you can also perform combos and string them together, causing you deal double damage to your opponent if timed correctly.

Some may say the gameplay may be shallow and lacks depth, but the game is simply about taking the time to learn a fighter's moves and combos. Whereas, instead of doing just that, some may opt to just simply mash the punch and kick buttons to win a match in a mere few seconds. But then, the game wouldn't be as fun if a match were to be won so easily using that method. I like the varied amount of moves each player has, and control response is excellent, no complaints there.

You have several game modes to choose. Story, Versus, Tag Battle, Sparring, Watch Mode, Survival, and Team Battle. You may have fun in Tag Battle since you can choose two characters, and they even have moves which can be performed together with your tag partner (ex: Tina and Bass)

Audio - The music is decent, while some tracks were composed by Aerosmith. I'm not a fan of Aerosmith, but otherwise the music is good and fits in well. The voices stay pure and are kept in Japanese language, and English subtitles are optional.

Replayability - The replay value is medium, but the game is still fun to play. But once you master a character, you may find it much more challenging to put your skills to the test and fight against friends, because after awhile fighting the computer gets bland. There are not too many secrets in the game this time around, just a movie gallery. Extra costumes have been dummied down to little, (except in the Japanese version) so there's nothing home to write about in terms of the secret section.

To rent or to buy? Well, if you enjoy 3D fighting games that will take up your time in attempt to learn and play well, then DOA3 is a definite buy. Not to mention if you want to stare at the beautiful women, like Kasumi or Helena, mind the fans. :-) But if you want a fighting game with less eye candy and more depth, then you might want to look elsewhere, even though that this is the ONLY fighting game currently out for Xbox! I love this game and I play it frequently, and not regretted this purchase at all.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/19/02, Updated 07/19/02