Xbox 360 owners that have been waiting for a quality fighting game with adequate online support need wait no longer because Virtua Fighter 5 has arrived. Although online has been offered by other fighting games in the past, VF5 boasts near flawless connections, provided both players have good broadband speeds. Take the lag free Xbox Live experience, and add the tried and true Virtua Fighter formula, with its varying fight styles and stunning visuals, and you get a game that can’t miss.
Virtua Fighter 5 features 17 different characters, each with his or her own unique style. New to this edition are Eileen, with her quick Kou-Ken martial arts style, and El Blaze with his Mexican Lucha Libre fighting/wrestling style and fantastic grab moves. The fighting styles are as diverse as the characters themselves, with some emphasizing power and strength, others fast hit and run attacks, while many other styles find middle ground. With 17 different fighters, replay value is enormous, as many gamers will elect to learn and master each one of the fighting styles. Gamers can also associate a name and quote with any character, generating save data that will track wins and losses for the customized character.
Gamers have a lot of leeway in customizing the appearance of any and all characters. Each fighter has 4 outfit slots that can be modified by the player with purchased goods from the item shop, as well as articles won as a fight reward. These rewards are offered at random, and before a fight the game will let you know that there is an item up for grabs to the winner. While the mods are strictly cosmetic and do not affect the character build or fighting style, there is enough of a range of hair and clothing options to make the characters virtually unrecognizable to the factory settings.
Virtua Fighter 5 boasts several game play modes that give the game a well-rounded offering. The first option is Arcade mode, which features either Normal style for customized settings, or a Score Attack style with tournament settings. The Dojo allows gamers to practice with any character in either Command or Free training modes. VF.TV allows the gamer to watch Replays, Movies or set up Exhibition Matches between two computer controlled opponents.
Quest mode is where the gamer will likely spend most of his or her offline time, and is the place to hone your skills before tackling Xbox Live. The primary screen in Quest mode is a map that features several arcades, as well as a home area. After choosing a fighter, gamers will pick one of the arcades in which to compete. Each arcade serves a different skill level, with some for only elite players, while others are for novices, with others serving a variety of skill levels. The goal is to become a champion of a Virtua Fighter machine, then defend your reign against all comers. It is this segment of the game where the AI shines, as each challenger will play a little differently than another. The AI challengers are given custom names and quotes, much like your fighter, so although you may see Kage twice in a row, in theory, you are playing a new challenger on the VF5 machine, just as you might in an actual arcade. Every so often you’ll receive notice that one of the arcades is sponsoring a tournament. Enter and do well and you’ll earn gold for buying custom items. The load times between matches averages a reasonable 12 seconds, so you’ll get plenty of action, even in the shortest of gaming session.
Although Xbox Live support is nearly perfect in terms of lag and latency, there are some weaknesses in how Virtua Fighter 5 presents online gaming. By entering the VS. menu, the gamer has the option to select local multiplayer, or online ranked and unranked matches. Ranked matches feature a scoring system that is tracked for leaderboard purposes, but is also useful for determining if a potential opponent is out of your league. Unranked matches allow the gamer to invite friends, but at the conclusion of an online match, both players return to the menu screen to begin the “create game and invite” process again. This flaw is much more than an annoyance, to be sure. Given that Quest mode features several arcades that cater to varying skill levels, I cannot figure out why this could not have been extended to online play. Arcade lobbies where gamers could congregate with players of similar skill would have been a welcome addition. I also question the lack of online tournaments. Again, the tournament structure is present in Quest mode. Surely this could have been incorporated into online play easily and effectively. I guess Japan is too engrossed in their Wii’s and Playstations that the thought of quality online gaming has yet to gain a foothold in the Land of the Rising Sun. At least the actual game play online is among the best of any genre.
