Dead or Alive 4

I've always had a soft spot for beat-em-ups ever since my introduction to Street Fighter II. I also played, and enjoyed, Dead or Alive 3 for the original xbox. So it was with a certain level of excitement that I put the Dead or Alive 4 disc into my xbox 360 (you may recall, this was borrowed from my sister in law).

Graphics wise, the game is excellent. Admittedly, at first glance, it doesn't look significantly better than DoA3 (which is an indication of how good the graphics on the original DoA3 are). The fighters are instantly recognisable and in fact seem to look the same. However, after playing for a bit longer, you start to realise where the developers put the extra muscle of the xbox 360 to good use.

The main difference in the graphics is that the clothes and backgrounds are more detailed now. There just seems to be more stuff swaying, bobbing etc on the clothes. The backgrounds also have more stuff happening - with cars and dinosaurs wandering around in different stages.

However, graphics do not a good game make. And in particular, for a fighter, the gameplay is crucial. Unfortunately, this is also where DoA4 falls short imo.

DoA3 was already quite a fast paced game. However, for DoA4, the developers seem to have speeded up the game even more. So much so that the game feels like one huge button mash - which seriously detracts from the fun. Basically, when I fight in DoA4, I just don't feel like I'm having any fun as all I do is button mash on different combinations. I tried slowing things down and playing more tactically, but this just resulted in me getting whipped (admittedly, this could just be cos I suck).

And then there is Alpha 152 - the final boss fight in the game. I have been gaming for decades - and I have to say that Alpha 152 is easily one of the cheapest boss fights I have come across. She is super fast, teleports around the place and can hit you for a third of your total health bar in one go (her attacks result in loooong combos). Although I have been able to beat her - I just didn't have any fun in the process (which then begs the question - why am I playing this in the first place?).

I enjoyed DoA3 and I really wanted to enjoy DoA4. Although the graphics are great (and you get a great first impression of the game), the seemingly button mash nature of the gameplay coupled with the cheap final boss is highly frustrating. Granted, the strength of any fighter will be in its player vs player component. However, after having played the single player for a bit, the frustration was enough for me to lose interest. Right now, I just can't be bothered taking this game online.

I hate to do this - but I have no choice. DoA4 gets the singular distinction of being the first game on my blog to get a thumbs down.