Whether or not you like the fact that all of the characters are unlocked from the start (we personally enjoyed being able to jump right in), there is still a bevy of items to unlock through hours of gameplay. In a console age dominated by in-game purchases, "Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate" manages to offer a ton of built-in content for free.
There's an option for a dynamic Casual camera mode that zooms in during big combos, while the Pro mode will stay steady, which comes in handy for those who want to focus on their performance. Players can set their own music for every stage and menu screen, including a variety of tunes from previous "DoA" titles. Menus are sleek and easy to navigate, and the game has a variety of options for customizing the experience. "Ultimate" has virtually the same interface as its "Dead or Alive 5" predecessor.
Beating people up has never been so serene.
Among the new backdrops are the lush, autumn-themed Forest Sky City Tokyo, which has a moving Buddha statue enter the arena midfight and the sunny Lost World, which allows players to knock each other off a never-ending series of grass-and-stone platforms while waterfalls pour out in the background. Koei Tecmo included five new stages for "Ultimate," each with its own unique theme and play style. There's always something happening in the background in "Dead or Alive," and fighters have frequent opportunities to knock their opponents through walls and off ledges. One shining example is the Flow stage, which pits fighters on an enclosed wooden platform that's traveling down a massive jungle river before reaching a waterfall. The fully interactive environments in "Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate" are as silky and attractive as the warriors who fight within them.
"Dead or Alive" is ainfamous for its bouncy, chesty female warriors, and if that floats your boat, you'll be pleased with the eye candy. Combos flow more fluidly than ever, even when we switched between combatants on the fly during tag battles. "Ultimate" boasts some of the richest facial details in fighting games, as we noticed individual beads of sweat rolling down the dirt-covered faces of our fighters after a match. The "DoA" franchise has been turning heads with its visuals since 1999's "Dead or Alive 2," and this latest installment holds up the series' graphical legacy. Once you've honed your skills, you can take the fight online in both solo and tag matches. For those who want to truly master "DoA," the game has a robust Training mode that allows you to practice combos and view detailed information on each character's moves - a feature carried over from "Dead or Alive 5 Plus" for the PlayStation Vita. Returning to the franchise from "Dead or Alive 4" is Team Battle mode, which allows for seamless 7-on-7 throwdowns in which a new warrior jumps into the battle as soon as his or her teammate is defeated, until there's one team left standing.
Both modes can be played with one character or with a tag team of two. Arcade mode sends gamers through a classic ladder of CPU opponents, while Survival mode has you taking on as many foes as possible with a single life bar. Team Ninja supplemented Story mode with a variety of other ways to play the game.
The Power Blow has returned from the original "Dead or Alive 5," allowing gamers to charge up devastating attacks and hurl their opponent toward specific parts of the stage, while the all-new Power Launcher sends the opposing character high into the air for long juggle combos. Counter moves have long been a staple of the "DoA" formula, and are performed by pressing the Guard button and a specific directional input as soon as the opponent attacks. At its core, the game only requires the use of four buttons: Punch, Kick, Guard and Throw. The "Dead or Alive" series has always rested on the accessible end of a genre known for being hardcore and competitive.