Phendrana Drifts

Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball

As income tax season is upon us, watch for a few new reviews to go up - notably The Sims for the Playstation 2, Hearts of Iron for the PC, the Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker for the GameCube and Pokemon for the Game Boy Advance. However, for the moment, let us begin with the first in the March orgy of game playing. There has been a lot of controversy about DOA: Xtreme Beach Volleyball. For the uninitiated, Dead or Alive is a fighting series, like Tekken or Virtua Fighter, with a few differences. First, the graphics, character models have all been top notch and heavily developed. By this I mean the female characters are, for lack of a better term, hot. The fighting system has also been much more arcade-like than the incredibly demanding Virtua Fighter. How does this all translate to a volleyball you might be asking. Very well, thank you. The... female characters are well-suited to the beach environment but the game (in my opinion) is surprisingly deep beyond the concept. It is like a vacation. There is no other words to describe it. Beauty, stress-free play, little challenge and lots of item collection (plus a very nice gambling mode) make for the game I have felt the least stress playing. This is not as great a thing as you might imagine, as I could also walk away from it right now, and never play it again. But of course, she is too pretty to walk away from like that, and the simple fact that almost anyone can master the controls and concepts within 20 minutes makes it a great multiplayer and introduction game. Also, I think it will appeal to certain people who would otherwise never play a video game (take Allie's 7 year old daughter who is obsessed with finding the prettiest bikini, sunglasses and sandal combo). Well done Tecmo (and of course Team Ninja), you have pulled off an amazing and unique game. Oh, completely ignore the M rating. No violence, no overt sexuality but lots of bouncing boobies in bathing suits. Nothing you won't see at a beach or pool.

9/10

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