Namco Bandai may have just found a way to revolutionize the entire fighting game genre with Tekken Revolution. The first and perhaps most glaring feature this downloadable title will have, exclusively to the PS3, is that it is free-to-play.

Players will get the game completely free of charge and will run on a coin system giving it a greater arcade feeling. Battle coins will be used for versus matches giving players a max of five coins at a time. Arcade coins will be used for arcade matches and give players a max of two coins. One will be used up once you clear arcade mode or lose to the computer. Coins will also regenerate over time giving players unlimited chances to keep playing. Battle coins will regenerate once every 30 minutes while the Arcade coins will regenerate every hour. There will also be Premium coins for players to use in the game. Using a Premium coin works a little different from the other coins. If you use one for ranked or player matches and win, you will receive a premium ticket that will allow you to keep on playing. Players will be able to throw down real world money to purchase these Premium coins and tickets.

If you are wondering about how Tekken plays, then you should know it has also been changed drastically as well. At its core, Tekken still looks and moves like Tekken. Combat will rely heavily on dealing out impressive combos to pummel your opponents. Some of the moves you remember from your favorite fighters are still there, but for the first time in the Tekken series are the use of special moves.  The first one showcased was called Special Arts; a move that a brief period of invincibility to it, but will leave you open to counter attacks if blocked. Next there are Critical Arts that increase the chance of increased damage for critical hits.

These aren’t the only new features when fighting in Tekken Revolution. Also displayed was the new character enhancement system. This may really throw off some Tekken purist out there as it can change the fundamental parameters of characters. You will now be able to increase the power, vigor and even endurance of each character making it your own. Power will increase the base hit damage for a character; endurance increases the health, while vigor will increase the critical hit damage. Many will perhaps fear that playing online with these new features will throw off the fairness of matches, but the developer assured people that players will be matched according to character level and skill.

At the start of the game, 8 characters will be playable with 4 more being able to be unlocked. With each match you play, you receive an allotment of gift points and with them you will be able to unlock a random character. I am sad to say right now, my favorite characters Jin Kazama and Hwoarang are not present in the roster, but Namco Bandai has stated that additional content is scheduled for future updates.

Tekken Revolution is out right now, so download it and give it a try. It won’t cost you a thing.