Rock_On's Full Review: Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball for Xbox for...
Ever since the original Dead or Alive was released on the Playstation, aside from the fighting aspect, the game really focused on the “hot” female fighters who had lots of jiggle. It’s still continued through today, and now that a machine has enough power for them to produce something that they’ve envisioned, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball has been conceived. I wasn’t really looking forward to DOAXBV, mainly because the fact that Tecmo was using the sex appeal from the digital ladies to sell, and I was wanting a great volleyball game, which this was not.
Plot/Story
Zack, my favorite character in DOA2: Hardcore that also has my favorite fighter slogan ever (“Lets get funky!”), has hit it big in the casinos, and what’s better than using your riches by purchasing an island and naming it after none other than, yourself.
So now we’ve got Zack island, why not scam some of the really hot girls into coming to his island for the next Dead or Alive tournament (DOA4), and instead have them play volleyball in their scant bikinis to bide time over since they were already there on the island.
Gameplay
I was really disappointed with how DOAXBV turned out, because the way the game plays out is incredibly dull and boring, and the game turned into a dress-up simulation. Really now, the idea of being able to wear different bikinis and different items was really cool, but they relied to heavily on this, and the game suffered, big time. When you start the game, after the incredibly detailed intro, you have the option to start or continue in the story mode, or play an exhibition game. In the exhibition, there’s no crap to go through just to play some damn volleyball, you just pick your player and partner and go.
As for the story mode, this was where my frustration began. Before you begin your game for the first time in 1 of 3 save files, you’ll choose which girl you want to be, and then you’ll choose your partner to begin with. There are 8 girls to choose from, all of them having their own hobbies and background. Once you start, you’ll kind of be introduced to the island, and then you’ll be put in control to go do what you want. There are only 4 stinking beaches to play on, and so the repetitiveness begins to kick in shortly after playing for the first time.
With your partner, you can challenge other pairs of girls to a volleyball game. The first team to 7 wins, whether the other team is down by one or not, winning by two isn’t a factor in DOAXBV (it isn’t in real volleyball either, but you use to have to win by two before the rules changed this year).
The volleyball controls are pretty simple, with 3 buttons used for setting, bumping, and I think one for spiking, but every time I did a bump spike, the other player would automatically spike it without me pressing any of the buttons. But otherwise, the “B” button is what initiates the spike when the ball’s in the air near the net. You’ll control your girl with the left analog stick, and you can also control your partner with the right joystick, however you can’t control how they hit the ball or anything, you can just position them where you want them, that’s it though. The gameplay is simple, just position yourself under the ball, and hit either “A” or “X” to bump or set the ball. The only problem with the mechanics here is the camera and how it jerks over so you can barely see to hit the ball, as it has made me lose my focus many times, and I missed the ball because of it. There’s also no real need for skill or strategy here, you just move around and hit buttons, and you’d still be able to keep the ball in the air.
If you lose the game, you won’t get any money, and if you win the game, you’ll get money, and with that money you’ll be able to purchase different kinds of items and swimsuits for you or your partner to wear. That brings me to the real difficulty of the game, getting a partner and keeping one. If you lose to much, your partner will eventually leave you, even if you give them items to keep them happy. Trying to partner up with a girl can be REALLY difficult, and some girls you may have to buy a TON of presents for them, as long as it suits their interests, before they’ll ever think of partnering up with you. So, if you give a girl an item she doesn’t like or gave her a bathing suit that she doesn’t like, she’ll throw them away. It really depends on the girl you’re trying to partner with as to whether or not they’ll team up with you, as some will side with you after 1 or 2 gifts (Lisa), while others seem to hate everyone and not appreciate gifts, which are really hard to partner with (Christie, Ayane).
Also, even if they partnered up with you, doesn’t mean they like you, so that will lead to how well they play in a volleyball match. This is what makes this game so damn annoying, and repetitive. The game is broken up into days, and each day is broken up into Morning, Afternoon, Evening, and Night, then you’ll go back to the hotel and be able to view different items, save and quit, or eventually be able to gamble at the casino to win some money. After each volleyball match, a time slot is finished, meaning if it was morning, and you went and challenged a team to a match, then when the match is done, it’ll be afternoon, and so on. This is REALLY annoying, because it also does this when you don’t have a partner, and so you could waste DAYS, just trying to partner up with someone. It’s kind of a vicious circle, because without a partner, you can’t play games, if you can’t play games, you can’t get money, and if you can’t get money, then you can’t buy items to make your partner happy, and you can’t get a partner to make happy until you have money to buy them gifts which comes from playing (and winning) games with your partner that you DON’T have. Whew, that was a mouthful, but that’s basically how the game goes, except for the occasional volleyball game here and there.
Luckily, you can make money by either going to the casino and trying out your luck (I’m horrible at it), or going to the Hotel Pool and playing a jumping game for a few thousand dollars each time you play it.
So, even once you finally get to the volleyball playing, the controls are easy to understand and use, but unfortunately the rest of the game is WAY to frustrating, especially with the excessive loading times. DOAXBV, like I said, has turned more into a “The Sims” like game in that you have to buy and give presents to bribe other girls into partnering up with you, and then you have to keep buying them presents (and winning) so they won’t ditch you.
Graphics
Yet again, the Xbox amazes me in what it can do, because I thought I had seen some of the best after playing Splinter Cell, but Splinter Cell has only touched the surface of what the Xbox can do. In fact, I’m pretty sure that DOAXBV is also barely even scratching the surface of the Xbox’s capabilities, so if the developers can make a game that looks this damn good, then I can’t wait for future releases. DOAXBV disappointed me in the gameplay department, but these graphics are simply...oh how should I say it, eye-candy? Coming from someone who did not rent or buy the game just to see what the digital girls looked like in comparison to real girls, for the most part, the character models are all smooth as a baby’s bum, and the best thing, they’re not shiny like the characters in Kakuto Chojin were.
The sand was also detailed very well, as it moves like real sands, gets kicked up like real sand, and probably would feel like real sand if you could touch it (alright maybe that last one was pushing it), but you get the picture. Another attention to detail, is that the longer you’re out in the sun with your girls, you’ll actually start to see the complexion of your girls start to darken. This is super cool, and although some times it may not be so obvious, others it is. I’m not sure if they can sunburn yet, but there is suntan lotion that you can purchase to help speed the process along, so it depends I guess.
Sound
I do have to give props for trying to bring the beach music home, but there are a few songs that just...shouldn’t have been in there. I mean, I’m glad that there’s music to listen to that matches up to the bright and sunny theme, but did they have to use such songs as Come On Over by Christina Aguilera and Lovin’ You by Janet Kay? I mean, Lovin’ You isn’t that bad of a song, but there are other questionable songs on this soundtrack like Jesse Hold On, The Kids Don’t Like It, B!tchism, If It Don’t Fit, and others by artists including B*Witched, Big Mountain, Reel big Fish, Olga Tanon, Baha Men, The Spice Girls, and other bands that I’ve never even heard of.
One of the voice actors that I was kind of, weirded out by, was that Dennis Rodman did the voice for Zack. I was surprised though, because he didn’t do that bad of a job. The other voice overs are the girls, which are still in Japanese, and that bugs the crap out of me.
Overall
Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball had a chance to be a really great game that could have been a must own, but other than virtual porno addicts, I don’t think that DOAXBV will appear to many others, at least not gameplay wise. The graphics are beautiful yes, but trying to find the volleyball game is very hard, and frustrating.
This is Xtreme action, with the girls stripping down to their bikinis to go head-to-head in the outrageous beach volleyball. Get physical with these s...More at eBay
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