Dead or Alive 4

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Dead or Alive 4
Doa4 cover JPN.jpg
Japanese cover art
Developer(s) Team Ninja
Publisher(s) Tecmo
Designer(s) Tomonobu Itagaki
Series Dead or Alive
Platforms Xbox 360
Release date(s)
Genre(s) Versus fighting
Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer

Dead or Alive 4 (Japanese: デッドオアアライブ4 Hepburn: Deddo Oa Araibu Fō?, abbreviated as DOA4) is a fighting game developed by Team Ninja and released by Tecmo for the Xbox 360 in 2005. It is the fourth major title in the Dead or Alive video game series, its plot following the events of the 2001 title Dead or Alive 3.

In November 2021, the game was made backwards compatible with the Xbox One family of consoles, as well as its successor, the Xbox Series S/X line.

Gameplay

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Dead or Alive 4 features 22 playable characters and many multi-tiered and interactive fighting arenas. There are six modes in the game:

  • Story Mode, which offers the player to play with the character and learn its backstory.
  • Versus, mode of standard one-on-one battles.
  • Team Battle, featuring teams of characters fighting each other, with a total of eight characters on each side.
  • Time Attack, where the player must defeat a set amount of opponents in the shortest possible time.
  • Survival mode, where the player must defeat as many opponents as possible.
  • DOA Online, available via the Xbox Live and similar to the Versus mode.

DOA4 has a number of updates in reference to previous titles. Characters' move lists have been vastly updated and four new characters have been added to the fighting roster, with returns from a couple of past characters as well. The counter system has been tightened, making the window for counters shorter and more difficult to execute, and the amount of damage that counters inflict has been changed.

Plot

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Dead or Alive 4 focuses on the story of Helena Douglas taking over the mantle of DOATEC as its second chairman.

Characters

Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden fighting against SPARTAN-458 from Halo

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Regular characters in the game are Ayane, Bass Armstrong, Bayman, Brad Wong, Christie, Ein/Hayate, Eliot, Hitomi, Jann Lee, Kasumi, Kokoro, Leifang, Lisa Hamilton (La Mariposa), Ryu Hayabusa, Tina Armstrong and Zack.

Helena Douglas is unlockable in all modes. Gen Fu, Leon, Spartan-458 and Tengu are unlockable characters that cannot be used in the story mode. Alpha-152 is an unplayable boss character that cannot be used on any mode.

DOA4 features three new playable characters: Kokoro, a young geisha in training; Eliot, a 16-year-old boy from England and protégé to Gen Fu; and Lisa, a female Lucha Libre wrestler. In addition, DOA4 features a playable unlockable character from the Halo series. The November 2005 issue of Game Informer revealed that this character is a female Spartan supersoldier going by the name "Spartan-458" (with a Halo-themed stage Nassau Station in the game);[1] it would later be revealed that her real name would be "Nicole".[2]

Development

On May 12, 2005, the first screens from the game were leaked on the Internet via the elotrolado.net message boards.[3] The first official screenshots, in-game demos and cinematics were presented by Microsoft at press conferences,[4] with the game originally slated to be a launch title for the Xbox 360. In an interview with Famitsu Xbox, Tomonobu Itagaki remarked that he spent 99% of his time developing the game, while only sleeping 40 minutes in four days.[5] Technical assistance for Dead or Alive 4 was given by Blindlight.

Release

The game was delayed many times before eventually being released on 29 December 2005, more than a month after the Xbox 360 debuted.[6] Famitsu Xbox editor-in-chief Munetatsu Matsui pointed to Dead or Alive 4's absence as a launch title as the main factor behind the slow sales of the Xbox 360 in Japan.[7] This was the first main series game to have an M rating by the ESRB, due to female characters' outfits focusing on very revealing swimsuits and some cutscenes.

Soundtrack CD Dead or Alive 4 Original Sound Trax (KWCD-1009) was released in Japan by Wake Up in 2006. Three guide books were published in Japan in 2005-2006: Dead or Alive 4 Official Guide Basic File (by Famitsu Xbox / Enterbrain), Dead or Alive 4 Best Shot (by SoftBank), and Dead or Alive 4 Official Guide Master File (by Enterbrain). The Platinum Collection edition of the game was released in Japan on November 1, 2007.[8]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator Score
GameRankings 85.49%[9]
Metacritic 85/100[10]
Review scores
Publication Score
GameSpot 8.8/10[12]
IGN 9.0/10[11]

Dead or Alive 4 received mostly very positive reviews. Douglass C. Perry of IGN called the game "a move in the right direction for the series" and praised the fighting system as "deeper and more sophisticated".[11] Greg Kasavin of IGN wrote: "It's simple: If you like fighting games, DOA4 is for you. Between its great selection of powerful fighters, its terrific action, and its addictive online mode, there's an awful lot to sink your teeth into, learn, and master in this latest and greatest installment in the series."[12]

Dead or Alive 4 has sold 1.2 million copies worldwide.[when?][citation needed] The game was included in the Championship Gaming Series[13] and World Cyber Games.[14]

In 2008, GamePro staff ranked it as the 11th best fighting game, stating: "The first new-generation fighter to be released, Dead or Alive 4 still makes a strong case as the best one. [...] This is a fighting game that can stand in the ring with any major series."[15] In 2009, Virgin Media ranked it as the seventh top 20 beat 'em-up of all time.[16] In 2011, Peter Rubin of Complex ranked it as the 28th best fighting game of all time.[17]

However, the game also received some criticism, with many players criticising its artificial intelligence, which they considered to be "cheap" and "unbalanced". Numerous English-speaking players lamented the lack of an English dub for the voice acting, with SPARTAN-458 being the only character in the entire game who speaks English, while the competitive fanbase was largely divided over the updated mechanics, with most members of the website Free Step Dodge considering it to be the worst game in the series.

References

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External links