Dead or Alive 5: Last Round Review

I don’t think I’ve ever said the word ‘Jesus’ so many times in one sitting. From the costumes, the devastating combos and the, ahem, proportions; everything about this game is, well, larger than life. Dead or Alive has been around a long time and made quite the name for itself, but despite my love of fighting games, I had never really played it.

What I knew about DOA, and probably what you all know about it, is the unabashed ‘sexiness’ of it all. With a ton of female characters, all with impossibly thin waists and larges chests posing around in skimpy outfits for the amusement of the player. And Dead Or Alive 5: Last Round is exactly the same. This is all I knew about the game, all a lot of people knew about it.

This level of voyeurism isn’t normally my cup of tea as you might expect from the first paragraph, but what shocked me most about Dead or Alive was that there was more than just sexy women.

 

I probably shouldn’t have been surprised that the combat system was quite robust as this is the fifth game in the series, but I was. Dead or Alive has never been my series of choice when it comes to beating up my friends, and having only seen cursory glances at the series, I thought it more about the half naked characters than the fighting.

Which is partly true, as the characters design, animation and costume are all designed to titillate, but there is a reasonably deep combat system hidden around the lingerie and schoolgirl outfits. Playing on PlayStation 4, each of the buttons were locked to a specific action: block, grab, kick and punch. Each basic manoeuvre, like the best fighting games, shows an untold amount of depth.

Blocking at the right time would counter a move, while punches and kicks could be delivered in seamless combos. Although hardly revolutionary, the unexpected depth was the refreshing sign of a thoughtful approach to a game that some people suspect to be marketed to mere basic instincts.

Fights are spectacularly fast, and can be a little daunting at first. Combos are easy and almost unstoppable if on the receiving end. While an easy to execute throw can disrupt a more guarded foe. It’s slightly unnerving to witness Santa and a school girl beat the living crap out of each other, but thats the sort exaggerated spectual Last Round is trying to provoke.

But the blatant use of women as objects of visual pleasure is hard to get away from, and can make for some uncomfortable viewing at times. I was happily surprised to see a fairly strong male presence in the character roster, but there is a definite change in tone between the genders agency. While DOA plays up to its hyper sexualised women with costumes that resemble dental floss, male characters aren’t nearly as exposed. Instead these characters are donned in ninja outfits, engineers uniforms and generally have much less on show then than their female counterparts.

For a game designed to magnify the sexual aspects of their feminine rooster, it’s a shame that they couldn’t do the same for the men. Instead of a cheeky and over the top fighter designed to poke fun at itself, Dead or Alive 5: Last Round isn’t quite ironic and unfortunately appears to show only women as sexual objects, which is a big issue here in the West.

The already established marketplace of costumes doesn’t help matters much either, with hundreds of unlockable outfits that transform the characters further into the sordid dreams of horny teenagers. These include all the costumes you might expect from Ann Summers – everything from cheerleaders to nurses. And at a price.

Expressing one’s sexuality isn’t a negative, and everyone should feel comfortable enough to do so. But to unequally apply the voyeuristic gaze onto the genders just feels a bit cheap, and is clearly only trying to appeal to one side of the demographic. What could have been a twist on the formula became the same bias we’ve seen in every piece of bikini armour before.

Graphically, Dead or Alive 5: Last Round is a slight upgrade from last gen, and it shows. Gone are the days of Dead or Alive being one of the prettiest games in the whole industry, back when Itagaki-san still was at the helm. It’s still decent enough, mind you, but it won’t win any awards in this category.