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"Mature Sexual Themes...? Where?" Many might be a bit ponderous as to why the ESRB gave this game a "teen" rating, yet the back of the box claims this title has "mature sexual themes." In truth, this is because of a very brief shower sequence, in the FMV that concludes Christie's story. No surprise, then, that even in the world of 3D rendered characters, the character who "agreed" to the nude scene gets to be on the cover of the manual, as well as the disc!
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Dead or Alive 3(only on X-Box!)
Click graphic, above, to order this game (X-BOX) A Techtite ReviewDead or Alive 3 is a perfect opening line-up game for X-Box. While not to difficult, yet not too easy, its main purpose is to show the magnificence of the X-box's hardware, in a spectacularly animated video game. Add to that one of the best opening movies ever shown in a opening line-up game title --ever-- and you have the first game every X-box owner will buy...after Halo, of course!
The real fun is the variations of battles
than can be done, with one to four players. In addition to story mode,
there's time attack mode, where the best time in battle is the winner. This is really, as I said, a perfect launch title for the X-box. I'm not a big fan of fighting games, though the realism of the graphics, the perfect life-like animations, and the cool music and overall feel of the game, makes me a major fan of this title. If any fighting game comes out to surpass this one, it could only be Dead or Alive 4. 'nuf said!
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Burnout
Near
Miss
Small
Crater
Large
Crater
Deep
Impact
What really makes this game shine is its
opening video, 100% of which is footage from the actual game. With a
background song by Aerosmith, the camera bans through an excellently
rendered dojo, as two of the more alluring fighters start kicking major
butt. Just when you think this is just another fighting game, one of the
fighters throws the competitor right out the window, onto the outer roof
(and later, the ground floor), only to continue the fight from there. Yes,
this is one of many cool new moves the characters can do. The intro movie then pans to other characters in similar fights, in any
number of different locales; a forest, an ice cave, the street, and so on. As the back of the case quotes Newsweek
of saying, "All past fighting games were prologue. DOA3 is the
future."
The story itself is rather basic; there's a
big competition going on, to see who will be deemed the warrior good
enough to battle Tengu of Destruction; a fiery demonic warrior of enormous
power. In "Story mode," this saga unfolds differently for each
of the 16 characters you can choose, as they compete with various
warriors, to show their worth. Complete each of the 16 characters'
stories, and see a completely different, well-rendered video epilogue for
each individual character. Complete them all, and see a credit roll, with yet another cool
Aerosmith song to go along with it. Then you can play the other battle
modes, for other types of game play, including sparring, tag-attack, team
battle, time-attack...the re-play value is quite strong.
Of course, a game of this type would be
lackluster if not for amusing characters to play. Women range from
diminutive karate experts to voluptuous, woman's wrestling superstars. Men
range from the drunk (and often staggering) Brad to the old yet strong
grandfather, Gen Fu. Each has an amusing back story, as to why they're in
this competition. Some even have sub-stories, like the woman whose desire
to become an action movie heroine conflicts with her father's desire to
have her stay put at home. Who wins this argument? The choice is yours in
the game...
Getting into the game isn't too difficult;
just about every button performs an action of some sort, and
they're easy to get the hang of. You can block, kick, punch, attempt a
throw, or any combination of the above. This isn't even getting into
special moves, many of which aren't as difficult as other games of this
type; some only require a simple 3 or 4 key sequence, unlike the endless
key combinations of other games. If you wish to get used to these key
commands, there is a practice mode, which even rewards the character named
Kasumi with a third
outfit choice, if you practice all 80 of her special moves. Yes, eighty...this
is a very elaborate fighting game!
Versus mode is basic one-on-one fighting, with the option to adjust health
meters and other settings, as well as the option to play a "tag
match," where up to 4 players can alternate with each other in the
same one-on-one battle. Survival mode lets you fight with a succession of
opponents one at a time, with the hope of defeating them all while using
special moves to get health power ups (that's the only way you'll
replenish health in survival mode, throughout the whole competition). Tag
battle allows four players to play two-on two in a tag-team environment,
or for one player to compete in a battle with four computer players at once! Team
Battle Mode involves either one or two players creating teams of up to 5
characters, competing with an equal team until the very end. Sparring Mode
allows you to learn basic moves in an easier, less hostile fight setting.
Last though not least, there's Watch Mode, where you can simply set
computer opponents to compete with each other as you learn suggested play
styles and show off the X-box's graphic power to your friends.