Dead or Alive 4 (Xbox 360)

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This is by far the hardest Dead or Alive game in the series

This of course brings me to the game's biggest deterrent and ultimately the deciding factor on whether or not you'll buy it: the A.I. Dead or Alive 4 is the first in the series that doesn't permit players to change the difficulty below the default normal level. Therefore you're given no time to ease your way in to what is one of the most challenging games ever made. I'm going to go ahead and say it: no matter how die-hard a fan you are, no matter how hard you're willing to fight to defend your beloved series, this game is cheap. Cheap in the way that my friend refuses to tip a hard working waitress for her service, cheap in the way that my other friend (wow, I need to get a new set of friends) will fight to his grave to get a discount on an already discounted item. The computer, relentless in its attacks, will juggle you into the air, juggle you a bit more as you fall to the ground, kick you while you're down, throw you as you get up, and then juggle you some more. And if you even try to get a punch or kick in at any point during this onslaught, the computer will counter you, and start the combo all over again. The computer seems to be able to read every one of your moves before they even happen, and more often than not, it feels like the computer is deciding who wins the fight, not you. And after getting your butt kicked for a solid half-hour, the computer feels bad and lets you win a match. Even more frustrating is the fact that once you get your opponent's health down to a critical state, the A.I. seems to enter a sort of hyper mode, in which all of its attacks hit you, and all of your attacks get countered; it's downright maddening at times. All of this is especially evident in the game's final boss, who uses throws that knock off half your health, kicks that send you flying across the room, and a teleport move that puts her right behind you. Oh, and did I mentioned that she counters just about every one of your attacks?

That's not to say that you won't get better, because you will. And the more you play, the easier it gets. But even then, once you've mastered your character's move set, mastered the combo system and so forth, there are still times when the computer will enter its rage mode and end the match before you realize it's even begun. Sure, there are around 100 different moves for each character, but each move generally looks the same, has the same amount of damage, and roughly the same input command. Some of the more powerful moves, like the Raijn for example, are so difficult to pull off that you can't actually use them during a fight, rendering them completely useless.

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However, DOA 4 still does quite a few things right, and once you learn to live with the A.I., once you get a better grasp on the counter system, the game does get a heck of a lot more enjoyable. And the levels themselves are not only beautifully rendered, but entirely interactive as well. You'll have to dodge oncoming traffic, watch out for bloodthirsty lions, or even avoid a bin full of apples. Most of the levels are also multi-tiered, so, just like in previous titles, you can knock an opponent down a set of stairs, off a cliff side or bridge and begin fighting once again.

... the online mode easily takes the cake as the game's best feature.

Interactivity aside, the online mode easily takes the cake as the game's best feature. The variety of options alone is enough to have fighting fans salivate all over their controllers. You can enter Quick Match, Optimatch, Custom Match, and as I mentioned above, each style of play is littered with options to choose from, and if you're having difficulty obtaining any of the secrets within the game, you can purchase them online with Zack dollars, which you earn from winning fights. Best of all is the ability to play tag-team matches online where you can play with up to three players per team.

The online mode also features a bunch of quirky avatars and equally quirky lobbies to choose from (the first lobby being free, the second, third, and so on, requiring your hard-earned Zack dollars). The lobbies are cute and mildly entertaining (come on, chickens and ninjas watching a televised version of a match? What isn't funny about that?), if not a little out of place, and are used for watching matches, and well, that's about it. As soon as you enter a fight you immediately exit the lobby. So in reality, most players will skip through the lobby segment entirely, opting to challenge other players instead.

It'll take time to master the controls, and you'll spend an age playing online

For the most part, the online matches run smoothly, with only a few hiccups here and there, but the biggest problem lies within the number of glitches that appear to have gotten past Team Ninja's game testers. Ranks have been known to reset, and in other cases, stats randomly altered, for better or for worse. We can only pray that a downloadable patch is in the works.

Dead or Alive 4 is the kind of game you love to hate. You hate it for its cheap A.I., but you love it for just about everything else. This really isn't a game for everyone, and casual gamers, perhaps even long-time DOA fans, will be turned off by its steep learning curve. But there is a lot to love about Team Ninja's latest, and if you manage to master the ins and outs of the fighting system, you'll be rewarded with plenty of bonus content and more than a few hours of solid, competitive gameplay.

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