Dead or Alive 5 Plus is out now for the PS Vita and while we have reviewed
its previous iterations on Xbox 360 and 3DS, it is time to see how it
shines on the beautiful and underrated PlayStation. DOA5P includes the
same fighting styles and cast of the console release and makes it
portable with a few system specific features. The Dead or Alive series
is known for its hand to hand fighting, 3D levels, and dynamic stages,
with Plus comes additional features that include innovative touch
controls, use of the motion sensors for first person pugilism, and new
training modes to refine your strategy.
While
Dead or Alive has never been my favorite fighting franchise, it has
been a staple in my fighting collection, and I have always found myself
looking forward to the release of each entry. Visually, the game looks
stunning with some great detail that we have grown to expect from Team
Ninja. The gameplay is fluid and provides hours of gameplay with a
number of unlockables that keep the replayability high. What is even
better, the online supports cross platform multiplayer which allows for
you to fight against other Vita and PS3 fighting enthusiasts. There are a
number of different game modes if online isn’t an option to provide an
entertaining fighting experience sure to entertain wherever you go as
long as you have the juice.
The
online was quite possibly the biggest disappointment in my time spent
with DOA5+ and hope that these pains are only temporary. The reason for
this was due to one or both of two possibilities, either the matchmaking
needs vast improvements or the community is dead. Every time I have
tried to play online, it takes around five minutes to find a match
against someone that is highly ranked and have low probability of
defeating, because I had to adjust my settings just to find an online
match. Lastly, with all fighters, the story is lacking, fun at first but
then grows old quickly, as the cutscenes are much longer than the
action.
