Dead Or Alive 6 is the latest in the Dead Or Alive video game franchise to be released and is currently available on Ps4, Xbox One and Windows PC. The game is of the fighting genre, it comes developed by Team Ninja and is published by Koei Tecmo.
When first seeing the initial trailers for this game, I wouldn’t say that really I was drawn to it all that much. I’ve never played anything in this franchise before and for fighting games I’ve always gravitated more towards Tekken or Mortal Kombat in the past. But as more details emerged about this game and more was revealed over time, I became slowly interested in what it offered. The gameplay looked smooth and the art style and character design looked excellent. I wanted to give it a try and I am glad now that I did.
The main story sections of this game will have you play as one of the many playable characters in the game where you will experience a couple of mini chapters of plot relevant to each character. For example Kasumi’s story would consist of a cut-scene, then a single fight with an opponent, then another cut-scene, then another fight, then repeat until done. As you can imagine a single fight is quite quick so likely players will get through the campaign’s stories quite quickly. Where I guess the game makes up for this fast pace is the fact that there are so many characters in the game, each with their own mini plots. Due to this, it actually feels like it could go on forever at times.
The tone of Dead Or Alive 6 is lighthearted, comedic and often fun. Music is upbeat and the art style and animations during the fights are not too gory. This light hearted approach to the game for me meant that I could essentially pick up the game any time of the week and just have some fun with it. There is a real ‘arcade’ feel to the entire game. Even without the campaign at all, a player can just jump in at any time in the versus mode and go a couple of rounds. In this way Dead Or Alive 6 works great as a party game, with everyone taking turns quite easily and the light hearted tone makes it great for most settings.
The art style is actually one of the highest points of the game. There has been a strong attention to detail from the developers into every character in the game. There was quite a lot of effort put into the characters outfits with every character in the game receiving multiple outfits to choose from. You will unlock these outfits by progressing through the game. There’s also customisable hairstyles and glasses for each of the characters.
Dead Or Alive 6 does seem to emphasise sex quite a bit as part of its offering. As the saying goes, “sex sells” and it certainly seems that is true as this is now the sixth title in the series and according to Wikipedia it sold so well in its first week in Japan that Dead Or Alive 6 was the number one top selling game of any format with 26000 units being sold in the first week. I do mention this because while the game does do everything quite light heartedly, I wouldn’t say it’s something that’s really kid friendly. There’s also some people in society who may even get offended by the content within the game. But if you are not in these two groups then likely Dead Or Alive 6 might appeal to you.
Although I did feel that the Dead Or Alive 6 campaign was good enough in length for a fighting game. Dead Or Alive 6 does have extra game modes which do increase the longevity for the player. Versus mode is essentially just where you can pick 2 characters, play as one then just go a couple of rounds till you’ve had enough. Then there’s the DOA quest where the player will play as a pre-selected character where they will fight an opponent for a round or two. Within the fight there will be challenges to complete such as doing certain amounts of damage in a combo or performing a certain special move. If all challenges are completed then some unlockable items will be earned. There is also a time attack (race against the clock) mode and a survival mode (see how long you can last). Then of course there’s an online mode where you can spend hours battling other players. These different modes provide a unique variety to the game and test players fighting skills differently, they also add longevity to Dead Or Alive 6 which is a great thing.
The fighting mechanics in Dead Or Alive 6 are interesting in that they tend to follow a trio of moves. These include strikes (punches/kicks), throws and holds. Each of the options has its fair share of basic moves and special moves to perform. Luckily the game does come with quite a good tutorial to learn these things, which is handy for fighting genre newcomers or people like myself that are new to the franchise. New to the series as well is something known as the ‘break gauge system’ which is essentially a meter that fills up during fights that once triggered allows a player to initiate a ‘break blow’ or ‘break hold’ which both cause significant damage. The variety of fighting mechanics makes for some interesting matches and combos that experienced players can make much use of, but also beginners can still have a lot of fun with.
Overall Dead Or Alive 6 is a fantastic fighting game. The light tone and easy going arcade like feel to the game makes it a great choice at parties or gaming nights with friends. The variety of game modes as well as the main campaign will keep players busy for quite some time. The gameplay and fighting mechanics come with enough variety and difficulty that both seasoned players and beginners can have a lot of fun with. The art style, design of the characters and accessory options for each of the characters is definitely nice to have and look at. I’m happy to recommend Dead Or Alive 6 to people looking for a fighting game, but want something different to the usual Tekken or Mortal Kombat offerings. Dead Or Alive 6 can be quite entertaining at times and I’m certainly glad I chose to take a look at it these past weeks.
Dead Or Alive 6 is out now and is available from Amazon AU right here.
