Video Game Vault - Dead or Alive 3 (Xbox)

BEFORE I GET STARTED ON THIS;
I know I haven't done a Video Game Vault in a while, and I apologize for that.  Life has made me busy, and I haven't bothered to work on a new one.  I'm currently working on getting a few new games ready for Video Game Vault (as I have a good backlog set up), so expect those soon.

This Video Game Vault article was originally started back in May of 2014, but I accidentally forgot about it after a while.  Since my opinion on this game hasn't changed, I'm not changing anything I've added since.  However, I did remove one section, as I found it unnecessary to include for these series of articles.

Again, apologies, and thanks for understanding!

- Brendan/Shadow (October 25th, 2014)

#1 Reason to own an Xbox right here!

One of my many, many guilty pleasures, as far as game genres go, is fighting games.  For the longest time, I always said nothing could top Super Smash Bros. as the best fighting series.  Probably because I found games like Street Fighter and games like that way too difficult.

However, recently, I've been playing a ton of fighting games.  The ones I've played the most, as of recent, are Marvel Super Heroes (Saturn), Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge (Saturn), Virtual Fighter 2 (Saturn), Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Dreamcast), and (of course) Super Smash Bros. (N64).  I needed some new fighting games to play, as some of these were already tiring me a bit, so I took a quick trip to a used game store I usually go to.

And there I saw it; Dead or Alive 3 for the original Xbox.  $5.95 (technically got ripped off, but it was only $1-$2, so I have no issues with this), and ready to be in my hands.

Out of every fighting series I've always wanted to try, Dead or Alive is one that I seemed to be semi-interested in.  I wanted it because of all the positive reception I've heard on it.  Yet, half of me was uninterested, because I knew it was just cheap fanservice everywhere.  While I don't care for fanservice that much, it's hard to enjoy a certain game, when it's shoved down your throat to the point where you question if you're the intended audience.

Nevertheless, I picked it up, as I wanted to play something fun (and all the other DoA games were either ports of their SEGA Saturn/Dreamcast counterparts for Xbox, or the, "Xtreme"ly cheap fanservice attempt called, "Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball".....Yeah, you get the idea on the latter).

So, I got home and popped the game into my original Xbox, hoping to find something fun that ISN'T as full of fanservice as I hoped....
And Great Scott!  The game was fantastic!

OK, so there was fanservice, but it was only there for a few characters.  And even then, it felt terribly mild anyways.  But besides that, the game was basically some of the most fun I've ever had in an Xbox game, or fighting game in general.  It felt a lot like Virtua Fighter, but with new gameplay mechanics.  No words could describe it, so I decided to make it this weeks game for Video Game Vault so I could have an excuse to talk about it.  Let's get moving!

First Impressions (Before Playing):

Hmm....Dead or Alive....Totally doesn't make me think of sex appeal or anything.

Beautiful....Simply, Beautiful.

Seriously, though; after hearing everything about DoA, I thought the game was gonna have some of the most blatant fanservice to ever hit video games (then I was quickly reminded of that Beach Volleyball game again, and changed my mind).  But to be on the more positive side, I thought the game would have great fighting mechanics that I have never seen in a game thus far.  Even if that wouldn't be the case, though, I would've been happy with traditional fighting gameplay, but with something different.

First Impressions (After Playing):
OK, let's talk about the graphics for a second.  Let me just tell you right now that this game is one of the best looking video games on the Xbox.  The landscapes, the character models themselves, and even the (nicely made) fog effects all look beautiful running on the Xbox.  Add to the fact that the game always moves at a solid 60 FPS, and you've got one fighting game that's bound to keep your interest visually.  The character models also have some nice graphical features to them as well, with hair, long clothing, and the "fanservice areas" (you know what I mean) moving based on the environment, or based on the character's movements.  Very well done, but I could've went without the fanservice.

The voice acting is very well done, but there's a slight catch to it; it's all in Japanese.  Luckily, Tecmo was nice enough to include some English Subtitles on the bottom of the screen, so you know what they're saying.  While it is odd that Tecmo avoided dubbing the game, I at least applaud them for giving us something good.

The Game Itself:
The story of this game is....well, it's kind of complicated to even say that this game has a story.  You see, this game has a different story in Story Mode, depending on who you choose.  As I haven't played as all of the characters yet, I can't comment on all of them.  But each character has a different story.  That's really all you need to know.
Sorry if I'm being vague there, but I have no idea how to explain that part.

But of course, this is a fighting game, after all.  It would be silly to focus primarily on the story.  Each button does something different.  The control stick moves the character around the plane, the control pad allows you to move around and jump/duck, and the other buttons either punch, kick, and block.  What makes DoA more interesting than games like Virtua Fighter, however, is the fact that it mixes the 2D fighter gameplay (ala-Street Fighter), and the 3D, Virtua Fighter gameplay all together.

And yeah.
It works.
Like, really well.

The game controls extremely well.  Every character I've played as thus far moves at a very nice, fluid pace.  The action never gets slow, and the hitboxes are very accurate on the character models.  This keeps the game fun, without feeling rushed or hated.

There are various modes to play in.  There's Story Mode, which is basically the meat of the game.  In this mode, you play through a character's story, and beat a final boss.  Each character has a different story attached to them, so it won't feel like you're playing through the same thing all the time, like in other games like Super Smash Bros.' Classic Mode, or most Capcom fighters.  Then, there's Time Attack mode, which is basically Story Mode, if it were turned into an Arcade Mode, and included a timer.  Nothing amazing, but still good amounts of fun.  But I must say, one of my favorite modes has to be Survival Mode.  This mode allows you to fight in a caged ring, against as many characters as you can, until you die.  I can honestly say that I played the crap out of this mode.  It's really fun, and definitely worth your time.

There's also Tournament Mode, Versus Mode, and Training Mode.  I'm sure all of those are self-explanatory, so I won't bore you guys with all of that.

The Verdict:
Dead or Alive 3 is a really solid fighter.  If you can get past the fact that there's some fanservice in there, you'll be surprised at how good of a game this can be.  It is an Xbox exclusive as well, so if you have an Xbox, there's one new game you can own on the system.  The game currently goes for around $3-$4, whether it comes with the case or not, so it's not that bad of a deal, for a game like this.  Overall, if you're a fighting fan, or just want something new on your Xbox, this is the game for you.

Other games like this:
Virtua Fighter 2 (Saturn) - Believe it or not, this was actually the Dead or Alive franchise's inspiration.  Virtua Fighter plays very similar to DoA, with the only exception being that Virtua Fither mostly plays on a 2D-ish playing field, while DoA uses the 3D field to it's advantage.  Really solid game, and a really cheap one on the Saturn as well.
Virtua Fighter 4 (PS2) - Basically a prettier Virtua Fighter 2, with some added features.  Pretty solid game.  Plays almost like the game above, but with a few tweaks here and there.

Mortal Kombat VS. DC Universe (Xbox 360/Playstation 3) - Widely considered by many as the worst Mortal Kombat game in the series, MK VS DCU is practically Dead or Alive, if it had a gritty, non-sexualized, bloody reboot.  The buttons are even pretty much the same, if you get the 360 version.