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| E3 2004: DOA Ultimate Update We squeeze a few more details out of the game's creator and bring them to you. May 14, 2004 - There are those of us who feel that they might as well go ahead and call Dead or Alive Ultimate, DOA4 and get it over with since there's a whole lot about the two disc set that will feel like an evolution from the popular Dead or Alive 3 that helped launch the Xbox back in 2001. But it is DOAU not 4 and it comes with quite a few enhancements that fans of the series will certainly appreciate. The first disc will features an online version of 1997's original Dead or Alive while Disc 2 will include the enhanced version of Dead or Alive 2, also with online capabilities. But the enhancements here are what compel us to look at this DOA2 as the logical progression of the fighting series and a leap from DOA3. There are all new tag team moves in DOAU and the same ally-enemy system that makes team moves between friends more dramatic than team moves between enemies. There will be more of an emphasis on rolling and dodging and new countermoves and reversals in DOAU as well. While DOA3 had us fascinated with multilevel combat as we got tossed from rooftops and never ending plateaus, DOAU will have multilevel fighting as well as what Team Ninja refers to as "slope technique". In the trailers, you'll recognize these as the sequences when Gen-Fu is sent rolling down the stairs after being tossed by Lei Fang in the official trailer for the game. Whether it's a short flight of stairs or a little hill that leads to a tiny pond in the wilderness, the slope technique should be a nice twist on the multilevel combat concept. All characters can use throws to launch enemies down slopes but each character will also have a special slope technique move that should be especially humiliating. You'll recognize this as the sequence where Zack uses Jann Lee as a snowboard and rides him down an icy slope. Interactive environments seem to be the well developed focus for DOA Ultimate. In the trailer you can see characters tearing up pieces of the wall by throwing each other into them or hitting noise-making objects like gongs and elephants. Team Ninja head Tomonobu Itagaki describes the whinnying elephant shown in the trailer as a "ninja-elephant" presumably as a nod to the fact that he can affect gameplay. He also told us that the game will feature a "ninja-taxi", presumably in some kind of urban environment. When asked if a "ninja-taxi" would be a speeding vehicle that players can be thrown into, Itagaki would not elaborate. How about slamming an enemies body/head/ankle in a taxi door or two? Again, we were given no concrete answers. Costumes will be an important part of DOA Ultimate and Team Ninja promises there will be more in this game than we saw in Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball and all of its swimsuits. If Tecmo hasn't already done it's share to push the buttons of feminists with it's scantily-clad bouncing heroines, then the fact that the female characters of Dead or Alive Ultimate will have significantly more costumes than the male characters should get them going. IGN will have more on DOAU in the coming months because coverage on DOA games is always hard-earned. -- Aaron Boulding |
| QUOTE (Queen Helena @ May 17 2004, 05:21 AM) |
| But that means more than 100 outfits in total. |
| QUOTE (Queen Helena @ May 17 2004, 05:21 AM) |
| But that means more than 100 outfits in total. |
| QUOTE (little x @ May 18 2004, 03:52 AM) |
| YOU SAY IT LIKE THAT'S A BAD THING!!!!!! :yucky: hahahaha |