Dead or Alive 4 final preview: harder, faster, deeper

[wraggster]

Dead or Alive 4 is supposed to be out for the 360 this week, so the MetaReview will have to wait till then, but we do have some final impressions from Japan for the MS stalwarts waiting for the latest word from Team Ninja.

According to IGN, "the main changes [from DoA3] come from a smaller window of opportunity when pulling off reversals, a slightly enhanced poke and stun game, and a more advanced ground game." While the second change sounds like a mini-game from DoAXBV, it's actually in reference to being "vulnerable to as many as three hits on the ground before being able to get up" after a counter (or a higher counter). Other changes include lower damage for moves (resulting in longer matches in general), as well as that new girl everyone's talking about nowadays.

There's something to be said for four-second load times (which is apparently pretty good for a 360 title) and a nice set of, er... online achievements ("play 100 matches unbeaten online"), but does that justify a 100% score -- that is, a 5 out of 5 -- from the pages of GamePro? Sounds like the first review for PGR3, if we're not mistaken, so you definitely want to withhold judgment until further reviews are in (even if both are great games, relatively speaking).

[CABBAGES]

hi any idea if the us doa4 is region locked ?