Virtua Fighter 5 Online

"Fighting game perfection for the 360"

Every so often a game comes along that simply "feels right" the moment you load it into your console. Xbox 360 owners rejoice -- Virtua Fighter 5 is such a game and now it's on the Xbox 360. And even better, players can now take to cyberspace in the ultimate ongoing duel for bragging rights.

Before proceeding with the rest of the review, it's imperative to remember this one thing: Invest in a good stick.

Sega's latest iteration in the venerable fighting game franchise gets a next-gen facelift and it shows. The graphics are flat-out gorgeous. Small touches like a character's clothes flowing in the wind are included, making the visual presentation all the more real. It's a good looking game to say the least. Playing VF5 on anything short of a high-end television would be a great disservice.

While 3D contemporaries Soulcalibur and Tekken attempt to create some sort of a coherent narrative, VF5 eschews that in favor of fighting. Lots of it. Yeah, there's some shady corporation doing shady stuff, blah blah blah, but seriously, who plays fighting games for the story? What little story there is is simply to provide background for each of the brawlers.

Of the brawlers, oh, there are many to pick and choose. A smorgasbord of characters with styles based (somewhat loosely) on existing martial arts styles throughout the world. Each character has his or her individual strengths and weaknesses (and learning curve ) and part of the fun is figuring out which character suits a player's style.

While character balance issues will be debated ad infinitum, choosing a particular character never truly guarantees victory. A bigger factor is a player's understanding of his or her character, the opponent's character and of course, the basics.

The knock on VF5 has always been its steep learning curve and lack of accessibility. Unless someone has time to devote to study and master the techniques necessary to becoming a good player, mileage will vary greatly on how much enjoyment a player derives from VF5. Conversely, VF rewards study and practice more heavily than its more intuitive and accessible kin.

Mashing on the buttons any time an opponent comes within striking distance can get a novice by rather handily in any other, but not this one. Winning in VF demands a strong understanding of the game's system and of the characters' strengths and limitations. Barring a fluke, a well thought out and executed strategy wins every time.

That brings this review to VF5's biggest selling point for the Xbox 360: online play. Like Virtua Fighter 4, this edition allows players to customize their favorite characters with trinkets they win from playing on or offline. The game also tracks rank as well as win-loss records, making for all kinds of pissing matches in real life or over the Internet. There's nothing more thrilling than pulling an upset over a ranked opponent or agonizing than losing to a supposedly lower-ranked foe. It's this kind of rush that proves to be irresistible.

VF5 doesn't suffer much making the jump to cyberspace, which is critical for a game where frame counts are key and lag can be deadly. On a conventional high-speed connection, it shouldn't be too bad barring the rare hiccup. Still, there's no substitute for gathering a few friends together, having some snacks and duking it out on a big-screen TV hooked up to a kickin' sound system.

The only major criticism to level at VF5 would be its lack of a true tutorial mode. While VF4:Evolution had a miles-deep tutorial that not only broke down the game's basics, it provided some strategic pointers and even some combos for each of the characters to get the player started. This iteration has neither and it's disappointing. Without it, VF5 comes across as an intimidating endeavor and players can easily become frustrating not knowing exactly what's holding them back from playing at a higher level.

It's not Sega's fault, but VF5 is rather difficult to play on a standard pad. The directional pad feels rather unresponsive at times and while it's nice to have button combinations premapped to the triggers, they too feel somewhat sketchy at times. For a game that demands consistent technical precision, this is inexcusable. It almost feels unfair to be handicapped by hardware issues beyond Sega's control.

To truly enjoy playing VF5, it's necessary to invest in a good joystick. Personally, I'd recommend one made by Hori. It's a high-quality stick, but it'll run about $60, doubling the price of the total investment. In the long run, it's worth. Regardless, the Xbox game controller works, although not as effectively.

Despite these glaring flaws, VF5 works as a solidly built fighting game wrapped up in stunning next-gen graphics. It's not the most newbie-friendly fighting game out there, but longtime fans of the series will find themselves picking up from where they left off.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/15/07

Game Release: Virtua Fighter 5 Online (US, 10/30/07)