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VIRTUA FIGHTER 5 ONLINE XBOX 360 REVIEW |
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Fans of the
fighting genre have been waiting a long time for
a new entry in the Virtua Fighter series. Sega
finally released their fifth installment of the
franchise, entitled Virtua Fighter 5 Online. You
might be curious as to why Sega added “Online”
to the title considering virtually all fighting
games for Xbox 360 are “Live” enabled. There is
a good reason for that as more than half of the
game’s content takes place on Xbox Live; Sega is
trying to put the emphasis on old-school
“arcade” tradition, reliving the days of stingy
local arcade scenes, where everybody lines up
their quarters awaiting for their turn to shine.
This makes Virtua Fighter 5 very attractive as
it not only gives fighting fans the dramatic
“arcade” experience, but also cutting-edge
access to features that would have otherwise
never made it in local arcades.
Sega's latest offering is nothing short of being
recognized as the best Virtua Fighter to date!
Everything that you love about the previous
versions is here. The matches are now much
larger than life, thanks to the deformable
environments. It's a visual treat to see your
character tear up the concrete after slamming
your opponent to the ground. When you smash your
foe into a fence, you'll notice that chunks of
wood just fly off. Using the environment to your
favor actually multiplies the damage you inflict
to your enemy. So unless you’re an expert in
“counter”, you should stay away from any walls.
With the right thrust, you can even flip your
opponent over the edge! It’s a nice trick to
pull off, especially when you’re down in health.
Newcomers to the Virtua Fighter series are going
to be blown away by the game’s graphics, and how
incredibly it is easy to get used to the
gameplay. Some would argue Virtua Fighter is
host to the greatest fighting system of all time
– a system that is accessible to the casual
gamer, yet deep enough for the most hardcore
fighters looking to master the arts of fighting.
The system is made up of high, medium, and low
attacks, blocks, throws, and reversals. While it
may resemble Dead or Alive at first glace, it’s
anything but. The game is perfectly balanced –
reversals don’t play as deadly a role, throws
don’t cripple a competitor from the start of a
match, and not everything can be blocked at
once. Veteran players of 3D fighters should have
no problem learning this game and the different
character moves. |
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PRODUCT
OVERALL RATING: 9.0 OUT OF 10 |
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As for fans
looking into more technicalities, the Xbox 360
version is based on Revision C of the arcade
game, which offer various fixes. The result is a
much more tuned and responsive system. Virtua
Fighter plays host to 17 characters (including
newcomers Eileen and El Blaze), each with their
own (very) long move list, throws, combos,
speed, and size. Some characters will tower over
others but you'll see a few of them will crouch
as their starting stance. There are numerous
styles of play to tinker with while using the
characters. You have to experiment which
character fits your fighting style. Besides
that, the game also provides plenty of room to
customize your characters’ outfits with items
won or bought in Quest Mode.
The Quest Mode is where the brunt of the Virtua
Fighter 5 single-player experience is. You will
battle against different skilled AI (in virtual
arcades) for admission to random tournaments,
and to win cash and prizes. You will also gain
ranks as you practically pound your way through
endless number of challengers. One of the major
objectives in Quest Mode is to unlock all hidden
items that range from orbs to special emblems.
It's fun collecting all the items; it gives you
a sense of purpose, which in turn helps the game
stay fresh. The Quest Mode has its own mini shop
where you can spend cash you earn from winning
bouts to upgrade your character's persona. Here,
you can edit each fighter to the point where he
or she is completely different from the original
form! This is done by changing hairstyles,
wardrobes, accessories, and many more.
From a graphical standpoint, Virtua Fighter 5’s
presentations are superb and it is exceptionally
on par with the visual fidelity of the arcade
version. Looking from sides to sides, the number
of vivid animations are very catchy. The
environments are done with tremendous effort,
and you can just feel their live brewing in the
background. Some of these spontaneous auras
include fishermen casting their bait into the
river, the cheering crowd atop a mountain, and
it extends over with a reflection of stunning
sunset around the Great Wall of China – all
these niceties create for a more engaging
experience! The character models look highly
detailed complete with incredible textures and
amazing highlights. The same can be said for the
fighting sequence, which comprises of fluid
character movements and solid frame rates.
In the audio front, the sound effects are
amazing, resembling an old kung fu flick of
sorts, which is very fitting for the characters
and gameplay. The punches and kicks packs a
satisfying wallop, while throws deliver a
painful pounding. Most of the voiceover work is
done well but the English dialogues are somewhat
cheesy and announcers don’t dictate the action
of the game properly. Sometimes they make random
commentaries that overlap each other, which can
get confusing to grasp and annoying at times.
The music is okay for the most part and provides
a decent rush to the fighting scenes. The rest
of the audio piece is certainly convincing being
that you can almost feel the damage first-hand
and not some synthesized bricks. At any rate,
you can be certain you are getting a superior
iteration with Virtua Fighter 5. It simply is
one of the best fighting games for the next
generation consoles. It’s accessible to
newcomers, yet deep enough for veterans to
enjoy. This is definitely one fighting game you
don’t want to miss out this year. |
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