"Want girls, action and a great time? Then DOA3's for you!"

First and foremost, before I bought DOA2 for the PS2, I couldn't stand fighting games. This game has changed my entire opinion of them, and of course when I finally got an Xbox, immediately purchased it, and I was not disappointed.

The DOA series has always been known as a great fighting game, but also known for it's female characters. Dead or Alive 3 delivers more than any other DOA game I've played. The amazing graphics and the great gameplay have made this game awesome to play.

Story: 7/10

As with most fighting games, Dead or Alive 3's story isn't an epic story like you would find in an RPG, but for a fighting game, it's relatively decent. DOATEC is experimenting again, with a man called Genra. I gave the story a 7 since you can find out more about what happens in the tournament by playing each character, and it actually builds up into a better story than you might think at first.

Gameplay: 10/10

Excellent. The game is fun for people who just want to button mash, or for those who want to use the freaky difficult combos, DOA3 incorporates both into the gameplay. You can play the game in a few different modes. Story, tag, team, versus, time attack and survival. You're sure to find one of them that you like, either smashing tons upon tons of weaker enemies in survival, a battle against the clock in time attack, or uncovering each character's story in story mode. There is a large variety of characters to choose from, and each is very different from the last, so you'll want to play with each of them if you want to find your favourite character to use. Also there is the very fun multi player, a simple concept, and very easy to use, but great fun on those boring weekends to invite some friends over and have a tournament or something.

Sound/Music: 8/10

The sound is great, from the screaming battle cries to smashing someone's face, each sound is very good. The first thing that struck me was that the voices are all in Japanese. However I quickly adjusted to this. Because the game hasn't been translated, the voices with the mouth movement is very smooth, and the character's voices suit the person who is speaking perfectly. The music usually fits the mood of the battle or the arena, but this game isn't about the music, even so, it's still very good.

Graphics: 10/10

The graphics in DOA3 are simply amazing. The details in the characters is amazing, and the body movement is all very smooth. The facial animations and expressions are great. The creators of the game seem to have put more effort into designing the girls, which they have done an excellent job with. The arena's that you battle in are stunning. There isn't just a background, with a slightly 3D foreground, the entire battle scene is 3D, with different levels, so whether you're kicking someone out a window, watching them hit the neon lights along the way, and crashing into a car, or smashing someone off various sets of cliffs, you are sure to be amazed by the levels in this game.

Replayability/ Play time: 8/10

After finishing all the stories, you can play survival and time attack to your heart's content, enjoy a few tag battles etc, but what keeps this game going is the multi player value. You'll be playing this game with your friends for months and months after you've bought it, and not only one on one, you can play versus single or tag, and it never seems to get old.

Rent or Buy?:

Depends. If you are a fan of either Dead or Alive or fighting games, this is a definite buy, however if you are unfamiliar with the series or even dislike fighting games, you really should give this game a rent.

Overall: 10/10

Even if the story is a bit thin, the amazing graphics, the hot girls, the excellent gameplay, and the fact you can play for ages after you've bought it with your friends, makes this game excellent in almost every way, definitely worthy of a 10/10.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/29/05