In the course of natural evolution, some changes just seem 'right'. When Virtua Fighter was released, the move from 2D to 3D seemed appropriate, and Sega should be commended for taking this leap of faith when 2D fighters were still the rage. But it's not only Sega who have taken the 3D fighter to new realms. Namco's Soul Calibur series showed us just how to do 3D movement right, and more recently, Tecmo's Dead or Alive series have evolved from a simple Model 2 based game into its very own legitimate franchise. Who would've thunk? With games such as Soul Calibur 2 and Virtua Fighter 4 on the horizon Tecmo's latest offering, Dead or Alive 3 will beat both games by at least half a year, and by gosh, it might just be the most impressive fighter to date. Despite Team Ninja's Tomonobu Itagaki spewing some... 'questionable' comments about rivalling franchises, it seems that maybe he has all the tools to back up his talk, because Dead or Alive 3 is looking better and better with each passing day.

While Dead or Alive 2 built on the walled arenas that Virtua Fighter 3tb utilized, it is Dead or Alive 3 that takes those environments and expands them a hundred fold. Everything in the environment can be interacted with, from snow covered trees to the walls enclosing a dojo to even huge stalactites forming in a cave. With four new stages thus far, the environments are truly amazing. Many of the levels that you'll do battle in stretch for miles, with numerous subdivisions that make the fight all that more exciting; one of the stages even takes a page out of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's playbook. And with these environments come a complete graphical upgrade, all due in part to the processing power of the Xbox. Many of the early screens rival some of the best CG effects... but they're all in real time. One only has to look at the stage set on a beach, with dozens of seagulls flying overhead while waves crash onto the shore to know that Tecmo and Team Ninja has definitely made strides in the graphically.

But don't think that the only improvements are purely graphical, because Tecmo has included at least three new characters into the fray. First up is Christie, a vicious white haired assassin hailing from the good ol island of the United Kingdom. Next is Brad Wong, a drunken master in the same vein as Shun Di from Virtua Fighter. Finally, we have Hitomi, a lovely looking German teenager with a Japanese name.. and who can seriously kick some butt. All of the characters from Dead or Alive 2 save for the endboss Tengu have returned to Dead or Alive 3, including everyone's favourite ninja couple, Ryu Hayabusa and Hayate. Hopefully these two characters will play a hell of a lot differently from each other. While early screenshots depict many of the female characters having the same costumes as in the second game, knowing Team Ninja's affection for numerous getups for each character, it wouldn't be surprising to see more than 5 costume changes for each fighter.

The storyline of Dead or Alive 3 has Ryu Hayabusa as the winner of the Dead or Alive 3 tournament, defeating Tengu Bankotsu-bo. However, Ryu was all too late to stop Tengu from triggering a massive, worldwide collapse. The collapse churns up a dense cloud that covers the entire planet in a shroud of darkness and fear. DOATEC has gone astray, turning into the hunting grounds for power-hungry scam artists. This is when DOATEC’s Development Department - a fortress for state-of-the-art military technology witnesses the success of a genius. Following Project Alpha and Project Epsilon, the ever-ambitious Dr. Victor Donovan completes the Omega Project, producing a new superhuman. His creation is called Genra, who is likely the minotaur that was shown at the end of the original DoA3 trailer at the Winter TGS.

Not much information has been leaked about what changes to the gameplay have been made, but from initial playtests, it seems that the damage for Defensive Holds have been weakened, although the active window for these counters (22 frames) remains the same. It will be interesting to see if Tecmo decides to tighten this window to match its counterparts in Soul Calibur and Tekken (7 frames each) or chooses to leave them. Nevertheless, the decision to either lower damage or tighten the active window is a change that will be welcomed by many fans who have complained that counters do far too much damage and are far too easy to use. Aside from defensive holds, Dead or Alive 3 also introduces wall combos into its system. Not unlike Tekken 4 and Virtua Fighter 4, the concept of just smacking someone into a danger zone and leaving them there has given birth to the concept of attacking someone while they're backed up against a wall. I'm just hoping that Team Ninja will include the ability to tech off a wall to avoid damaging combos. Finally, Dead or Alive 3 also brings air throws into play, something that's been seen only in Soul Calibur. This brings up some questionable tactics that could be seen in the game (launcher -> juggle -> air throw anyone?), but hopefully Team Ninja addresses these issues and fixes them before the game is released.

The Xbox is shaping up to be a great system fighter wise, with UFC: Tapout, Soul Calibur 2, and Dead or Alive 3 all appearing on the system within the first year of its conception. While Tecmo may have a ways to go to make Dead or Alive 3 appeal more to the more serious fighting game fan, the ones who compete in tournaments and those who play their games for competition. However, there's no doubt that they already have the casual gamer in their grasp, and if the series can improve on the mistakes made in Dead or Alive 2, Tecmo is sure to attract even more players into the world of Dead or Alive.

· · · Reno

  
  
  

Last Updated: July 27, 2001

With the level of anticipation building for the highly anticipated release of the Xbox exclusive Dead or Alive 3, gamers everywhere search endlessly for any information they can digest. Having the opportunity to enjoy the E3 trailer of the upcoming fighter only served to increase my desire not only to invest in a new platform, but to grab a copy of what should be expected as being a highly popular launch title.

After extensive research of the Xbox's technical capabilities, Tecmo decided that the system was the ideal platform to showcase the latest installment of the DoA franchise. Dead or Alive 3, as demonstrated in the screenshots below (and to the right), feature a greater level of intensity, sharper visuals containing more detail then any previous installment has ever possessed. Team Ninja will be going to great lengths to make this one of the best fighters to date, incorporating a variety of new elements, in addition to new characters and enviroments that will impress all who bestow their eyes upon it.

Of course, while the term 'seeing is believeing' would seem relevant, but in my opinion, nothing beats having the opportunity of hands-on gameplay. According to a Dead or Alive creator, Tomonobu Itagaki, players will have the chance to play Dead or Alive 3 when the game is released on November 8. Team Ninja is currently working on a demo which will be used for the Xbox kiosks (10,000 in total) which will be distributed to videogame retailers throughout the country. However, at present, an official release date has not been established for the DoA3 kiosk demo, but it will certainly arrive before the launch date (which means we can expect to see it making its debut around September/October).

Looks like I'll need to be keeping a close eye at the local retailers around here. Until then, enjoy the screenshots below showing of more gameplay action and a few new fighting enviroments. We'll be back soon with additional updates.