Dead or Alive Ultimate

"The Ultimate online fighter"

The day the Xbox launch there were two titles that stood out from the rest. These two titles were Halo and DOA 3. DOA 3 was a good fighter with the most gorgeous graphics of that time, not to mention the girls also. Team Ninja the developer behind DOA is a big Xbox supporter from day one and Itagaki the person in charge of Team Ninja has always been a perfectionist. This is no different as you can see from the opening scenes that Team Ninja has put a lot of time and effort into this game. DOA was never a deep fighter, but it was fun and it looked great. This is the same with DOA Ultimate, it looks drop dead gorgeous, but it is simple and easy to pick up. DOA Ultimate is a remake of the DOA 2 and also a port of the first DOA. While DOA is accessible to anyone, it also caters to more devoted fans of the genre. Simply put, DOA Ultimate is easy to pick up, but hard to put down because it is highly addictive. The game will come with two cases containing two games and these two games are DOA Ultimate 1(The original DOA) and DOA Ultimate 2(DOA 2 remake). The story is quite entertaining especially considering the fact that it is a fighting game, but anyways I won't go much further on the story because I'll let you find out for yourself. Anyways with Ninja Gaiden, Team Ninja has already put out a great game earlier this year, can they do it again with DOA Ultimate. Find out in this review.

Team Ninja has always been known for great graphics, DOA XBV, DOA 3 and Ninja Gaiden all sported top-notch graphics that rivalled any games on any console in terms of graphics. From the opening cut scenes you can tell DOA is just drop dead gorgeous; in fact it could possibly be the best looking game on the Xbox. One thing is for sure this is the best looking fighter out, period. Not only is this game gorgeous, but the frame rate is locked at 60 frames per second offline. Online is a different story of course. While there are some lag on DOA Ultimate, it really depends on other people's connections. The environment is beautiful, especially the prairie. The destructive environments are also a great feature. The character models look flat out amazing. The character animation looks great and looks very fluid. There is a lot of attention to detail, for example lions roaring when you get close to them. The graphics are very detailed, runs very smoothly, beautiful environments, everything that you will expect from a Team Ninja game.

DOA has been labelled as a shallow fighter by many elitists from the fighting genre. I will not argue the fact that DOA is on the same level as Virtual Fighter when it comes to deeper fighting engines, but for someone like me who isn't a big fan of the fighting genre, DOA is the kind of game that is easy to pick up and a blast to play. DOA is, however a fighter that is very fun and does not require you to spend hours upon hours to learn the combos like other fighters. DOA Ultimate is definitely one of my favourite fighters out there. It has a fighting engine that just about anybody can learn and have a blast playing.

Anyways on to the modes, you can play the story mode, online mode, time attack, sparring and etc. These modes are all well made and extremely fun, the best being online of course. DOA Ultimate being originally called DOA Online, of course emphasizes on online, which I will get into later. Story mode is your basic run of the mill just like any other fighters. You fight until you reach the boss, and in between there are some cut scenes that are interesting. The A.I in this mode is fairly good, while DOA is not hard, the harder difficulties do make you strategize rather then going all offensive. This is because the A.I will do a good job of countering your moves and dealing a lot of damage. Time attack is just like Story mode except you must try to beat it as fast as you can. Sparring mode allows you to practice your combos. Online mode is of course the meat of the game and I will dedicate a whole section of the review to it because of that. All in all DOA Ultimate offers a variety of mode that will more then keep you satisfy.

DOA Ultimate offers plenty and I mean plenty of unlockables. There are more then a dozen of costumes to unlock for most of the characters. While this may not seem worthwhile by just reading this, you have to see these costumes yourself, especially costumes like Kasumi's santa clause outfit. These costumes can also be worn online. There are three unlockable characters and they Hitomi, Bayman and Tengu.

The game controls very fluidly and overall controls very well. It is very responsive, but occasionally such as Tag Mode, trying to switch characters doesn't always turn out the way you want. Nonetheless that is a minor gripe to what a game should feel and play. You have a punches and kicks that can be used to form all kinds of combos, pressing back will also allow you to block, beware if you block to much people might use grabs against you. The grabs in the game are very impressive. Throughout the many stages in the game you can usually knock an opponent of a ledge, building or cliff that will enable you to deal major damage. Anyways reversals are a big key in this game, while I have not mastered it, countering not only stops an enemies attack, but it usually deals a great deal of damage also. Unlike other deeper fighters DOA allows you to perform a string of impressive moves without having to be a very skilled player. This is both good and bad. While it is good that the game is accessible to all players and it is easy for anyone to pick up and enjoy, elitists of the genre will look down on it because a unskilled player needs only to be lucky to string together a impressive combo and beat that skilled player.

The online mode being the most attractive feature in this game does not disappoint out all. The online mode brings back memories of standing in line in the arcades. You're basically in a room with other people and you watch two other players fight it out, while you wait your turn. You can have a friendly chat with each other or you can analyse the people who might be your future opponent. Team Ninja did a superb job in simulating the arcade atmosphere. There are a few modes in, which you can choose; tag battle and single battle are my favourites. Single battle is fighting one on one with one character and tag battle is fighting against each other with two different characters. These characters can be switched in by pressing the black button. The game runs smoothly for most of the time, however there are some lag depending on the server. After each match you will be shown a grade system along with a letter grade. Your grade will be posted and ranked with other people online. So if you care about stats try not to quit in the middle of games because you will be penalized. All in all online mode is the best feature, but the game also features a hefty amount of unlockables and a solid story mode.

While good the music and voice acting is not quite up to par with the rest of the qualities of the game. The opening scene features a song from Aerosmith called “Dream On”. The music in the game is nothing memorable and for the most part you won't be paying much attention to it. The voice acting is good for the most part, but it makes you wonder why fighters from America would be speaking Japanese. Also you can unlock new announcer voices, such as voices from Kasumi. The dialogue in the game consists of a few lines, but nothing to the extreme.

DOA Ultimate requires dedication to learn some of the more complicated moves and to unlock all the costumes. There are so much costumes to unlock and while it may seem it is a chore to do, I assure you it is not. It is just a great game and I loved every minute of it. Unlocking costumes will allow you to use them online, which is very cool. Online mode gives this game a vast amount of replay value. You will spend hours upon hours just playing this game online. With some strong offline modes and a superb online mode this game is definitely worth your money.

All the unlockable costumes are great and will keep you busy a long time. The costumes are very good and a blast to look at. Some are quite revealing and it really shows off the trademark that Team Ninja is knwon for. The graphics are beautiful and is second to none. The arcade like feeling of the online portion is a great implementation. Like always Team Ninja puts special care into their games and the quality of their games shows their talent and dedication. Overall DOA is presented beautifully like all Team Ninja games.

DOA Ultimate offers a great experience and has numerous modes for you to try. It is very obvious that Team Ninja has put a lot of time and effort into this game. While there are a few minor gripes, it is nothing compared to how great the rest of the game is. From the beautiful environments to life like simulation of the arcades, this game just offers a vast amount of incredible features.

Pros
+ Destructive environments
+ Online
+ Unlockable costumes and characters
+ A solid story mode
+ Gorgeous graphics
+ 60 frames per second

Cons
- Fighting system is not as deep as other fighters
- Some lag online

Graphics - 10/10
Gameplay - 9/10
Sound - 8/10
Value - 10/10
Presentation - 9/10
Overall - 9.3/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/04, Updated 01/03/05