Fists of Fun

Virtua Fighter 5 is awesome. How awesome? So awesome that it’s unbelievable.

This, my friends, is a beautiful game. Seriously. I daresay it even looks better than DOA4! People always say that the fighters in DOA look like plastic dolls. Well, now I finally agree with them, after seeing fighters that look like actual people instead of, well…Barbies. That’s not to knock DOA, though—it’s a great game in its own right, just not as great as Virtua Fighter.

Last night I only spent time playing as two people—Eileen, one of the two new additions to the roster, and Vanessa. And boy, folks, let me tell you—they are totally, utterly different. Not many fighting games can pull that off so well. And that’s just two characters! There’s a heck of a lot more!

And man, VF5 is unrelentingly precise. I was spanked black and blue by the command training because the game wants you to nail the moves exactly. And by exactly, I mean milliseconds. There’s a certain satisfaction you get when you finally learn the timing and balance of a particular character, and of the game in general. It’s really spectacular, and truly hardcore in a way that no other fighter has touched save for the VF series. I played number 4. I know just how technical of a game that was, too.

But now, with number 5, the VF series finally has the eye candy and flow to keep up with once-prettier and flashier contenders Tekken and DOA. This is a game that’ll make you want to get that HDTV, folks. It’s completely worth it. The cloth textures and physics are something to behold, and the colors are so very bright. It’s definitely a treat.

Anyway, if you’re a fan of fighting games, do yourself a huge favor and pick this one up. It puts the Marianas Trench to shame in terms of depth, and it’s a looker of a title. Those who find themselves more attracted to casual fare might find this one way too technical and hardcore, but it still offers some nice thrills for button-mashers. The true heart of the game, though, is in mastering the fighters, learning all their many moves and using those moves to the fullest extent. Nothing is cooler than charging up a powerful move, only to cancel it and fake out your opponent, then follow up with a few punches and a crushing throw. There’s a flow to this game, like water, that few other titles (save for perhaps Soul Calibur) have.

Virtua Fighter 5 is in a league of its own.

Fighting on Halloween

Virtua Fighter 5 is coming out today. Do you know how excited I am?

I tried the demo out on Marketplace a few weeks ago, and I was instantly converted. I’ve played VF4 and such, mind you, but I could never get into it like Soul Calibur or even DOA. (Which, speaking of DOA, curse you for your cheap-ass AI, number four!) But VF5 looks to change that.

I really love fighting games. Fighting games and FPS’s are my two favorite genres. I also like a good action/adventure title, but shooting people and kicking the crap out of them are my two favorite things to do in a video game. So it comes as little surprise that I’ll be picking up one of the best fighting games in recent memory.

 The bonus with the 360 version is that it’ll have online play. This, I can assure you, will rock. No doubt there’ll be lag and the general crappiness/unfairness/etc. that comes with the online territory, but it’ll still be really cool to smack down some fools with your customized Eileen or El Blaze or even that chick that looks like Nina Williams. I know for a fact that DOA4 online was a lot of fun, even with the constipated fighting system and occasional lag. AND you could save replays, which was wonderful for those times you managed to whup someone’s butt without them even touching you. Pure excellence. I’m really hoping VF5 will have a replay save feature.

Another thing I noticed in the demo is that the AI isn’t so freaking cheap. The AI in DOA4 is some of the crappiest AI I think I’ve ever encountered in a fighting game. One moment, the computer will be stupidly standing there, picking its virtual nose, and then the next moment it’s blocking every single move you throw at it. It gets tiring after a while, especially since there’s NO WAY to change the AI difficulty settings. (At least I don’t think so….Don’t quote me on that.) I will admit that fighting against cheap-ass AI made me a better fighter, but you folks who’ve played DOA know that it’s wholly possible for a newbie to play as Hayabusa or Hayate and cheap-shot his way to a win. I can’t tell you just how many cheap Hayabusa/Hayate players I’ve encountered online in DOA4. It’s staggering. It’s a nice feeling, though, when I end up beating them as someone other than Hayabusa or Hayate, such as, oh, Kokoro. Or maybe Hitomi, or Brad Wong, or one of the other 12 people you can play as. (There are characters other than Hayate and Hayabusa in the game, people! Wake-up call!)

I’m hoping that with Virtua Fighter 5, people won’t all end up playing as the same dude. Because that would be kind of boring. I’d just have to play as someone else and whup them. 🙂

Anyway, so there you go: Virtua Fighter 5 is shipping today. It’ll probably be in stores on Halloween, so in between your trick-or-treating you’ll be able to punch a few folks online. I know that’s what I’m gonna be doing.