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Tekken 6
Score: 8.5 / 10
Doing a
sample review for Tekken 4 is how I started working for The Armchair
Empire. Tekken will always hold a special place in my love for gaming so
naturally I get excited when a new Tekken is released. Tekken 6 is the
very first Tekken for the PS3 (also available for the Xbox 360) and
introduces new modes including an online mode.
The biggest addition to Tekken 6 is, unfortunately, the Scenario
Campaign. In this mode you select a character (default is Lars since the
story revolves around him) and it's similar to Tekken Force mode, but a
little better. Now you can break boxes and pick up items such as mini
guns. You can lock onto enemies, etc, but character move sets are the
exact same as if you were playing a normal Tekken match. Unfortunately,
the Scenario Campaign gets boring pretty fast and the only reason
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you
will keep playing is to unlock characters for the normal story mode
(more on that later) and for customization equipment. You're allowed to
change characters during the scenario mode, but it doesn't really make
much sense unless you are being Lars since the whole point of the story
is focused around Lars and Alisa. The story is nice, but I feel it could
have been presented better.
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As an
addition within the Scenario Mode, there's a fight type coliseum where
individual character stories take place while using a traditional and
familiar fighting game system. Unfortunately, there are only about 4
bouts per character and I'll admit the cutscenes and endings are very
lackluster compared to Tekken 5's. This time Namco put the majority of
story efforts into the cutscenes from the main Scenario. I've been
reading that there were problems with fighting other players online.
Luckily, there was a patch and things are a lot smoother now. I rarely
get any lag and it doesn't take long to connect to another player.
The controls and motions to the game looks and feels smooth. It's the
same Tekken that we know and love, but something just really clicks for
me this time around. Button mashers always complain about how slow and
feeble the moves look, while people who actually know or are willing to
learn how to play a good 3D fighter will pull off some pretty badass
combos. Furthermore, Namco included two interesting mechanics to the
gameplay. There is now a way to juggle opponents off the ground which
opens up a whole new experience to master for Tekken veterans. In
addition, there is a new rage ability (that triggers when a character is
nearly defeated) that boosts attack strength. For some reason, Tekken 6
seems a lot more fluid to me than Tekken 4 and 5 did and the pacing is
nice and fast. Characters are well balanced and it's just a lot of fun
to play. Well, there is one character that's cheap as hell, but luckily
you're not allowed to be him. Play the arcade mode and you will see what
I am talking about. If you start to find yourself getting bored of the
game, I highly suggest fighting another player online. There is the
option for a ranking match or a player match. Unfortunately, some
players love spamming with cheap combos over and over because they just
want to raise their ranking, but a player match is a lot more fun and a
lot of times when I get my ass handed to me, it's fair and based purely
on skill. One guy beat me 3 rounds in a row getting perfect in each
round while using new combos every time. I was so shocked at is skill
that I actually dropped the controller. Here I thought I was great at
Tekken. No need to fear however, since there is a ghost mode that can
track down and record ways that other players fight. This will help you
learn instead of just fighting AI opponents or your friends all the
time. I did a little research and found out that a lot of players have
had problems with lag while playing online. I've never had a problem
with lag so I'm going to assume that a patch was released and fixed up
all the online trouble.
Customization has taken a huge leap in Tekken 6 compared to it's latest
predecessor. While playing the game, players will earn fight money which
can be used to buy parts to customize a character. There are plenty of
different hair styles, shirts, jackets, shoes, etc to pick from and you
can manage to make a character almost unrecognizable from their default
looks.
Eight new characters join the crew of an already large cast. There are
42 playable characters in total. The ones that stand out to me the most
are Bob and Zafina. This isn't to say that the other new characters
aren't unique compared to the other characters (because they are), but
Bob is a incredibly fast and overweight character and Zafina kind of
reminds me of an empty-handed Voldo from Soul Calibur.
The Tekken series has always been known for great visuals, but I would
be lying if I said I didn't admit that I am a bit underwhelmed this time
around. The characters do look nice, but are far from the best I've seen
on the PS3. The environments are very impressive and some stages have a
lot going on in the background, but it would have been nice if water
would actually soak a character's clothing like in Uncharted for
example. Some environments are a bit more interactive now; like the
Hidden Retreat allows you to hit sheep that get in your way (they fly
around like ragdolls) and some stages even have destructible floors
which will lead you into another part of a stage. The music really
complements the stages and breathes a lot of life into it; something I
was disappointed with in Street Fighter IV.
Tekken 6 may not be completely what I was hoping for, but it is a very
solid entry to the series. Being able to fight others online is reason
enough for any Tekken fan to make the purchase and newcomers will be
treated by being introduced to a great game.
- J'Tonello
(February 5, 2010)
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