Dead or Alive 4 Review

Overall Rating

Fast, fluid animation
Great, interactive stages
Good choice of options on Live

Somewhat limited controls
Characters all feel the same

Having never played any of the previous Dead or Alive games, I had no expectations of this, other than the 360's first beat-em-up. And it is kinda worth your while, if you give it the time it needs.

Firstly, you'll notice the visuals, which are pretty amazing, especially through a HDTV. The stages are filled with all kinds of destructable scenary, and plenty of events happening both in the background, and the stage itself. The characters are modelled extremely well, and the animation is fantastic.

But, this is a beat-em-up, and they're nothing without good controls, and this is what divides players of DoA4. The control scheme initially feels very simple, only 2 attack buttons, a grab and a guard, that's your lot. But the guard comes into it's own when you learn how to use it, by flicking the stick and guarding the attack at the right time with the right guard, you will effectively counter their attack and deal damage yourself. However this system can be very trial and error and it takes practice to use effectively. But even to someone who can use it there's still very little to stop button-mashers simply pounding the attack buttons and pinning you down to an easy victory, which is very annoying.
However for the most part it's very enjoyable, even though all the attacks do nothing to distinguish themselves, they all feel the same and there's so many combos to remember it's insane, but somehow the game still feels enjoyable and for a short play every now and then it's a treat, especially if you've got Live.

The multiplayer mode also has a Tekken Tag inspired 'Tag' mode, in which 4 players (or 2 players using 2 characters) can fight and switch between characters, there's also special tag grabs in which both players will combine and perform a grab move, then the initiating player leaves the ring.

There's also plenty to see and do, all the usual Time Attack and Battle modes you'd expect from an arcade beat-em-up, and there's a good list of characters and costumes to unlock, however that's if you've got the patience to do it all.

If you don't take to the control scheme you won't like it, also in single player the AI can be very random, it can stand still for a few seconds then suddenly go madly aggressive and knock you into next week leaving you wondering what on earth just happened, but for beat-em-up fans it won't dissapoint too much.
It's not a patch on the might Tekken and Soul Calibur but if the problems get sorted out, and the control system improved then DoA5 will be something well worth waiting for, but at the minute DoA4 just can't cut it.