October 31, 2005 - Expectations are a dangerous thing, especially when videogames are concerned. Remember as far back as Duke Nukem: Time to Kill or as recently as Driv3r. And we all looked forward to Metal Gear Solid 2, but no one expected someone named Raiden to steal the show and render Snake a secondary role. We see screenshots of games, read previews which always state the positive and the hype machine goes to work. We set are expectations so high (Phantom Menace) and feel cheated when they aren’t reached. Well, we were 6 in a car traveling to X05 in Toronto, Canada, and all we could talk about was DOA4. We would "look" at the other games, but the reason we were stuck in a mini-van in zero-visibility weather, sleeping on air mattresses and riding trains early in the morning was for one reason: Dead or Alive. This was like a holy pilgrimage in scope almost. We hadn’t even played it and we were drooling over it, fighting over who would preview it, making grandiose statements of who could kick who’s ass sideways, the usual chatter. We talked of moves and combos and reversals and costumes and arenas. We argued over which character fought the best (Kasumi) and which was the cheapest to use (Kasumi) and who was the hottest (Kasumi) and when we had stood in line, gotten our press passes and stepped into X05, there it stood like a beacon: DOA4. Two consoles, two screens, 4 controllers. You know, expectations are a dangerous thing. Thank God Dead or Alive has never let us down.

Dead or Alive 3 made me buy an Xbox. And to this day, it still stands as one of its crowning jewels. Graphically, only DOA: Ultimate looks better in my mind. Dead or Alive 4 (and Madden 06) will make be buy an Xbox 360. It’s that simple. DOA4 is hands-down the greatest of the launch titles and is exactly what I had expected it to be. The fighting is faster than Ultimate and the characters look amazing.

Upon first seeing it, surrounded by other 360 games, it still looked amazing; the small little touches here and there, the arenas, the lighting, the hair flowing, the various pieces of costumes floating in the breeze, the wet pavements, the cherry blossoms in the air, the costumes that are photo-realistic, but it’s when I played Ultimate again that I realized how much of a departure DOA4 really was.

The build at X05 only permitted versus play but it was enough to see what made this game new and fresh. Whereas the arenas in DOA3 and DOAU were nice to look at (and intricately designed, multi-tiered and interactive) DOA4 makes them "real", living, breathing locations. The dojo may not seem like a place that would provide visual awe, but when you stop and see the shelves lining the walls; you have to actually take a second look. Everything is now 3D; every bobble, shelf, knick-knack, lamp, lantern, screen. Every object reflects light independently. Every piece of furniture has its own texture. And when you take a crack at other areas like the opera house (you can now perform attacks as you jump over tables), the wrestling ring (the crowds and atmosphere are mind-boggling), the wooden bridge arena (with its cherry blossoms and running brook - the water effects are amazing) you realize that more than ever, each arena has been carefully crafted to be both interactive but also ascetically realistic and awe-inspiring.

Backing out of the versus menu, the interface for DOA4 keeps the traditional look and feel that has followed the game since DOA2. The menu selection icons haven’t changed that much and I honestly thought I was looking through DOAU’s menu for a minute. You’ll find every mode that you’ve come to love and I was told that the online portion would be very different this time around (but that it would still retain all the modes and options that DOAU has). I was told that the "look" of the online portion (avatars, screens, menus, etc.) would be a departure from the traditional one established by the series and would focus on a more goofy-cartoon look and feel.

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