Customer Reviews

Dead or Alive 4 Platinum Hits

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

DOA is a different kind of fighting game. It's not just about combos and quick reaction times, it's about fighting with strategy and learning to anticipate your opponent's moves.

The core of this game is fantastic. It consists of a seemingly simple system of attacks (punches, kicks, etc), throws, and counters. Counters beat attacks, throws beat counters, and attacks beat throws. It's a rock-paper-scissors affair. However, the gameplay has far more depth to it than that, which results more in "feeling" the game out more than practicing combos and timing over and over again like most fighters.

However, the game's frustration level, in accordance with Team Ninja's style, is at times simply overbearing. Sometimes it seems like the CPU 'cheats' because it can anticipate your moves waaay too well. And the end boss character is one of the most frustrating bosses I've ever fought.

The only thing left to cover is the online play, which is fantastic only if you never get tired of ninjas. Sure, it is true that there is no such thing as a truly balanced fighting game. But Team Ninja is so obviously dipping the favor towards the ninja characters (4 in total), that it's somewhat pointless to bother playing as any other character. You'll see what I mean after you've fought Ryu Hayabusa for the 70th time in a row...

Well I have played this a lot lately, and well what can I say this game is a must-have for your x360 collection.

This game is hard, I mean the normal setting is hard, and learning to play will be a pain if you have never played another DoA game. But that's what really makes the game fun, to be able to say that you can finish history mode or even time attack without losing once to the boss... that's just great.

Overall is a great game and I recommend you get it, there's still plenty people playing on Live and well for the price this is one of the best purchases you can make for you x360.

the DOA series has always been my favorite game series of all time. My brother in law finally got a 360 and I had the game already for when I got mine, so I decided to try it out. All I could say was "wow" Everyone is faster, more complex moveset, better countering system, and amazing graphics. They removed a lot of the landing of moves, for instance, if someone is high in the air, you can still do Ayane's back+punch down+kick and it'll land, which is AWESOME!! If you're a newbie at DOA, you're going to really despise it, as it is a difficult game. The computer is ruthless and will not take a break until you are dead, or it's dead. Before you had a couple seconds to get up, now you don't =) Also, if you're a newbie, go into the settings and don't you dare try to set the computer AI to hard, you'll want to punch your TV really really bad. I've been playing DOA for many years and I can say that Tecmo did an excellent job in the final DOA game.

ps - it took me at least 6 tries on my first try to kill Alpha (the boss). she's the kind of fighter that hits you six times, grabs you, then you miraculously get a KO. don't be too quick with her, she'll punish you, be smart. but not too slow either =)

in closing, if you like fighting games, get this. it's difficult, but once you learn it, it's one of the most fun games out there, IMO

I love a lot of different fighting games, from the 2-d/Street Fighter, Last Blade, Samurai Showdown arcade fighters, to boxing games (Fight Night, Punch Out!, Victorious Boxers), Bushido Blade, Soul Calibur, Virtua Fighter, you name it... I've always given the DoA games a chance because of the incredible visuals and smooth combat, and have had fun with some of the earlier games in the series (despite the simplistic rock, paper, scissors fighting mechanics).

So I thought I was getting a huge bargain when I picked up DOA 4 on the Xbox 360 for the "Greatest Hits" price! Online play, new characters to unlock and master, with a cool array of new fighting styles. "Great," I thought... Until I played my first round of single player against what can only be described as the DEMONIC A.I. opponents! "No big deal," I said to myself, "I'll dial it down to Easy difficulty." Unfortunately, there's no "Easy" setting! "Normal" is the default difficulty and it doesn't get any easier than Normal! Oh great, I have to endure this punishing A.I. to unlock the characters, outfits, and achievements. How bad could it be? Well, after an hour I was sorry I bought this game. The computer fights PERFECTLY. It doesn't miss throws, it counters nearly everything you throw at it, and will generally make you feel like no matter how good you thought you were at the other DOA games, you're going to stink at this game. Playing against human players is another story, but sadly you can't unlock the majority of the extras this game has to offer by playing against human opponents. It's so frustrating trying to get through the story mode, that by the time you actually beat the boss, you might still feel like you wasted your time - this game just makes you mad.

A game that's as overly frustrating as this in single player mode isn't really a bargain at any price. I'll be going back to the fun fighting games in my collection - Fight Night, Soul Calibur, and Virtua Fighter, thanks. This game will be traded back for something else (or gifted to my nephew who thinks he's so good at every game - DOA 4 will give him a strong lesson in humility). I'm still giving it 3 stars overall, for the good graphics and cool cutscenes (some are really strange - especially the one about the geisha who's late for her recital/ geisha conference? - typical for this series), but the single player A.I. makes this a 1 or a 2 in the fun department. Buy this if you enjoy challenges that many would consider an exercise in frustration.

Now I've never "really" been a big fighting games guy aside from the DOA games and Soul Calibur. Anyway, DOA4 is a nice addition to the DOA franchise. The new and improved HD graphics are nice and shiny as they should be. All in all the game engine seemes quite refined from previous DOA installments making the moves slicker and faster than ever. With unlockables galore it is quite fun to see some of the cool stuff Team Ninja packed into this game. (I.E. Halo Spartan-458 unlockable character)

Only things I can say that make this game a 3 Star rating for fun and a 4 Star rating for overall playability is in the game's execution. The Story Mode is as convoluted and vague as ever. The encounters with other characters in Story Mode, which were kinda hokey to begin with, are extremely silly. (I.E. Li-Fang and Hitomi get into a fight over a head of lettuce.) More than one occassion the encounter cut-scene rolled and by the end of it I was slack-jawed with a "you-can't-be-serious" expression on my face. The end cut-scenes in Story Mode were...okay. Some were downright cool. Others I just wanted to shoot my XBox, or at the very least Team Ninja.

What's annoying, each opponent you face in Story Mode get's progressively harder, as it should. However it's not so much that they get harder as it is they combo you endlessly until you are dead. There were fights that started, my opponent gets in the first hit (and I'm pretty quick on the controls), then they keep hitting...and hitting...and hitting... So it becomes very tedious when you can't get even a single hit in.

Now here's the kicker...the end-all-be-all of why I did't rate this game higher. The end boss is TOO hard. Now DOA's boss battles are kind of a tradeoff. DOA2, Tengu can combo you and hits like a truck, as well as he has ranged attacks. DOA3, Omega (Genra) fight was a disaster to mankind. Now we get the Alpha-152 fight in DOA4. This Super-Kasumi Clone hit's like a truck and is fast like a freak. She teleports JUST out of your reach, then combos you eight to twelve times, and slams you onto the ground which explosively shocks you. If that doesn't kill you then it's a miracle. She has killed me (on more than one occasion) in two to three hits. If that wasn't annoying her teleporting around makes her dang near impossible. She'll teleport just out of your reach and hit you or teleport behind you and attack then. Not to mention her attacks are almost ALL unblockable.

All in all if you're a hardcore DOA fan this is an awesome game. If you're a fan of fighting games this one is fun to play but only if you're going to do survival, multiplayer, or the like. Otherwise, it's worth a rent but don't waste sleep over it.

I agree with the most of the other reviewers here. DOA 4 lacks an easy mode where you can have fun mastering the combinations. This really detracts from what could be a very fun fighter. Overall: disappointing to play by yourself, but fun with a friend. I noticed some bugs in the program with graphics being out of place or characters losing mobility due to objects.

Edit: After playing this for about a month now: I find it tremendously annoying that the characters repeatedly say the same things over and over again at the beginning of a fight and at a victory. I think they have 2 lines which they toggle about. It might have added to the fun if they included some variation.

The character stories are completely absurd and downright silly. Also keep in mind that the character will always yell at each-other in Japanese, despite that their story states them as American or British etc. All in all, very poor story development, but with a good fighting engine.

I also found the characters to be limiting. They are very similar with a few exceptions. This all relates to the lack of a "game story." But if this is not important to you -- you may enjoy just learning those combinations.

As for graphics - disappointing only given the capabilities of the Xbox 360, but certainly above average. I would consider waiting for the new Soul Caliber or Street Fighter if you want a great fighter for this console. Sadly, there is none as yet.

This is not a game for the weak-hearted: this serves as a blessing and curse. I fully admit that I like challenges: I find it annoying to breeze through a game without even breaking a sweat. I am not a video game professional or anything like that, I just like the feeling of accomplishment by working hard to overcome something. If I could have beaten Dead or Alive 4 without dedicating a bit of time to training and practicing and learning moves sets than it wouldn't be worth the time. What I am saying is that it is a relatively hard game. Granted, I could still beat a good number of opponents by playing the game straight out of the package but it gets hard. But it is a rewarding game to learn, with all of the counter-attacks and blocks and throws and tag-team combos. The fighting looks extremely smooth and polished. It just looks really spectacular to watch some of the moves carried out.

On a different note, the women....I am not going to lie, they are beautiful. However, I think it unfortunate that they emphasize their sexuality so much by ridiculously skimpy and revealing clothes. I know the game is rated M and so I should have expected blatant sexual themes but I think they could have easily toned it down a little bit and come out with a great T-rated game to play with friends and family. As it stands now, I am almost embarrassed to show it off to others because I can imagine them asking me "why is she wearing nothing but a bikini and a mask?"

this is a good fighting game just like a lot of the other I have played the formate reminds me a lot like street fighter. just to people fighting in deiffenrt areas with differnt backgrounds to fight in. so is you like street fighter then you love this game.

I liked the game a lot. It seems like I had more fun with Dead or Alive Ultimate, though. However, if you are a fan of the franchise you need to get it.

Dead or Alive 4 is a great addition to the franchise. They brought back some characters from DOA 3 that werent in DOA Ultimate which I like alot. As far as gameplay its pretty much still the same and there arent very many changes. There were a few graphical tweaks for making charged blows look more powerful by giving them a sort of wind gust/dimensional rift affect. If you like the other ones then you will like this one