•• Story ••
This is going to be a short section since each character has their own story. As you play each character you get a glimpse of who they are and their experiences. The problem is I mean glimpse. The stories are told through 30 second cut scenes with subtitles. Most of it is just exposition by the characters with no real narrative. I feel like since I didn't play DOA3 story mode, I'm missing 90% of the story. This is generally not a good game play experience. This is a new console. There's no guarantee that I've played the previous versions. And in this case I certainly have not. So the story is meaningless, yet somehow I don't think fans of the game play for the story, so I can't downgrade it too much as result. I just wish they hadn't tried to make half-baked stories at all.

•• Gameplay ••
The fighting genre is one that has been around for years. I don't know they exact origins, but I'd say Street Fighter is closer to the beginning (I have no doubt someone will clarify this for me in the comments of this review). The first one that really impressed me was the arcade version of Virtua Fighter. The idea of 3D models fighting opened up a whole new perspective for me. Unfortunately, the genre has not changed that much since those early days. It has gotten more complex and certainly better looking, but the gameplay itself remains virtually unchanged.

Each match starts with the characters facing each other ready to spar. You control one of the characters and the button mashing begins. The idea is to create a bunch of punches, kicks and specials moves in certain combinations to beat the snot out of your opponent. Pretty easy, huh? But as anyone who knows this genre, the exact opposite is true. Each move is performed by specific combinations of buttons and stick movements. I went into the sparring practice mode to learn Tina's moves and was blown away by the sheer number. There were dozens and dozens of moves and if any of them were done incorrectly, the move wouldn't be performed. And this can be very difficult when trying to deal with the joystick directions. And here's my big gripe. Some of the moves require you to press both the Y and B button at the same time. These buttons are the top and left of the 4 buttons and nearly impossible to press at the same time. Maddeningly so. I ended up putting the controller in my lap and controlling the joystick my left hand the buttons with my right. My wife laughed at me when she saw me hunched over this little controlling pounding away on the buttons while fiddling with a tiny joystick.
For me, this ended up in a bunch of button mashing. Memorizing all of the possible special moves seemed about as much fun as memorizing the elements of the periodic table. For me, i don't want to have to study and memorize to get better at the game. But to each his own.

I'm not a DOA expert, but I remember enough of the game modes of DOA3 to know that not much has changed on that front. We have the basic story mode, challenge mode, tag team battle, survival mode and Xbox Live. While Xbox Live was not in DOA3, it was in DOA Ultimate. However all of the other game modes remain virtually unchanged. This is great for newbies who might not know the title, but it might frustrate veterans of the series. Hopefully, the updated graphics and minor gameplay elements are enough for them.

•• Graphics ••
This is the selling point for this game. The DOA games have always pushed the envelope graphically. And that tradition continues with DOA4. This game is a beauty. Truly stunning graphics abound. The characters are highly detailed, with exquisite textures and bump/normal mapping. The animations are smooth and there is seemingly none of the clipping problems that took away the realism of DOA3. Each character either has long flowing hair or or robes or both. The flow in the wind, with fighting moves or whenever the developers wanted to show off. The same goes for jiggle breasts on the women.

... which brings me to my other point. I know Americans are different culturally from the Japanese. I get that. But there is something creepy about Japanese schoolgirls with tiny voices and large breasts who are there only to entice the male players. While I love Japanese Anime and Manga, this is the primary reason I've never gotten into Japanese RPGs such as Final Fantasy. I'm turned off by the fact that the developers think this a turn on to me. It's just weird. But hey, I'll get over it.

The environments you play in are fantastic. Yet another example of the attention to detail. Like DOA3, there are many destructible objects and multi-level break points. There is much detail in the backgrounds, from roaring dinosaurs to cars that zoom by and will hit you if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Despite this the arenas tend to be small by design. Many times I felt myself getting slammed up against a wall that didn't exist. it was simply the edge of the map. it would be nice if the arenas were larger, but this is a minor complaint.

The small arenas might contribute to the amazing performance. While I obviously don't have any debug information, the frame rate had to be well over 40 frames per second. This is a phenomenal framerate and the animations were smooth as glass. There was never a hiccup in performance.

•• Sound ••
The sounds in the game are great for what they are. They don't seem a whole lot different from the previous version. Namely they are fighting sounds. Lots of smacking and kicking. Lots of grunting (albeit some in high schoolgirl voices) and moaning. The voice work is impossible for me to judge because it's all in Japanese.

The environmental effects are excellent, if subdued. The dinosaurs roar, the cars zoom by and any bystanders around cheer and make catcalls. In all, it's nothing spectacular, but essential for solid gameplay. They just don't stand out as much as something more action or explosion oriented.

•• Multiplayer ••
Dead or Alive 4 has excellent online play, but it doesn't stray much from the single player formula. We have ranked and player matched games with full voice support as expected. You get online and start duking it out with other people who are miles better than you and can do so many combos that you won't get a single hit in. It seems less about strategy and more about who has memorized the combos better. For those who like that sort of thing, great. For me, it's not my cup of tea.

•• Achievements ••
Team Ninja has included many Achievements of a varied nature. There are the standard completion achievements and leaderboard achievements. And then there are some secret ones that I haven't been able to unlock. The only one I was able to unlock was one that gave me an achievement for losing 5 online matches in a row. And as a reward for that achievement, I was given 0 points. Very clever!

•• Parents Should Know ••
This game is rated M for Mature which seems a little harsh. Yes the focus is merciless hand to hand combat, but there is seemingly no blood and no one ever dies. The action is so fast and furious that it is almost unrealisitc and certainly nothing worse than a child would see on a Power Rangers episode on Saturday morning. They simply get KO'd. There is no language and no gratuitous sex. There is a high jiggle factor as all video game women must have massive boobs that jiggle with every movement. In one cutscene a character turns into a mermaid and is topless, though you never see nipples. It's more bizarre than erotic.

NOTE: I'm giving this a much higher rating than my review might indicate it deserves. This is because I know my complaints about the game lie mostly with me and my dislike of the genre. As a fighting game, this is the best of the best and buying it is a no brainer if you like the genre.

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Amped 3 - Developers Gone Wild!
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Condemned: Criminal Origins - I smell a franchise

Recommended:
Yes