People always say first impressions go a long way. Well Dead or Alive 3's great first impression might never end. With some of the prettiest graphics around to go along with some of the most beautiful computer generated characters you've seen to date, this game takes full advantage of the XBox hardware.
The questions remained though, does it have the depth to go along with the beauty? Well, to be quite frank, Virtua Fighter 4 it isn't, but none the less you will find enough in this game to make you want to come back for seconds. And I'm not referring to the guys who bought this game just to gawk at pixelated hotties... there are several game modes and plenty of unlockable items to keep you interested. The Xboxs' built in hard drive adds to the fun by allowing you to download booster discs that contains bonus goodies like extra outfits (a benefit for all you gawkers!).
The game, while not quite as difficult as VF4, can still be difficult enough to beat that you shouldn't expect to mow down the competition. Special moves and combos are not always so easy to perform as the timing seems very sensitive and throw/grab moves seem to get blocked a bit more than in other games I've played. One interesting aspect of the gameplay is the ability to knock your opponent, not out of the ring, but into a whole new portion of the board. Many boards contain as many as three separate areas for you to pummel your opponents, helping to keep the game fresh by not always having to look at the same 12' X 12' square ring as games in the past made us do.
Problems include the story mode, which is acted out in short cutscenes between key matches, and makes absolutely no sense to me. Perhaps I missed out on something by not having played the previous games but I had no clue what was going on half the time (like why are Christie and Bayman at odds?!?). I will admit though, not everyone plays fighting games for the engrossing storylines so maybe that's a stone best left unturned.
All in all DOA3 is a solid fighter that will definitely quench your thirst - but if you want to kill that thirst for good - I'd suggest going with a PS2 and a copy of VF4.
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