Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate – Review
Put your running shoes on and play some ‘Eye of the Tiger’ to commence your training routine for the the 5th installment of Dead or Alive. Be prepared to see all of your favorite fighters from the previous games as well as some fighters from the Virtua Fighter series, fight it out in what might just be the 5th DOA tournament.
Story
It seemed the DOA tournaments were a thing of the past after DOA 4. Of course someone new tries to organize the next DOA tournament to continue these epic battles. Elena well do her best to make sure the tradition lives on and seems to be one that always gets what she wants.
The story is brought to you in different chapters, which are pretty divided per character. This will give you the opportunity to pretty much get acquainted with each character, sadly sometimes you’ll have to have experience with the previous games to actually know what on earth is going on. Whilst it is fun to play character per character, the story itself is quite chaotic. You’ll work with a timeline that runs parallel with other characters and has the tendency to constantly skip forward in time. One moment you’ll be battling in the streets of major cities whilst one day later you’re fighting your opponent in Antarctica, with barely any clothes on. Even though these jumps are quite normal in fighting games, the context is quite lacking from time to time.
Of course the story portion isn’t the main selling point for this game, yet it would have been fun to actually see all the characters come to life, instead of a simple superficial CPR attempt.
Graphics
Graphically Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate offers us a decent experience. All the character models look great but lack facial expressions and tend to have some awkward body motions during cutscenes of the story mode. During actual fights there is nothing to truly complain about.
All in all DOA 5 Ultimate looks great when overlooking some minor details.
Sound
Voice acting is something Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate excels in. All the voices are done in a great fashion and emotions sound just about right for a fighting game. Sadly you’ll notice from time to time the game was originally voiced in Japanese when having pauses that are tad too long between sentences or between the dialogues of two characters. Nonetheless great to hear and have your favorite characters come to life.
Music wise the game isn’t half bad either, you’ll get to hear some catchy tunes during the course of battle.
Gameplay
When booting up the game it’s clear this DOA has a focus on competitive play instead of casual fun. The game’s menu already appears to be kept simple yet clear. The game has a decent amount of options and will surely get you started in moments.
For those who don’t have that much experience with fighting games or Dead or Alive, the game offers an extensive tutorial mode. You’ll have to complete over 40 tutorial segments, each divided in smaller portions. The Tutorial doesn’t only cover the most basic things but also advanced options needed for online play.
The story mode, described in the story section is pretty much the arcade mode most fighting games have with some story elements added to it. Whilst the plot isn’t that thick, you’ll surely spend soime time playing the game before seeing the end credits.
Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate will present you with a bigger cast of character than other DOA titles. You’ll also see some characters from other fighting series you’ve might have played in the past. If you can’t pick one character, this game also offers you the option to play ‘tag team’ matches as well.
For the treasure hunters amongst us, you’ll be able to collect loads of outfits. Nearly every character has 15+ outfits to choose from, when unlocked that is. Outside of that, Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate does not offer all that much special except for a place to rewatch the unlocked cutscenes of your progress in the story mode and the titles you’ve earned when playing the game.
Control wise the game feels the same as other more realistic and tactical fighting games on the market. You’ll easily learn the basics but it will take a long time for you to master all the special skills. The game tends to be open for everyone, but when it comes to competitive play you’d better consider going in to the fray well prepared.
Conclusion
Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate is a great game for those who are looking for a solid fighting game. The game will offer enough content to play on your own as well as competitive online or offline play. Fans of fighting games be sure to check this one out.
Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate - Review,
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