TGS 2001 FallDead or Alive 3 Hands-on

Tecmo offered gamers a taste of DOA3 on the Xbox with a playable build of the title on the TGS show floor. While time attack was the only mode available--story, survival, tag, team, and versus were all locked out--the fighting and graphics engine appeared to be fairly complete, allowing us to finally get a feel for the game.

Running on HDTVs, the game turned heads with a level of clarity that was awesome. Detail on the characters and the environment was amazingly crisp. All 16 characters in the game, both old favorites and new fighters, were selectable. At first glance, the character models don't appear to have undergone a tremendous upgrade from the incarnations of DOA2 on the PS2 and DC. However, spend any amount of time with the game, and you'll notice a host of little details. Hair and clothing move extremely fluidly and have a definite sense of weight and motion. You'll rarely see hair or clothing clip into the character models during battle. The detail in the clothing is extremely impressive, allowing patterns and designs to be clearly seen and warping them as your fighter moves during a battle.

The game's backgrounds, already impressive in DOA2 for the ability to knock your opponent into another part of a level, have been beefed up considerably. Team Ninja has taken the elements that worked so well in DOA2 and increased their scope to offer a multifaceted fighting experience. While you're still able to knock your opponent into another part of a level, most areas are huge and offer their own fighting areas thanks to Team Ninja's use of the Xbox hard drive. In our time with the game, we saw an aquarium stage, complete with moving sea life; a snow stage with deforming snow; a mountain stage that allowed you to knock your opponent down on to lower buttes; a massive roof stage that allowed you to knock your opponent down into a courtyard; and a redone version of a stage found in the PS2 version of DOA2 that featured electrified walls. The arenas we saw offered varying levels of interactivity--for example, a torch in the courtyard level was smashed when we knocked a fighter into it. The game's graphics impress even more thanks to their truly splendid feeling of speed and lighting effects. Running at a constant 60 fps, DOA3 offers players an extremely fast fighting experience.

Control in the game is tight and responsive, and it's made all the more user-friendly thanks to the Xbox's Japanese controller, whose button placement seems to be faring better than its US counterpart. The free button still functions as a 3D movement, counter, and block button. Throws are still deadly, but they can be blocked by skilled players. Each character offers new moves and animation, resulting in fluid animation.

As it nears release, DOA3 looks to offer players a solid balance of excellent graphics and accessible control. At present, DOA3 is slated to hit stores in the US at the Xbox's November launch and repeat those duties as a launch title for the system's Japanese release.