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Review: Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore (alternate) |
Amusing fact - the UK release of this game is just called “Dead or Alive 2″ - presumably because of the anarchy and destruction that would occur if a child saw the word “hardcore” on a videogame box.
Now there are several different versions of Dead or Alive 2 floating about on home consoles - and trying to categorise them is made harder by the fact that the PAL versions sometimes have different features to the NTSC versions. Therefore, I won’t bother.
However it is worth mentioning that DOA2:HC is an interesting oppurtunity to compare what is essentially the same game on both Dreamcast and Playstation2, and see how they shape up.
Let’s not delay … one word springs instantly to mind: “jaggies.”
Now I defended Tekken Tag against the “Urgh! Jaggies!” brigade, because they were hard to spot, and barely interfered with the game at all. However this is not the case here - the lack of anti-aliasing really hurts it visually. As soon as you get to the select screen it becomes evident - the upper body shots of the character are surrounded by rough edges, which sort of “buzz” visually whenever they move. The backgrounds get it pretty bad as well, it’s less obvious when you’re actually playing, and more when you watch the replays/intro/cutscenes, but the black edges round tiles in the church and rooftop stage look animated whenever the camera pans. It’s ugly, obtrusive and just really lets the graphical side down.
It’s a shame, because there have also been a lot of improvements on the visual front. Several stages now boast coloured lighting effects, reflective surfaces and water effects, as well as new elements (the suspension bridge on the DRAGON HILLS stage or the water in the lab stage for example). The game also runs at a consistant 60fps (the cut-scenes look the same as the in-game characters, unlike the DC version), and it runs at a higher resolution than its counterpart - which while good in theory, making it look crisper, really only serves to highlight the jagged polygon edges. And don’t think I’m getting pleasure from going on about this - I’m pissed that the product was released with such a huge and obvious visual deficiency.
Going back to the DC version after playing the PS2 version is interesting. As expected, less jaggies (though there are still some), and less detail. It looks more cartoony; more colourful, but not as sharp.
Of course the omission of full screen anti-aliasing doesn’t stop the game being bad, and it’s the same loveable (if now slightly tiresome) punch, juggle, combo-throw, counter-counter-counter, free-stepping shenanigans DOA2 has always been. This version seems to be pretty much the same as the Dreamcast DOA2:LE in terms of gameplay, moves, load times, speed, framerates and AI.
Typically, Hardcore has a few new features that weren’t in previous releases, just to piss off people who rushed out and bought those games (this is my 3rd DOA2 purchase.)
For a start there are some brand new stages to fight on. Hardcore has the new levels from Dreamcast “LE”, plus seven all-new ones - a desert; a wrestling ring; a white stone arena; a rooftop at sunset (or ‘jaggie central’ as it’s commonly known); a purple stone arena with electrified metal bars around it; an arena surrounded by machinery and a Japanese dojo, complete with little garden area outside.
None of them manage to reach the gorgeous heights of somewhere like the ‘Dragon hills’ - but for the most part they’re pretty well-designed. The reason for their blandness soon becomes apparent - remember how you could only fight in one arena in tag-team mode on the DC version? Remember how boring it was being in the steel arena for every single fight? Well no longer, now several of the new stages (the smaller ones, naturally) are visited during tag mode. Obviously the detail and size of these levels was drastically reduced, so the tag fights could still go on without slowdown or loading, but it’s still a welcome change.
Another new thing is the option to have English voiceovers for fight intros, winquotes and cut-scenes. I have this option left on … not because it’s good, but because it’s so horrible. Dubbed voiceovers are expected to suck … but this! Punch … I mean … Hayabusa and Jann-Lee couldn’t be any more wooden if they had roots, and most of the females sound like they’re twelve years old (stop that thought right there). The only saving grace is Tina and Bass - they both have hilariously overblown Texan style drawls … Bass’ is funny, and Tina’s just makes her even cuter than before.
The fact they’re direct translations of the Japanese dialogue also means some of the speeches just sound so … wrong. Ein saying “I’m coming!” is bad enough in subtitles … but hearing some jobbing actor blurt it out? Gah.
The rest of the sound is the same - though I’m still happy that the PS2 has an optical output for the utterly best possible audio quality. Yay Sony.
The fight with the last boss (the ridiculous “Tengu”) has been changed as well, though I feel it’s for the worst. The whole screen gets a dreamlike blur to it, with everything leaving a motion blur trail behind. It’s sort of cool, but on the down side, it’s a little hard to follow the action in intense moments.
Another addition is the ‘replay mode’ - pick a character, an opponent and a stage; then fight one round, at the end of which you can replay at your leisure, rewinding, pausing and altering the camera. Apart from the perverted applications it’s nothing much really - a brief diversion at best
There are a couple of brand new costumes to be unlocked too, and the ‘unlocking’ process itself is a lot more intricate than previous versions.
But although the new stages and costumes (and the challenge of getting them) add some niceness - this is the fourth home DOA2 release in a year and a half — and it’s getting old. This is the PS2 version to own, but I still prefer the easier-on-the-eye DC Limited Edition, with its art gallery and the chance to use a lovely Sega arcade stick. Hopefully as programmers get more familiar with working with the PS2 - graphical faux pas like DOA2:HC will become a thing of the past.
I got all the way through this review without mentioning one thing. Boobies. Damn.
