Dead or Alive Ultimate

"Good, for a game with no story"

This game is a remake of Dead or Alive 2 bundled with Dead or Alive... it seems that the company wanted all of the Dead or Alive games on one console. If you get this game, you get it for the Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate, because Dead or Alive Ultimate is basically the same as Dead or Alive, which now looks terrible...

Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate has three major differences from Dead or Alive 2
- Graphics: They now use the DOAXV engine, allowing for much better models
- X-box live: The first online fighting game(I believe), you can now play against people from around the world
- Extra Character: The game added Hitomi due to popularity

GAME PLAY: 7/10 x 2.5

Singleplayer:
This is what crushes the game, you have a story mode that you can do, where you fight a bunch of enemies and see a few movie scenes before fighting the big boss, who I'm sorry, has got to be the lamest boss I have ever seen. The boss of the game is some big fat guy with wings who is wearing a clown suit. They tried to make up for the supershort story mode (10-30 minutes, depending on difficulty and skill) by making you receive a costume each time you beat it, and with over 100 costumes, that means you play it ALOT.

After story mode, you have time attack, which you fight like 6 guys and it tells you how long it took for you to do that, survival mode, where you try to kill as many guys as you can without dying, another will just pop out right after you KO the one you are on. Each guy gives you health or an item, these items are added to a collection, in case you feel the need to collect all the items. You also have a mode where you choose up to seven characters and the computer/player chooses up to seven characters, but it does not have to be the amount you chose, and then you fight. Last of all you have Vs, which is you against a comp/player and Tag Battle which is you control two chars, or you and a friend control one char each, and then go against the computer in five rounds, or go against a friend or two friends.

The game has X-box live now, so you can play with people even when no one is around. The only problem about this is, even though I have heard that this game is really popular online, I usually find somewhere between 20-30 people playing online at a time...

Characters:
All the characters, are very different, each one (except for the basic clones Bayman and Leon) has a different fighting style
Ex:
Zach - Thai Boxing
Kasumi - Ninjutsu
Bass - Pro Wrestling
Leon - Russian Martial Arts

Some fight with the same style, but in different branches, such as Kasumi and Ayane both use Ninjutsu, but Kasumi practices Tenjinmon while Ayane practices Hajinmon, giving them very different moves. These characters are different enough to be considered different fighting styles.

Also, along with each character possessing a very unique move-list, each character has a very expansive move list.

The move lists in this game are not each individual strike or throw, but each attack string. In the move-list, PPKKK would be a combo you could do and would be part of the move-list. So over all, the strikes, throws, counters, and combos of each move-list total to over 50 moves, with some character topping 100.

Levels:
The levels in this game differ from most other fighting games by their size and interactivity. One is the Great Wall of China, in this level, you can smash your opponent into the edges of the wall, breaking off the top part of it. You can also toss your opponent down some of the many stairs in this level, so you hop down to another section of it, after your enemy takes damage from rolling down all those stair. Almost all levels have more than one section you can get to by knocking your opponent down a cliff, through a wall, or down some stairs.

The levels also feature areas to apply extra damage to an opponent. In one level you can knock your opponent off a ledge and have them smack onto an neon sign before falling the rest of the way down. Other damage areas can be used repeatedly, such as knocking them into an electric fence.

Etc:
In this game you can combine punches and kicks to form combos, which can rack serious damage, or you can use singular power attacks, sending your opponent twenty feet away. You can also use throws, which are moves where your character pulls off something crazy like grabbing them and kneeing their face, choking them, or doing a variety of wrestling moves... Some of these are chain throws, where you do one part, then do another if you are fast enough. You also have the ability to counter, if you opponent attacks you, you can do a high, back, low, or forward counter, depending on how he/she attacks. If you chose the right one, you will not take any damage, reverse the attack, and end up doing a throw-type move on your enemy.

You can also play in teams, which really changes how you play. If you play as a tag team, when one characters health is low, you can switch him/her out to bring in your other guy and let the first one slowly regain health. You can also switch out to continue combos. Along with the switching are the team attacks and the team throws. A team throw is generic to the character who comes in, you toss the opponent to that character, and that character smacks him a little bit and poof, you have switched out and dealt some damage. A team attack is when you have the right characters, certain characters have a special attack they perform with their partner to do a bunch of damage.

GRAPHICS: 9/10 x 1.5
BEAUTIFUL. simply BEAUTIFUL. The only reason I dont give it a 10 is because sooner or later there will be better graphics.

Characters can have from 3 to 20 costumes, giving this game between 125 and 150 costumes overall.

All the levels look gorgeous, with finely detailed rocks, trees, burning chairs...

even the attacks are pulled off without any skips.

And since I cannot find a stand out gripe in this section, I have to use whatever I can get, which is that when the costume your character is wearing has a cape, sometimes body parts will go through the cape during an attack...

SOUND: 8/10 x 1
The game has plenty of sounds, with each character taunting the others before battle, to their battle cries during battle. Also, each character has two songs that can be played for him/her, and they are all good. One is their basic song, the other is the remixed version for the DJ stage...

STORY: 3/10 x 0
The multiplier for this section is zero only because it is a basic fighter, and fighters dont have strong stories, and dont need them.

The story here is that a Tengu wants to rule the world or something, and there is a tournament being held. Some people enter the tournament to win prize money, while others enter it so they can stop the Tengu. I don't think the tournament is even related to the Tengu, but apparently they still have to enter it if they want to beat him.

GAME LENGTH + REPLAY VALUE: 8/10 x 2.5
This game is a fighting game, so it it meant for replay value. Beating the story takes 10 to 30 minutes, but if you were to get all the costumes, that easily shoots up 15+ hours. Then for the time you spend online, depending on if you find the amount of people there to be satisfactory, you can add dozens more. Then for the time you spend goofing off, earning the items for survival mode, and playing this with your friends, priceless... I mean... a bunch more.

Right now I have 60+ hours invested in this game...

Overall (multiply based on importance)
Game Play - 7 x 2.5
Graphics - 9 x 1.5
Sound - 8 x 1
Story - 3 x 0
GL/RV - 8 x 2.5

59 / 7.5 = 7.8666

Rounded to an eight, I think this is a solid purchase.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/24/05, Updated 08/24/06