Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus Preview

The Xbox has had spotty luck in the fighting genre. While Dead or Alive 3 was an impressive entry in the system's library, there haven't been many entries in the 3D fighting genre on the system since. Microsoft is aiming to expand the Xbox catalog with Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus, a 3D brawler developed by Chicago-based Studio Gigante, which was first unveiled at last year's E3. Tao Feng is the first title to be created by the newly minted game developer whose roster of includes John Tobias of Mortal Kombat fame. The game aims to serve fighting fans a mix of Xbox-caliber eye candy and deep gameplay. We've spent some time with a near-final version of the game to see how it's coming together.

Tao Feng's story, set in a future wherein a country dubbed New China has sprung up on North America's Pacific coast, follows the centuries-old conflict between two ancient Chinese sects--the Pale Lotus and the Black Mantis. While the exact nature of the initial disagreement between the two sects is hazy, the most current point of contention is the retrieval of two tablets containing information that leads to the long-lost treasures of the Pale Lotus temple. Legends say that whoever has the treasures can use them to bargain with the gods for immortality. Although Master Sage, leader of the Pale Lotus, is still in possession of one of the tablets, the other has ended up in the hands of the leader of the Black Mantis, Wulong Goth.

The game's roster of 12 fighters is evenly populated with members of the Pale Lotus and Black Mantis sects. Pale Lotus is represented by a sextet of fighters that follow the standard fighter conventions. Master Sage is a wizened but tough silver-haired warrior who leads the Pale Lotus troupe. Fiery Phoenix is Sage's young protégé, an orphan who hankers for revenge against his parents' killers. Jade Dragon is a member of Master Sage's family line and may become leader of the sect. Fierce Tiger is a young woman recruited into Pale Lotus by Jade Dragon and who has now found a focus and direction for her once-troubled life. Iron Monk is a young man who, after being sold as a slave in his youth, has discovered family ties to a member of Black Mantis and has sworn to stop the evil sect. Divine Fist is a police detective committed to thwarting the Black Mantis sect, despite the fact that his former girlfriend is now a member.

The six fighters representing Black Mantis are an equally diverse bunch and are a bit more compelling, as is often the case with evildoers. Wulong Goth is leader of the Black Mantis sect, and his insectlike appearance and power have been passed on to him by his predecessor. The Fatalist is a Germanic mercenary who draws power from the supernatural runes he reads before each fight. Exile is a monstrous brute who serves as Wulong Goth's enforcer, and he is also responsible for the murder of Fiery Phoenix's parents. Vapor is a mysterious white-haired woman of indeterminate age with the ability to teleport, and she was once worshipped by a Russian religious sect. Divinity, Divine Fist's ex-love, is a scantily clad female fighter who is as deadly as she is buxom. Finally, Geist is an assassin whose unhealthy attraction to Wulong Goth led to her being paralyzed from the neck down when she tried to thwart an assassination attempt on his life. Unfortunately, once she regained the ability to walk and attempted to return to her role in Black Mantis, she discovered her place had been taken by Divinity.

You'll find six modes in Tao Feng. Versus is a one- or two-player bout you can hop into for a quick fight. Quest is the game's story mode, and it follows members of each of the sects as they work to recover pieces of artifacts from locations around the world by fighting each other. Survival is a test of endurance and skill that pits you against as many opponents as you can defeat with one health bar. You'll be able to earn health power-ups that will help your staying power if you can knock opponents into designated danger zones in the arena. Team battle is a one- or two-player battle that lets you pick a team of two to six characters and face off against a friend or the CPU. Each character on a team will have a single life bar and will be replaced with another member of the team once defeated. Whoever runs out of team members first loses. Tournament lets you create your own tournament with four to eight players. Finally, the game's training mode will offer you two types of tutorials to hone your skills. Standard training is a free-form mode that leaves you to your own devices, while the advanced option walks you through every move in the game.

The game's fighting system is based on a four-button system of two punches and two kicks. "Leading" punches and kicks, buttons Y and X, are slow but powerful attacks, while "trailing" punches and kicks, buttons B and A, are faster but do less damage. Each of the blows can be modified by pressing a direction on the D pad. For example, holding away from your opponent and pressing the Y button will perform an "in close" lead punch that can stun your opponent briefly and set him or her up for a combo, while tapping the up button and the Y button will perform a jumping punch. In addition to being able to jump, you'll be able to circle your opponent by holding the up or down button on the D pad to help you better position yourself in battle. You use timed button combinations and directions on the D pad to perform combos of varying lengths, and they can get fairly intricate. You'll be able to perform throws with the Y and B buttons. You can modify throws in the same way you can modify moves--by holding a direction on the D pad when you initiate the move. If you're quick on your toes, you can use the left trigger to counter a throw and avoid the damage.

The core combat system is enhanced by a decent selection of complementary elements that provide a good amount of depth to the proceedings. The right trigger will let you launch yourself off walls and poles in the fighting arena to attack your opponent. The black button will let you perform taunts against your opponent, which serve to annoy your foe and build up your chi meter. You accumulate chi to fill up your meter by successfully landing blows on your opponents or by taunting them. When the meter is full you can fire off one of three super moves with the white button or heal limb damage on your character. The limb damage system in the game lets the upper or lower half of fighters take damage that will impair their ability to perform certain attacks. For example, upper-body limb damage reduces the power of punch-based attacks, while lower-body limb damage impairs kick-based attacks. Combining the above with each character's unique collection of punches and kicks should provide a fair challenge to fighting fans.

The graphics in Tao Feng are looking very slick and make impressive use of the Xbox hardware. The characters all have generous poly counts and detailed textures. Animation is well done for the most part, although our build had a few minor hitches during certain moves. Combos will yield rewarding Tekken-style flashes that make effective use of the Xbox's lighting and shaders. The 12 spacious arenas in the game are a varied bunch of locales that are as detailed as the characters and sport a degree of interactivity to reflect the effects of combat. You'll crack the ground during some throws and do the same to walls during particularly powerful blows that knock your opponent back. There will also be a number of breakable objects strewn throughout the arenas that will break in suitably dramatic fashion if an opponent is knocked into them. You'll also find danger zones in most arenas that will dole out a hefty amount of damage to your foes when you knock them into one, and you'll be rewarded with an eye-catching bit of pyrotechnics.

Audio in the game is a mix of solid and rather bland elements. The soundtrack consists of somewhat generic tunes with an Asian influence, and they don't always fit the tone of the fights. The character voices suit their alter egos well enough. Ambient sound varies in the arenas, and, as a whole, it's very well done. The effects for the various blows and special moves could stand to be punched up a bit--at the moment, they don't sound as painful as they could. On the upside, the game's Dolby support ensures solid sound separation for those with the receivers to take advantage of it.

Our time with Tao Feng showed the game to be shaping up to be a solid entry in the fighting genre on the Xbox. The combo system took some getting used to, but it appears to be pretty solid. Our biggest challenge was getting used to the Xbox controller. While the S controller worked out better than the original controller, we have to say this game calls out for a proper arcade stick. The timing of the button presses required for the combos can be tricky to nail down due to the analog buttons on the Xbox controller. The game's camera also presented some problems during fights--some of the dynamic shifts made it hard to keep track of the action. Hopefully Studio Gigante can polish the game in time for its release. As it stands, Tao Feng seems to be coming together pretty well. Fighting fans can look for it this March when it ships for the Xbox.