Preview by Gamespot.com
Without a doubt, Dead or Alive 3 is one of the Xbox's most anticipated upcoming releases. The third installment in Team Ninja's acclaimed fighting series ups the ante in various ways, though mainly in regard to graphics--the fighting system has been virtually unchanged, outside of Team Ninja's addition of some new moves here and there. Still, those of you into DOA's open, free-flowing combo system, the deft counter mechanics, and the bombshell character designs are in for a treat to be sure.
The version we've received is 80 percent complete, which has allowed us to play through all of the game's basic modes. The missing 20 percent will presumably comprise the game's hidden extras--new costumes for the basic characters and perhaps new play modes, arenas, and the like. Tecmo has revealed nothing regarding the unlockables at this point, so to speculate further would be useless. The game has a good deal of stuff available out of the box, though, so the pain wasn't too great. In terms of modes, nine are available at the outset: story, time-attack, survival, tag-team, team battle, versus, watch (to view CPU battles), and sparring (a full-featured practice mode). All of them are fairly self-explanatory and basically requisite as far as fighters are concerned. The sparring mode is especially useful, as you have the option of going through any given character's move list and practicing each individual attack. Sadly, our version didn't include sample combos in the roster, like what Namco is known to implement into its practice modes. Still, given the relatively open-ended nature of the game's combo system, it isn't such a huge issue.
The character roster is especially hearty. All the fighters from DOA 2 return (though Ein is back as Hayate, his original, ninja-master identity), along with a couple of additions. The total count is a respectable 16. The additions, as already well documented, are Christie, the silver-haired British assassin in the black-and-white spandex; Hitomi, the scrappy German high-school student/kung fu master; and Brad Wong, the young Chinese practitioner of the drunken fist style. Each of the new characters is pleasantly distinctive--Christie fights in the distinct snake style, with an emphasis on swift, cutting punch combos, while Hitomi deals mostly in powerful, flailing kicks. Brad's swaying, powerful technique, finally, is highly characteristic of his Zui Ba Xion Quan style. Certain moves of his are executed while he leisurely lays prone, head on arm, including a brutal set of trip moves.
Each of the new characters seems to mesh very well with the flowing, encouraging Dead or Alive fighting system. Players new to it should find the system pretty easy to get started with, while veterans will definitely enjoy the effects that the refined animation system has added to their favorite combos. The very lucky will be able to find some new possibilities with their favorite character or tag team. Read on for a description of the game's fighting system.