This is the world of Dead or Alive Ultimate.
This game could conceal any number of amazing “firsts.” It could have Albert Einstein and Pamela Anderson as playable tag team characters. An Easter egg might allow players to pummel one another inside the halls of the Library of Congress, the recently discovered cave purportedly used by John the Baptist, or even in a fictitiously delicious faux depiction of Bill Gates’ bedroom. It could even help players unlock previously underutilized Shaolin concepts such as: “outside fierce -- inside calm,” “show up and hit down,” and the ever popular “full and empty work together.”
Although it does not do all these things, Dead or Alive Ultimate could have!
But magazines and websites would still lead their coverage with the requisite screen shots of bikini-clad femmes flailin’ around in flawlessly fitting flannel. But, hey... why should we be any different??
22 arenas, 15 characters, and enough costume changes to satisfy Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie, make this game worth playing all the way through. Add online play through Xbox Live, and this truly is the ultimate fighting game, regardless of platform.
Graphics are a very big part of why this game succeeds. In two words, they kick _______ (you fill in the blank -- this is a family site). The game runs at a consistent 58.24 frames per second (hey, I’ve got calibrated eyesight, okay?) and the visuals look awesome. Smooth animations, great lighting effects, and use of semi-transparent textures give the entire package a professional veneer that many games aspire toward, but so few actually achieve.
Team Ninja has seemingly forgotten more about video game development than most teams know. And the stuff they’ve forgotten is still good enough to make a pretty good game -- say Tetris for Dummies.
Both enclosed and multi-tiered arenas look truly amazing. Depending on where they are, there are realistic snow, water, surface, and particle effects that “sell” the fact that you’re really playing in the place. Multi-tiered arenas allow the player to throw, kick, or even ride an opponent down to the lower level, complete with the Coyote/Roadrunner-style destruction and damage.
But arenas are only good if you’ve got some cool characters to waltz around inside them. 14 of the 15 characters are directly from DOA2. The exception is Hitomi, the lone castaway from DOA3 voted onto this island. DOAU has perhaps the best designed (we could have said developed, but that would have been a double entendre... heh heh) characters ever. The characters are modeled and textured with lovingly flawless care, right down to their hair and various costume accessories. DOAU (like its predecessors) lavishes attention on the ladies, and, indeed, they are usually the most fun characters to play because they’re better balanced and much quicker. But comparing these characters to nearly any others in the Xbox universe would be like comparing a center-cut diamond to a cubic zirconia. And we all know that diamonds are a digital girl’s best friend.
The menu system is easy to navigate, though text information is laid over animating DOAU background environments. The visuals are stimulating; the menus are simple. Who could ask for anything more?
Vastly underrated on most video games, the audio in DOAU is actually quite the shiznits. Dolby 5.1 surround sound has never been exercised like this before, considering the player can spin around on a dime, run, jump, and get kicked off of a 100-foot precipice, all within the space of a couple heartbeats. Each arena has its own unique sound and reverb level. But the music is classic DOA style. Some may not dig it, but what would you want instead: Twisted Spinster???
