Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball

"It's relaxing, but don't think you'll be playing it forever"

Yeah, yeah. I know the basic rap about this game. All show, no substance. Well, my friends, I'm here to tell you that that reputation isn't entirely accurate. It IS true that the game's graphics are amazing, some of the best on any system. But there is some game in there believe it or not. Of course, there's not that much of a game in there, but it's still a fun (if not action-packed) experience.

Gameplay

First of all, the basic premise of DOAX is that you are spending two weeks on Zack's island playing beach volleyball. So, that's what you do. You select your character, then go to the island. The game lasts exactly fourteen (game)days. Each day is split into Morning, Day, Evening, and Night. During the Morning, Day, and Evening, you can go basically anywhere on the island, which include shops, empty areas, the pool, areas where another girl is just hanging around, and areas where a pair of girls are waiting to play volleyball. During the Night, you HAVE to go to the Hotel, but you can't go there any other time.

You can do one activity per time of day. Shopping doesn't count, but anything else does, this includes taking a rest, playing the pool game, playing volleyball, or just lounging in one of the uninhabited areas of the island. Night is the only exception.

At night you can send gifts, look at your own gifts and items, go to the casino or go to sleep. Night will last until you go to bed. In the casino, you can play the slots, poker, or Blackjack. Be careful, though, just like real Gambling, it's easy to lose all your money.

Money is earned by playing volleyball or by playing the pool game. The pool game is a simple mini-game that makes use of the analog buttons of the X-Box. Press the button lightly to jump one space, harder to jump two. It's simple, but it doesn’t earn you much cash. Volleyball, on the other hand can earn you loads of cash. Besides the bonuses you can earn for good spikes and serves, you earn 150000 for a perfect game. If they score one goal it goes to 90000, then the prize goes down 10000 for every goal they score down to a minimum of 40000.

So now that we're on volleyball, let's talk about the actual system. Controlling the game is simple. Left stick moves your character, Right stick can be used to adjust your partner. Press A button to hit the ball to the other side, press B to pass it to your partner. You can hit the ball differently by pressing A harder and using a combination with the control stick, but nothing too deep.

''But wait! Partner? Do you mean I pick two characters!?'' No, my friends, you don't. You pick your main character and then you must acquire a partner. Lisa will automatically join you at the beginning, but she usually doesn’t stay for long, and that's just her if you don't learn how to make friends. Basically, you must give the other girls presents until they like you enough to join you when you ask. Partners will stay until you ask a different girl to be your partner or until they don’t like you. How can you tell if they like you or not? Just look above their picture for the musical notes. The more notes the more they like you. How much they like you will affect both the way they treat you when they see you and whether they'll accept gifts of yours. Some of them just hate you and won't accept your gifts, even if they're perfect for that character.

Perfect for that character!? That's right, you can't just give generic gifts, because some girls loathe items that others love. It's all a careful balancing act of characters.

There really is no goal to the game. You have to make your own. This can either be good or bad, it's up to you. I've got mixed feelings about it personally. It's nice to play every once in a while, it doesn't do well for extended periods of time. Still, you could set the goal of getting every single Swimsuit or item or to go all fourteen days winning all of your volleyball games perfectly. It's up to you.

Story/Characters

Story!? Well, uh, here. Zack tricked all of the DOA girls into coming to his island because they thought that the next tournament would be there. Good enough for you? I hope so, cause that's all there is. As for characters, the game's cast features all of the DOA girls from the past, Kasumi, Ayane, Tina, Hitomi, Christie, and Lei Fang. It also features a new girl, Lisa. Um, that's it for the cast, too. Well, unless of course you wanted to count Zack, who makes a couple of appearances in the cutscenes.

Graphics

The Dead or Alive series is known for its graphics, and DOAX is no exception. The graphics are done beautifully, and the seem to make full use of the X-BOX's processing potential. Easily the best part of the game, it's relaxing to just watch the game play out. Really, I can't say enough about how beautiful the graphics are. You'll just have to see it to believe it.

Sound/Music

DOAX features very realistic sound. You can hear the sand move and the hit of the volleyball sound very genuine. The included music of the game is not very appealing to me. It's a combination of pop and reggae tunes that I just found annoying. However! DOAX allows you to turn songs on and off and most importantly, allows you to play the music off of your X-BOX hard drive. So, if you don't like the music they give you, use your own!

Replay

Because the game is over in fourteen days, you'll probably want to replay it, if for nothing else to see another character's inventory of swimsuits. The biggest factor here is that replay is REALLY dependant on how much you liked the game the first time through. Over time, the game can get tedious.

Summary

Pros
+++ Amazing Graphics
++ Relaxing to play
+ Allows you to pick your own music
+ Gives you freedom to choose your own goals

Cons
--- No Real Purpose
--- Gameplay is rather shallow
-- With no goals, tedium can set in
-- Over extended periods of time, it DOES get old

DOAX is not a BAD game, it's just slightly above average. The graphics are perfect and the gameplay is easy to pick up and play, but there's just not much here. Which is the real problem. It's relaxing and fun for a bit, but it doesn’t have any real depth. What you see on your first impression is basically all that you get from this game. Rent it first, then decide whether it's worth the cash.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/28/04