I’ve only put a couple hours into the game, but I thought I’d put forth a few impressions. I’ll try keep it brief.
There are two things necessary for enjoyment of DOA:XBV. First is the realization that this is not a Hardcore™ sports game or sim that is meant for bigtime game junkies to spend all day playing for a few days straight…like for instance if you were going to crank out a review. The best way I can describe it is “casual,” it wants to be played maybe an hour at a time, picking it up now and again for some brainless, simple, but satisfying fun that you don’t have to work very hard at. That’s not to say “real gamers” won’t like it, and this one does, but it’s clearly not meant for the same crowd that memorizes the unblockable 6-hit combo in Dead or Alive, from a gameplay perspective.
The second thing is that part of the “entertainment” value here has absolutely nothing to do with gameplay, and that might be a hard concept for us stodgy old-school more-gamer-than-thou people who frequent this board to come to grips with. (me included) Yup, sure enough, starting at extremely well-rendered, hardly dressed, improbably proportioned girls is part of the appeal here. And if you’re too serious/snobby/prude/mature/whatever to find any sort of fun in some gratutitous T&A, you’re likely to find that this is half a game. No, T&A is not the sole appeal, but it’s most definitely part of it. Me, I got no problem with a little well-intentioned bouncing and stretching in a context where it makes sense (ala - not Aida from Unreal II). I’d not buy a game just for that, though.
So how’s the actual gameplay? The vollyball is very simple but quite enjoyable nonetheless, and I find myself as excited about a well-won volly as I was in Virtua Tennis. (insert “excited” pun here) The dressing up your girl and buying gifts part could have been implemented better, though. The music is a mixture of awful and good - and I suspect that due to the pop beat nature of it most people will alternately like and hate it because there’s no middle ground on pop - but it’s at least fitting. I’ve muted the bad tracks and used a few I ripped to my Xbox hard drive instead.
Overall, I’m liking it so far. It’s sort of a guilty pleasure, like enjoying the latest flashy shallow Schwartzenegger flick or something. I’m not going to write all my friends and tell them to run right out and buy this game, but I wouldn’t steer the curious away from it and I look forward to giving it some more play.
It’s Pong with Boobies, and you know, pong ain’t a bad concept, really.
