- A superior fighting game! Worth the money!So the big question seems to be: Dead or Alive 2(DOA2) or Soul Caliber (SC)? I own both, and in all honesty, I find DOA2 to be the better of the two, despite having to shell out more money for it.
So what makes it better?
The graphics for one. SC was no slouch, but fabulous architecture does not make up for flat, geometrical fighting stages. DOA2 easily surpasses SC and earns many kudos for fabulous interior design, coupled with multi-tiered fighting stages (nothing like throwing someone through a cathedral window to the courtyard below, is there?). Also, the characters in DOA2 feel like characters moving through 3 dimensional space (their clothing moves with them) as opposed to wire frames with bitmapped skins. And their expressions match the task at hand, unlike Soul Caliber where the contestants look either constipated or happy to get beat up.
Two: the audio. Both SC and DOA2 have the original Japanese voice actors, but whereas SC makes a player cringe (horrible, horrible translation job), DOA2 makes it believeable. The voice acting is on the money. Whether a player likes the rock and roll BGM (with some asian and classical fusion) is a matter of preference, but it fits the overall feel of the came to a T.
Three: Lightening quick load times. The engine loads once before the fight and everything moves seamlessly from there.
Other noteworthy features:
Cut scenes which are a cut above. Visually, nothing compares. Some RPG fans might be screaming "you call that story development? " but they they get the job done - in style.
DOA2's hand to hand combat mode is pretty easy to pick up. You'll be flipping and kicking in under ten minutes (even my mother won a few rounds, and she NEVER plays video games). And the training mode is super friendly for those who want to master the aerial arsenal. Also, while the characters are each unique with their own moves, they're all pretty much evenly matched. There is no ONE super character. (It doesn't make much sense reality wise, but it makes for a great fighting game.)
Some people have complained that DOA2 lacks "secret" features, but I prefer having all the characters available as opposed to having to play countless rounds with characters I don't like to "unlock" my desired choice.
Of course, the game does have it's drawbacks: limited costumes, only 12 (or is it 14?)characters, way too many gratuitous panty shots (at least as far as this female gamer is concerned), lack of stage selection in survival and team battle modes, but the truth: you're not going to notice them. You'll be to happy with what IS available.
I'm glad I own both SC and DOA2, but if I could only keep one, it'd be DOA2.
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