Dead or Alive 5 Critic Reviews

Overall, Dead or Alive 5 is not only the best entry in the series yet, but my favorite fighting game this generation. It's got the smoothest gameplay of anything out there now and delivers the goods online more often than not. It also raises the bar for graphics in fighters and has some great animation too. The story mode's a blast to play through and provides the right mix of drama and B-movie wackiness to make it fun to get through despite its epic length. If you've ever loved the series before, make this a part of your collection ASAP, and if you've been turned off by it before, at least give it a rental – I'm positive it'll win you over.

Dead or Alive 5 has been a long time coming, but I definitely feel it was worth it. Fans of the series are likely to be satisfied with the amount of content within. The new characters are great, the guest characters are fun and the new mechanics create a new way to play without sacrificing familiarity. This is a supremely polished title outside of the questionable online portion. Hopefully, they can clean that up shortly after launch and continue supporting it with future costume and stage DLC. This game has legs if things come together, and being a fan as long as I have I can say, it feels good to be back.

Beneath the oversexualized surface with bouncing breasts and moaning girls, we can find one of this generation's best fighting games, no matter if you're new or old to the concept. Team Ninja has enhanced the mechanics in every single detail and it hasn't felt this good to counter-attack a well-placed punch as in this game. The really new stuff may seem to be few at the beginning, but they will have a strong impact when you have learned the difference.

Dead or Alive 5 is a serious contender for the best fighter of the year with interesting characters, an in-depth fighting system which is easy to play yet hard to master so appeals to a wide range of players and also brings something new from its predecessor. If you're only buying one fighting game this year, Dead or Alive 5 would find a perfect space on your shelf.

You might not know it from the box, but Dead or Alive 5 is one of the most baffling games of the year. It's full of weird editing, ninja clones and large breasted women. And that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what makes this game so incomprehensible. Thankfully the solid gameplay and gorgeous graphics make up for the often disjointed story telling!

Give Dead or Alive 5 an honest chance, and you'll find a formidable, enormously entertaining fighter that will keep you busy for a long time to come.

Although very short on modes and true innovation, the title refines the proven DoA-formula and offers one of the smoothest fighting games of the current generations. The systems are easy to understand, hard to master and the visual presentation is better than ever before.

A delicious surprise. While casual fighting game fans will be able to pick up and play, serious combatants will enjoy the rich and deep counter and hold system, as well as the tag team elements where unique match-ups can offer their own rewards. It's still not as technical a fighter as Tekken or Virtua Fighter, but it seems to be taking a step in that direction while still keeping what fans have loved about the series intact -- flashy characters, ease of play, and fan service. It's fun without being frustrating, the all-around fighter for everyone.

Dead or Alive is a series that knows what it does well and DOA5 doesn't deviate from the formula. Simple controls, fast gameplay, and reversals make it a solid fighter for veterans and beginners alike. Given the series' similar controls, the Virtua Fighter guests fit in quite well too.

Overall, Dead or Alive 5 is an great fighter, and it's really nice to have another Tecmo fighter land on consoles this gen. It's fresh enough that it easily trumps Dead or Alive 4 in both style and gameplay, but at the same time faces some stiff competition from recently released titles like Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown.

DOA 5 could easily get overlooked in the deluge of upcoming titles, but it shouldn't. Despite the departure of Itagaki, Team Ninja manages to take DOA 5 up a notch. While it doesn't reinvent the wheel, the counter system adds a new layer of depth. Toss in the upgraded stages and the accessibility offered by the story-lead training and you can almost forgive said story for making almost no sense at all. The game remains accessible, pure fan-service, and most certainly the best looking fighter of this generation.

Dead or Alive 5 suffers from stylistic schizophrenia; it switches between the semi-erotic style of Itagaki and the semi-realistic style of Hayashi. This gets on your nerves from time to time, especially for fans of the series. But even fans can't deny that the fifth part in the series is a damn good fighter; a fighter with possibly the best 3D fighting system ever.

As to be expected, this is the top DOA to date.

Dead or Alive 5 stays true to its origins, with its signature combat system satisfying both for casual and hardcore gamers. A good fighter, even if it could have dared a little bit more on the improvements side.

Dead or Alive 5 is more spectacular, balanced, has more fluid gameplay, and good in-game modes. Some laggy matches and too-hard CPU AI prevent it from being a great fighting game.

It's a solid, fun fighter for sure, but it also lacks that special something previous installments had. Dead or Alive is a series known for pushing the envelope in many different ways, and DoA 5 simply doesn't deliver that same sense of daring design that previous titles offered.

There is no denying this Dead or Alive looks better than ever, but its improved fighting system is another step in the right direction. The game's story mode leaves much to be desired, however, but fortunately the game's other modes will keep you coming back for more once you finish. Ultimately, Dead or Alive 5's new fighting mechanics and flashy stage effects turn battles into an entertaining, over-the-top experience anyone can get into--with enough practice, of course.

A fun fighting game, that deepens the fast and spectacular gameplay of the series, but has still some catching up to do to become a real full fledged competitive title. Definitely a step in the right direction though. Also, boobs, lots of em.

This new installment of this highly popular 3D beat´em up continues the same playability, look and feel of its previous incarnations. Nothing extremely fresh and new, but nonetheless entertaining.

DoA 5 comes back packing, setting itself right aside Tekken Tournament 2 with a serious effort in terms of 3D brawling, even though it doesn't match the best 2D-style fighting games. The content is a little light, unfortunately, but the fans won't be disappointed.