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360voice Staff
USA
6443 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 19 2008 : 6:35:40 PM
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Every Wednesday during his shift as the night time librarian at a southern university with such high standards two students asked him this week how much it costs to check out a book; Dog of Thunder shall review a game from his collection that is available for under $20 from Gamestop
Dog's Dumpster Diving Review: Dead or Alive 4
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HOLY JEEBUS! CHECK OUT THOSE JUBBLIES!
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From 6 to Midnight In One Character Select Screen
Oh Dead or Alive. How I kind of sort of love thee. After finishing off Soul Calibur 4, I was actually a couple points shy of the fighting badge and saw that this game was not only cheap, but I hadn't ever really played a Dead or Alive game. Ever. Word on the street was that the series is incredibly hard and really the complete opposite of Soul Calibur in nearly every way, shape and form. The biggest difference, besides using actual martial arts and not weapons, is that Dead or Alive 4 is all about timing, thanks to the reversal system. Time it right and you can reverse nearly every move thrown at you, but that's the thing, you need the reflexes of a coked up Japanese arcade denizen. Anyways, I scooped this game up and it has a treasured position on my shelf of: "Don't trade in or Goozex until 100% complete"
PLOT
Each character (22 in all) has their own little back story and motivation for getting involved in yet another martial arts tournament, blahblahblah, who the hell plays a fighter for the plot?
What is cool is the different endings you get for beating the main story mode with each character. Jann Lee's is perhaps the best of the bunch, but a topless mermaid Kasumi makes hers a close second. Then once you've beaten the game with everyone, you get to play Helena. Beat the game with her and get the *real* ending.
GRAPHICS
Why do I describe graphics before the meat of the game play? Because this game has the hottest chicks you'll ever see. Christie doesn't even need a bra or a top, just a loose jacket, that's how hot she is. Even with my horrendous standard TV, these graphics are incredible. Especially how smooth everyone moves. It's really, really impressive for a nearly 3 year old game.
Of course, that's if you ignore the hair. Long, flowing hair is apparently a graphical hurdle that Team Ninja just couldn't pass since it clips horribly through the shoulder. It may seem like nitpicking, but you always pick a female fighter to check out her funbags, then it can get annoying real quick.
Seriously, the girls are very wankable.
CONTROLS
Do you like blisters? No? Good! You won't be getting them playing this game. The control is tight and makes extensive use of the crappy D-pad. You need such exact timing to pull off the reversals, which mean the difference between winning or losing, that you can quickly get frustrated. Combo attacks are simple to execute, or difficult to execute, depends on how many hits you want to land and if you're trying to pull off the chaining throws of Bayman or Tina (Oh Tina, how I love your leather outfit and your ending, filled with panty shots! Marry me Tina! Throw me over your shoulder and abuse me!).
Throwing in this game is a piece of cake since it has it's own separate button. Every character has a multitude of throws, with the Spartan's Plasma Grenade Stick throw being the best. That's right, a Halo Spartan is a playable character and yes, sticking a plasma grenade to your opponents midsection is a move. It's awesome.
GAMEPLAY
If you move left to right, the jugglies juggle.
Oh right. Game play besides that which was intended by the developers. Very similar to Virtua Fighter, you really need to learn the moves with one character at a time to be any good. The computer will slap you around and make you its bitch (Just like what I want Tina to do to me! Take me you amazon!). You will lose. A lot. No, more then that. You'll lose like the Kansas City Royals. THAT sort of losing!
Once you get over the initial learning curve and the game starts to open up, it's really a lot of fun. Despite a drastic difference in "Days Played" on my blog, I will admit to enjoying Dead or Alive 4....more then Soul Calibur 4....really, I do.
Some levels have parts that allow you to knock your opponent flying, ether down a set of stairs, throw a window, throw a hot dog vendor's stall and some have background elements that can actually hurt you. Like the Vegas strip stage with a car that drives by and runs you over. If you're using the Spartan on this stage, a Warthog drives by instead. Oh, and the Spartan has a level inside a docking bay, complete with the Halo theme as the background music.
If you really, really hate yourself you can tackle the game's survival mode. Nonstop fighting against 100 opponents. Just like GoW 2's Horde mode, your opponents get tougher in increments of ten, with 7-10, 17-20 etc. being the ones most likely to beat you like The Gimp.
And if you really, really, REALLY hate yourself: then go online and face off against some of the guys that still play this online. They'll reverse every single move you use. If you're playing and you reach for a drink, they'll reverse that too and drop your drink down your pants. Then laugh at you.
ACHIEVEMENTS
If you seriously think you're getting 100% in this game, you're one of two things:
A) Really disgustingly good at fighting games to the point that you managed to unlock Sheng Long in Street Fighter 2.
or
B) Stupid.
Is It Worth Diving Into The Dumpster For?
The boobie physics alone make this game worthwhile. Good god, I can't play this game without needing some alone time afterwards. Too much information?
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a1a1a1
 0
Zone: None
Total games played:
Current Streak: 0
Longest Streak: 0
Starting Gamer
0 Posts |
Posted - Nov 19 2008 : 6:59:57 PM
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| Have you had any luck getting the gift achievement for hayabusa? |
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Cormyre
121,425
Zone: Recreation
Total games played:
397
Current Streak: 1
Longest Streak: 349
Moderator
USA
7766 Posts |
Posted - Nov 19 2008 : 10:18:59 PM
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Love the DoA series and good review but OMG, isn't DoAX enough DoA for you at the moment?! =P
DoA3 and Halo 2 were the two games I got Xbox Live for (I had played since DoA2:Hardcore showed up on the PS2 and blew me away).
I love that you think you can button mash in this game and anyone with enough knowledge about reversals, you'll never touch them.
I was never great at it, and if people are still playing online they're SS ranked for sure and will rape you unmerciful. |
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Advanced Gamer
USA
1077 Posts |
Posted - Nov 20 2008 : 06:58:32 AM
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| So I fall in the B) category, want to boost and help me get to SS rank? |
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Dog's Dumpster Diving Reviews: Dead or Alive 4
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