Dead or Alive 4 Review

About Dead or Alive 4

Be prepared for a challenge. Dead or Alive 4 is not for newbies to fighting games! The sophisticated AI opponents pick up on your weaknesses and exploit them. If you try to just punch and kick without thought or strategy, the computer will counter it easily. When I first tried this game, I could barely get through the first round, let alone get a chance to throw any punches!! And this is on the default level! There is no easy level, so the only way you can get better at this game is by using the “Sparring Mode” or by repetition.

The “Sparring Mode” is good to see what kind of moves you can do with the character you choose. However, your sparring opponent will not be much of a challenge, so you can’t really see how it will be in the actual fight.

Another way you can get a gist of the fighting styles of these characters is to observe their moves in the “Watch Mode”. Choose the characters you want to see and watch them battle it out until you stop the scenario.

The game offers a variety of characters to choose from, but there seem to be more scantily clad female characters in the mix. Each character has a different fighting style, and they vary in speed and dexterity. All characters speak in Japanese with English subtitles.

If the fights in this game are not challenging enough for you (to those awesome veteran players), plug into Xbox Live and start playing other people from around the globe. You may be able to find some better challenges in this arena.

Game Modes

Dead or Alive 4 offers quite a few different game modes. Aside from the Sparring Mode, the rest of the choices will be quite challenging (and frustrating for some).

Story Mode

In this mode, your character’s life story is revealed as you battle your way through multiple computer opponents. This is where I started playing this game, and got defeated several times in short amounts of time. Fortunately, you can keep playing against the same opponent until you win. But it’s still frustrating…

Time Attack Mode

Try and beat the computer in the fastest time. You play a single match with 8 bouts against an opponent, along with five tag match fights.

Versus Mode

You can play against a friend or a computer opponent. This may be easier than playing the computer opponents.

Survival Mode

In this mode, you keep battling opponents until you have no health left. Every round you complete, you get a bit of your health back, but don’t rely on this too much, as the opponents get more aggressive as each round progresses.

Team Battle Mode

Choose up to seven characters for your team and battle against computerized or real team opponents.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Dead or Alive 4 will amaze you. Consistent with all the other new Xbox 360 games, the detail is so intense that you may find yourself staring so closely that your eyes may begin to water. From the surroundings to the character costumes, no detail seems to be left behind. The action in the game is intense, with ultra-fast and slick moves.

The game soundtrack varies from soft classical style music to modern. All characters speak Japanese, but you can see the translation in text at the bottom of your screen. For the most part, the character voices are pretty good. But some of the character’s dialog can seem repetitive and annoying (especially when you lose).

Will It Keep Your Interest?

This is a fighting game for veteran players of the series. If you are trying this kind of game for the first time, it may frustrate you. The computerized opponents are not easy to beat, and can counter you without difficulty if you don’t put any thought into your fighting technique -- Pounding on the buttons randomly will not work. Play it in Story Mode, Time Attack, Survival or with friends in Versus and Team Battle Mode. If you are up to the challenge, try to play this game online through Xbox Live. If not, don’t sweat it. There are a lot of other games that will keep your interest and not tempt you to throw your controller or curse at the screen.