One of the best fighting games on the Xbox 360
Dead or Alive 4 is one of the best fighting games for the Xbox 360, the thing that makes this game so good is the online mode, with good gameplay and a good set of characters if you add those 2 with an online mode that supports 16 players you're asking for the king of fighters.The Good
- All characters are amusing to use, you'll find yourself asking for more than the 22 provided.
- Characters have 4 or more costumes.
- Counter system makes button mashing impossible.
- Online mode supports up to 16 players.
- Rank system is superb and addicting.
- Has a virtual lobby with over 100 customizable avatars that supports keyboard chat.
- 5 Online game modes to choose from with a Tag mode that lets up 4 players playing at a time.
The Bad
- Not enough characters, should have at least 30.
- Needs a better way to stop people from purposely disconnecting.
Online Mode
The thing that separates DOA4 from the rest of the fighters is the online mode. With an online mode that supports up to 16 players you'll find yourself playing for hours and hours. Most fighting games are playable up to 2 players online, 1 vs 1. The problem with a 1 vs 1 online mode is that it calls for instant hate between each player that cross each others path, in 1 vs 1, your enemy will lie cheat and steal to win, they will continuously spam cheap moves until they win. You could be in an intense battle winning rounds and rounds just to find a " The match has been disconnected " message. You won' t find yourself playing for more than 20 minutes.
Enough about other games problems, lets talk about how good Doa4 sets the bar with the online mode. Every match you join is a party, everyone is having fun and you will rarely find your opponent disconnecting from you. The most played gametype is Winner stays. The player that has won the last match will continue to fight until they have been defeated. Even after being released in late 2005 the online community is bigger than more recent fighters like Def Jam Icon, Virtua Fighter 5, DragonBall Z Burst Limit. The rank system is one of the best I have ever seen, letter grades are awarded depending on how many points you earn. To get to the highest rank you need about 180 000 points, you earn 150 - 1000 points per match depending on what grade your opponent is, it seems easy but it's not. You could be an A+ with 55 000 points in a room fighting A-'s, maybe you won 5 matches and earned 150 points per match then somehow one A- defeats you and he had 26 000 points, he will take 1000 points off you. There aren't that many S and SS ranks so you will find yourself fighting A+ grades and lower, only the best of the best will be able to get to SS.
Gameplay
Dead or Alive 4 has one of the best gameplay ever made for a fighter. Anyone can be defeated, the counter system is probably the BEST counter system ever made. There are 3 different ways to counter using your thumbstick to choose which one you want. You can counter High, mid or low, once you learn each characters move sets you will be able to predict what the next move will be so you will know when to stop blocking or when to counter. Usually the first move in a punch combo is high, and the rest might be mid, depending on character, some go from high to low to confuse your opponent.
If you find your opponent spamming counters all you have to do is GRAB and boom you have an instant grab unless they counter low you grab low, grabbing someone on a counter will do A LOT of damage. Offense allows you to create your own combos, some punches will do critical damage allowing you to use a launching move (example, an uppercut) they will go high enough in the air for you to do another big combo. Different fighting games like Virtua Fighter 5 have no steady counter system instead countering is assigned to only a few characters, so you can low punch and low kick until you win, DOA4 has MASTERED gameplay. There are many different ways to outsmart your opponent, so I am awarding DOA4 a 10/10 on gameplay.
I would HIGHLY recommend this to anyone who has or hasn't played an Xbox 360 fighting game.
