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Virtua Fighter 5
November 1, 2007 | 6:04 PM PST
AMN's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.
What the Game's About
Virtua Fighter 5 is the latest and greatest entry in the industry's premier 3D fighting franchise. Sega's AM2 team has taken what already amounted to the deepest, most nuanced fighting engine ever created and has refined it to perfection. Two new fighters join the roster, bringing the tally to 17 perfectly-balanced, completely unique fighters, each of which comes with enough moves and strategies to keep players occupied for months. A marginally improved single-player experience supplements the real showstopper: online multiplayer over Xbox Live that finally lets players sample competition from outside their local circle of friends and test their skills against the best players from around the world.
What's Hot
It's pretty freaking amazing that the deepest, most complex fighting engine ever developed is based on just three basic buttons – punch, kick and block – but that's all that Yu Suzuki and AM2 have ever needed in order to outdo all of competition's 10-hit combos, flashy weapon-trail effects, multi-tiered stages and over-the-top counters. Different combinations of the attack buttons will reap different combos, but the depth of each character's move list only really becomes apparent when one starts factoring in directional inputs, the specific timing of button presses right down to the frames of animation, even the stance and position of the player character relative to the opponent. At first the sheer number of moves and the litany of ways they play off of each other can feel extremely overwhelming, but with enough practice pulling off those moves becomes instinct. Higher thought processes are dedicated to observing and out-thinking the opponent while fingers simply react appropriately to stimuli without any need for deliberation. Buttery smooth animations and perfectly responsive button input come together to make Virtua Fighter 5 feel better in action than any other fighter ever made – at least if you put down the money on the Hori EX2 fighting stick.
The beauty of the fighting model in Virtua Figher 5 is that it provides a consistent rule-set as structure, but gives players ample room within that structure to explore at their own pace and even get creative. Compared with say, Dead or Alive 4 - which punishes players for failing abide by the rock-paper-scissors relationship between counters, throws and strikes – the fighting model in Virtua Fighter 5 rewards players for the effort they put in without punishing them for failing to immediately grasp a specific mechanic. Players must learn how to counter in Dead or Alive, because it's really the only effective way to deal with punches and kicks. In contrast, in Virtua Fighter, 5 players can rely on blocking that actually works, counters, quick offensive and defensive dashes, traditional side-stepping or simply using faster attacks to interrupt the opponent's chains. Obviously players that take the time to learn all of those mechanics will be more dangerous and effective fighters than players that don't, but more casual players can still have fun fighting against those in their skill range. Should any of those players come face to face with an expert, they'll have their eyes opened to possibilities they never even knew existed. Likewise, experts have so much room to explore, so many ways to get out of and take advantage of any given situation, that the 'what do I have to do?' mentality that characterizes so many other fighters is replaced by a more creative 'lets see what I can do' thought process. Players never stop learning in Virtua Fighter – every match is potentially a new discovery.
Obviously, the best way to learn is to play against better players, but finding other players has long been a difficult proposition for North American VF fans thanks to the relatively small following the Virtua Fighter franchise enjoys on this side of the Pacific. The addition of online play eliminates that road-block, giving players the opportunity to quickly and easily find and compete with other VF fans from around the world. Moreover, the addition of online play has finally allowed the single-player Quest mode to reach its full potential. The Quest mode pits players against AI based on real-world VF experts and allows them to rank up a character profile as well as earn items to customize their fighter. Without online play, gamers had no effective way of showing off their stats, items or customized characters. Now players can freely show off their accomplishments to friends and opponents by joining into an online match with their custom character profiles, and bragging rights are one hell of an incentive to keep trying against the evil, higher difficulty AI opponents. The actual online experience was shockingly smooth given how long Sega had warned us that an online Virtua Fighter would suffer from inevitable latency issues. While we'd be lying if we said there was no loss over the internet, the number of frames lost is actually fairly minor and only veterans of the series are likely to notice a difference. Obviously the quality of your online experience will depend on the speed of both you and your opponent's connections, but our experience over a cable connection was consistently good.
What's Not
While the fighting engine at the heart Virtua Fighter 5 is flexible enough to accommodate casual players just as well as it does the hardcore, the game has still amassed a reputation as one intended expressly for hardcore fans. If first impressions are indeed most important then chances are that the perception won't change with Virtua Fighter 5, since Sega hasn't done much to make the first few steps players take with Virtua Fighter 5 easy ones. The menu system is obtuse from the get go, but reaches unbelievably annoying heights during the Quest Mode where players will be bouncing back and forth through menus trees to perform even the most frequent, simple functions. The multiplayer menu system doesn't fare much better, since there's no lobby system to speak of and players are thrown back to the match setup screen at the end of every match, and without any buddies they may have been fighting against. Since players choose their character before they enter the match setup screen, there's no easy way to switch characters or fight a buddy several times in a row in unranked matches.
Perhaps most damning of all for VF virgins, the training or 'dojo' mode is a complete train-wreck as far as accessibility is concerned. Experts will love the fact that they can get frame counts for each of the moves, but most of the information displayed will be meaningless or confusing to casual players. Furthermore, many of the moves are described in jargon like 'offensive move' (a specific type of dash) which isn't explained in the game, and only a few of the moves in the VF5 command list provide the option to watch a demo, so if players get stuck on a move they can't seem to pull off they'll be left with no idea of what the move is supposed to look like or what they're doing wrong.
Ordinarily presentation is one of AM2's strengths, but it's fairly hit-or-miss in Virtua Fighter 5. The visuals are generally excellent, with highly detailed character models, gorgeously lit arenas, and silky smooth animation, but there are a few distracting flies in the ointment. Most of the characters look like they've been bathing in Crisco. We've seen this shininess in other heavily bump-mapped games, but it feels particularly obvious in VF5 thanks to the fact that the camera is focused so closely on the characters. Secondly, the lip-syncing is completely off, which wouldn't be a big deal in the slightest if not for the close-ups during pre-match introductions and post-match taunts. Speaking of which, the English voice acting in the game is terrible and comes off as particularly ridiculous when most of the characters in the game are Asian. We're still waiting for a fighting game (or any game, really) that lets players select a default language for sub-titles and features characters that speak in the languages associated with their nationalities. The sound effects are well done, with convincing thuds and grunts accompanying every impact. The music is decent but forgettable, as with every fighting game outside of the Guilty Gear franchise.
Final Word
Virtua Fighter 5 isn't a perfect fighting game, but its damn close. It's easily the best fighting game available on the Xbox 360. Fans of the genre owe it to themselves to pick this game up, along with an arcade stick.
What the Game's About
Virtua Fighter 5 is the latest and greatest entry in the industry's premier 3D fighting franchise. Sega's AM2 team has taken what already amounted to the deepest, most nuanced fighting engine ever created and has refined it to perfection. Two new fighters join the roster, bringing the tally to 17 perfectly-balanced, completely unique fighters, each of which comes with enough moves and strategies to keep players occupied for months. A marginally improved single-player experience supplements the real showstopper: online multiplayer over Xbox Live that finally lets players sample competition from outside their local circle of friends and test their skills against the best players from around the world.
What's Hot
It's pretty freaking amazing that the deepest, most complex fighting engine ever developed is based on just three basic buttons – punch, kick and block – but that's all that Yu Suzuki and AM2 have ever needed in order to outdo all of competition's 10-hit combos, flashy weapon-trail effects, multi-tiered stages and over-the-top counters. Different combinations of the attack buttons will reap different combos, but the depth of each character's move list only really becomes apparent when one starts factoring in directional inputs, the specific timing of button presses right down to the frames of animation, even the stance and position of the player character relative to the opponent. At first the sheer number of moves and the litany of ways they play off of each other can feel extremely overwhelming, but with enough practice pulling off those moves becomes instinct. Higher thought processes are dedicated to observing and out-thinking the opponent while fingers simply react appropriately to stimuli without any need for deliberation. Buttery smooth animations and perfectly responsive button input come together to make Virtua Fighter 5 feel better in action than any other fighter ever made – at least if you put down the money on the Hori EX2 fighting stick.
The beauty of the fighting model in Virtua Figher 5 is that it provides a consistent rule-set as structure, but gives players ample room within that structure to explore at their own pace and even get creative. Compared with say, Dead or Alive 4 - which punishes players for failing abide by the rock-paper-scissors relationship between counters, throws and strikes – the fighting model in Virtua Fighter 5 rewards players for the effort they put in without punishing them for failing to immediately grasp a specific mechanic. Players must learn how to counter in Dead or Alive, because it's really the only effective way to deal with punches and kicks. In contrast, in Virtua Fighter, 5 players can rely on blocking that actually works, counters, quick offensive and defensive dashes, traditional side-stepping or simply using faster attacks to interrupt the opponent's chains. Obviously players that take the time to learn all of those mechanics will be more dangerous and effective fighters than players that don't, but more casual players can still have fun fighting against those in their skill range. Should any of those players come face to face with an expert, they'll have their eyes opened to possibilities they never even knew existed. Likewise, experts have so much room to explore, so many ways to get out of and take advantage of any given situation, that the 'what do I have to do?' mentality that characterizes so many other fighters is replaced by a more creative 'lets see what I can do' thought process. Players never stop learning in Virtua Fighter – every match is potentially a new discovery.
Obviously, the best way to learn is to play against better players, but finding other players has long been a difficult proposition for North American VF fans thanks to the relatively small following the Virtua Fighter franchise enjoys on this side of the Pacific. The addition of online play eliminates that road-block, giving players the opportunity to quickly and easily find and compete with other VF fans from around the world. Moreover, the addition of online play has finally allowed the single-player Quest mode to reach its full potential. The Quest mode pits players against AI based on real-world VF experts and allows them to rank up a character profile as well as earn items to customize their fighter. Without online play, gamers had no effective way of showing off their stats, items or customized characters. Now players can freely show off their accomplishments to friends and opponents by joining into an online match with their custom character profiles, and bragging rights are one hell of an incentive to keep trying against the evil, higher difficulty AI opponents. The actual online experience was shockingly smooth given how long Sega had warned us that an online Virtua Fighter would suffer from inevitable latency issues. While we'd be lying if we said there was no loss over the internet, the number of frames lost is actually fairly minor and only veterans of the series are likely to notice a difference. Obviously the quality of your online experience will depend on the speed of both you and your opponent's connections, but our experience over a cable connection was consistently good.
What's Not
While the fighting engine at the heart Virtua Fighter 5 is flexible enough to accommodate casual players just as well as it does the hardcore, the game has still amassed a reputation as one intended expressly for hardcore fans. If first impressions are indeed most important then chances are that the perception won't change with Virtua Fighter 5, since Sega hasn't done much to make the first few steps players take with Virtua Fighter 5 easy ones. The menu system is obtuse from the get go, but reaches unbelievably annoying heights during the Quest Mode where players will be bouncing back and forth through menus trees to perform even the most frequent, simple functions. The multiplayer menu system doesn't fare much better, since there's no lobby system to speak of and players are thrown back to the match setup screen at the end of every match, and without any buddies they may have been fighting against. Since players choose their character before they enter the match setup screen, there's no easy way to switch characters or fight a buddy several times in a row in unranked matches.
Perhaps most damning of all for VF virgins, the training or 'dojo' mode is a complete train-wreck as far as accessibility is concerned. Experts will love the fact that they can get frame counts for each of the moves, but most of the information displayed will be meaningless or confusing to casual players. Furthermore, many of the moves are described in jargon like 'offensive move' (a specific type of dash) which isn't explained in the game, and only a few of the moves in the VF5 command list provide the option to watch a demo, so if players get stuck on a move they can't seem to pull off they'll be left with no idea of what the move is supposed to look like or what they're doing wrong.
Ordinarily presentation is one of AM2's strengths, but it's fairly hit-or-miss in Virtua Fighter 5. The visuals are generally excellent, with highly detailed character models, gorgeously lit arenas, and silky smooth animation, but there are a few distracting flies in the ointment. Most of the characters look like they've been bathing in Crisco. We've seen this shininess in other heavily bump-mapped games, but it feels particularly obvious in VF5 thanks to the fact that the camera is focused so closely on the characters. Secondly, the lip-syncing is completely off, which wouldn't be a big deal in the slightest if not for the close-ups during pre-match introductions and post-match taunts. Speaking of which, the English voice acting in the game is terrible and comes off as particularly ridiculous when most of the characters in the game are Asian. We're still waiting for a fighting game (or any game, really) that lets players select a default language for sub-titles and features characters that speak in the languages associated with their nationalities. The sound effects are well done, with convincing thuds and grunts accompanying every impact. The music is decent but forgettable, as with every fighting game outside of the Guilty Gear franchise.
Final Word
Virtua Fighter 5 isn't a perfect fighting game, but its damn close. It's easily the best fighting game available on the Xbox 360. Fans of the genre owe it to themselves to pick this game up, along with an arcade stick.
February 8, 2010
