Dead or Alive 4

DOA has always been a great fighting franchise that always seems to change with the times with every installment,without losing anything players loved about the previous entry's to Tecmo's Life Saver.Though you may not see it at first DOA 4 improves on DOA Ultimate in every way possible,other than number of costumes,and if you are a devote to the series,you have to own this game.People who are not fighting fanatics are probably going to get there ass handed to them,but will eventually learn the ropes if they just keep trying.Anyone who can will probably agree with me that DOA 4 is one of the better fighters created in recent years.

A great story is to be found,but its hard to understand if you have not finished getting through the other ones.It has a lot to do with Helena,the new chairmen of DOATEC(Dead or Alive Tournament Executive Comittee)who has lost both of her parents to the planning of Victor Donavon.The Ninjas of DOA are off to destroy the DOATEC,which somewhat ruined there lives but only find a little surprise when they get there.A clone of Kasumi's DNA,Alpha-152 one of the hardest bosses in DOA history.

You are also given a huge roster of characters to choose.From the red-haired beauty Kasumi,to the insane Ayane,who will kill anything that gets in her way.A few new characters are also thrown in.Kokoro,a Geisha in training,and Eliot,a young meterosexual under the influence of Genfu.And we can't forget Spartan-458,who is actually a martian named Nicole.She has no real purpose of the game,but fighting as a Spartan is fun,and everyone has to love her Plasma Grenade throw!

Dead or Alive has always been about fighting with your brain,and not so much as brute strength.Every character has a great list of moves and counters you will need to learn to fully appreciate them.Though if there is something wrong with the game play it is the counter system.Its a lot harder to pull off a counter in this game rather then the others,and there a lot weaker to make matters worse.So countering is not always the best idea,unless you truly have it mastered.In solo mode you could probably go through it button mashing,but may find it hard to not go insane when you fight the games tough boss.Apart from Story mode,were you can learn about all the characters pasts and futures,there is all those fun modes we have all grown to love,Survival,Time Attack,Team Battle,etc..They all add value to the games replay-ability,especially survival since its so easy to get into,and is not as hard as the other modes.When you master the single player experience why not take the game on line?There is a nifty,cute lobby system were you can watch people fight and form a strategy before you fight the winner,and when you do fight,that is the best time to pull out some reversals,as the human players don't seem to be near as cheap as the AI.There is not a whole lot of lag to deal with,at least not for me,but expect some when you take it for a spin,it is after all an on line game.

Proving graphics can get into game play,DOA 4 proves to have some of the best looks of any console game ever created.Knocking your opponent into bricks,or off a cliff with destructible environments is very fun to watch.Of course the characters are INCREDIBLE looking as well.The anime look returns and looks as detailed as ever.Why there are not as many costumes to dress them up in as in Ultimate,every costume you do earn is detailed to every last trim.After you finish a characters story mode,you will unlock there FMV ending,and its easy to say these are some of the most dramatic,funny and most beautiful FMV's ever made.Most of them involve the games story,but some are fun and sexy laughs,that you wont be able to get enough of.

The sound/music is one of the key improvements in DOA,Aerosmith returns for more great music that blends in perfectly with the game.There are also a lot of fun jazzy sounds in most of the arenas.The characters voices are also still up to par.Thanking God they did not put but one character in English.

Anyone that has a 360 should really give Dead or Alive 4 a go.Its truly one of the most dramatic and most enjoyable featured fighting game to date.And fighting fans would be foolish to not play such a game,as DOA 4 is one of the best fighters ever made.