By Charles L. Westmoreland
Unless you camped out in front of Best Buy for a day, chances are you don’t own an Xbox 360. Don’t feel bad – I don’t own one either, but I was able to get my hands on a demo to play one of its release games, “Dead or Alive 4.”
The artistry and overall detail of characters and environments is awe-inspiring. A fighting game of this brutality has never been so beautifully rendered. At times you have to be reminded that you’re playing a video game and not watching a cinema graphic cut scene. And the gameplay isn’t too shabby, either.
Returning is the normal cast of characters with four new ones, including a specially designed fighter from Bungie’s prize franchise, “Halo.” A marine named Spartan-458 leaves the “Halo” universe to join the DOA arena as a playable character. Like “Halo,” “DOA 4” battles can also be played on Xbox Live.
The controls are smooth and simple enough for beginners to button-mash to victory but sensitive enough for experts to conduct a gracefully orchestrated beat-down.
If Santa drops off an Xbox 360 under your Christmas tree and you’re looking for a good fighting game to help channel holiday frustrations, “Dead or Alive 4” will definitely deliver.
