Dead or Alive 3 is fast, sexy and a really gratifying experience. PS2 and Gamecube buyers will be missing out
Although I might as well as explain the visuals first. There are textures and graphical effects on everything in this game and really shows that the Xbox is simply a better system, in terms of graphics, than the PS2 or Gamecube combined. The water is lush, the environments are beautiful and the clothes have very realistic patterns and details. The only issue otherwise, is that the characters themselves stand-out, looking the least realistic in the game.
Most gamers should probably know however, that DOA doesn't really aim for realism, in more than several ways. I think however, it takes gratitude in aiming to please. And please it certainly does, along with the awesome visuals, DOA3 has fantastic and incredibly fluid combat. Once again, the trademark reversal system is heavily featured, with each fighter having their own unique fighting style, combos and holds.
There are also new characters, which probably doesn't come to surprise many beat em' up fans, The new characters all play excellent in the game too and fit nicely with the already vast selection of characters. Issues however, the sound lets down the game. The voice acting of DOA is cheesy to say the least and still lacks English (in fact English voices have only been featured on the PS2 version of DOA2). The music is also a little meh and non of this is adrenaline boosting either.
The biggest flaw despite this has to be the lifespan of the game itself, which feels very limited. Unlike DOA2, that took credit for the numerous amount of unlockable costumes, there are very few of these in DOA3. However, the endings have finally been switched to CGI, although this looks odd in comparison to the in game graphics and the endings themselves lack direction.
A last, but minor issue has to be that the final boss is cheap, however the difficulty of the game itself is barely an issue. Overall I recommend that any beat em' up fans that owns an Xbox should give DOA3 a try. It's fast, it's sexy and really good fun. PS2 and Gamecube buyers will be missing out.