Dead or Alive 5 Review

Game Reviewed: Dead or Alive 5

Release Date: September 25, 2012

Developer: Team Ninja

Publisher: Tecmo

Platform: [Reviewed: Xbox 360], PlayStation 3

Genre: Fighting

Rated: M for Mature

By now you should already be in the fighting spirit. If not, that’s all about to change as Team Ninja has finally released a gamer’s most prized possession one more time, Dead or Alive. It’s been six years since DOA 4 made its presence felt and quite honestly, it’s still a blast to play today.

Dead or Alive 5 pushes three modes your way: Story, Fight and Online. Most of the gameplay will be experienced from the fight and online mode, but every fighting game needs a good story. Briefly, this is DOA5’s.

Helena Douglas is now heading DOATEC, Dead or Alive Tournament Executive Committee, with plans to show the world what differences can take place for better with her as CEO. In the midst of it all, Kasumi has a clone moving about that Helena is trying her best to catch her.

Inside the story doesn’t hold a consistent base. It begins with the clone to a handful of random fights to a DOA Tournament making its fifth return. Cutscenes began as friendly conversations and ended in battles, but there weren’t any harsh words to provoke the fight. Overall the story felt less entertaining than expectations.

All is not lost however. While progressing through the story, you learn all the basic techniques while unlocking fighters and arenas. The fighting mechanics are just as fluid as DOA 4; you can still string attacks together, counter punches and more.

Graphically DOA 5 shows much improvement. With the obvious time-lapse , you will notice the more realistic look that each player has. Camera angles however in the story at times looks unpolished and lacking the finesse that the rest of the game brings you. There are plenty of interesting 3D environments and Danger Zones to keep the action feeling fresh with each, individual character you can choose from.

As you begin to fight, you’ll notice one of the most realistic things other fighters lack, sweat. As Akira began to warm up you could feel the foot plants and the new stances. When he finished, you can see the effort put into it from the sweat pouring down the side of his face.

When playing versus or online, as you hoover over your character you are able to see exactly what advantages they can bring to the table. There’s a breakdown of your players throws, strikes, holds and more. In general though, Dead or Alive is fast paced so it’s more about timing your attacks.

Other available modes are Arcade and Time Attack which is based on overall score and how fast you can finish the game. Then there’s survival and training. A few extra modes added in is Spectator, allowing you to view previous matches or watch an A.I vs. A.I, Album which displays saved photo from matches, your overall record in DOA and Missions that you’ve completed as well as how to unlock them.

The Soundtrack for DOA is quite pleasing. During matches you can hardly tell there is any music as you’ll be more drawn into the fight taking place, but the tracks just have that well of a blend.

I must say that Dead or Alive 5 is so much fun. There were a few expectations that were underperformed, mainly being the story, but overlooking it and focus on replay value which is coming solely from your local and online experience, DOA 5 is a solid masterpiece.

The Scores

Gameplay: 4.5/5

Visuals: 4.75/5

Audio: 4.25/5

Controls: 4.5/5

Value: 4.25/5

Overall Rating: 4.5/5