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08-29-2007, 04:26 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Vf5
Quote:
Sega’s AM-2 development team are bringing Virtua Fighter 5 to the Xbox 360 this year, and will be delivering the deepest and best fighting series online for the first time ever on a console. From my play online against Tohru Murayama, one of the lead developers online, I can thankfully say that there was no issues with latency or frame-rate.
Virtua Fighter dominates the arcades in Japan with a hardcore community who spend thousands of pounds on rounds to be the best in the world. AM-2 want to bring this to the home with improvements.
If you remember, the Playstation 3 launched with it’s own Virtua Fighter 5. That was version B of the game. With the Xbox 360’s version C there will be tweaks, new features and content which is exclusive to the platform.
For most of the button bashers amongst us, the differences between B & C may seem a little pointless. For those of us that eat, sleep and breathe SEGA, you’ll already know that the balance of some moves has been altered for more even game play, throw speed has been reduced from 8 frames to 12 frames, the number of non-playable characters has been upped, the intensity of the AI in Quest Mode has been tweaked, and of course two-player online play.
To get it out of the way, the lead developer Murayama-san said the reason why online never came to the PS3 version was because of development time contestants going against the “launch clock”.
Along with online play, the 360 version will use an exclusive controller. The Hori fighting controller that is being made specifically for the release of VF5 handles like a dream. It has a solid base, responsive joystick, and the six face buttons feel great. The only complaint I had was that the left and right bumper buttons were rather small and hard to reach quickly.
You can get the Hori controller with the game at launch, which I would recommend if you take fighting games seriously. If you would rather not spend more on a fighter, you can use the analogue stick or the D-pad with the pad. Even though the control stick works well for the pad, it’s nothing on the Hori.
Not content with those huge additions, SEGA will shoehorn yet more content into the 360 version. There will be over 300 more costumes to dress your fighters in, as well a new Dojo mode where you will have to do the commands for a move but then instantly cancel it, to get the timing down just right for moves, reversals and cancels.
This mode was Muravama-san’s favourite exclusive on the 360. So expect the leader board to be dominated by the most insane gamers out there.
Going back to the costumes, to make it easier to collect all of these items more money is given to you right off the bat in quest mode and it has been made slightly easier to obtain gold in the game. There will also be 60% more rival AI personas in quest mode. All of the personalities from the PS3 version will return, but improved with better, more individualistic CPU AI for the Arcade and Quest modes. So you can train for up to 300 hours offline before you step into the online arena.
"I specifically recall saying no above the shoulders work..."
Another draw for the fans will be achievements. The achievement list has not been finalized but I can disclose that not one of them will be online. AM-2 had problems personally with people who don’t have Live not being allowed to get all 1000 gamer points. So, you should make friends with the AI and the Quest mode. You can expect the usual: “Beat the game with character X in setting Y” but there is promise of some strong and unique achievements within Quest mode.
If you’re like me who wants to strut his stuff online, you will be glad to know that AM-2 looked at what Dead or Alive tried with the virtual arcade and said “no” to it. This game will be one vs. one fighting with no spectators so there will not be latency issues or lag as long as you have a steady connection.
The frame-rate never once dropped under 60fps, but you can tell they slightly toned down the specular highlighting and particle effects to make sure that the system was not being pushed. This is very wise because one frame being lost in a match on Virtua Fighter could mean the difference between a win and a loss. What set the series ahead of the rest was that every frame counts, so thankfully I can confirm that online can hold its own.
The arcade version had a unique option to allow you to save replays and have them emailed to you for bragging rights or to study your matches to learn from your mistakes. Thankfully this has been brought to Xbox Live with downloadable content, where you can publish your replays or download your opponent’s replays to watch thanks to the DLC portal.
More content has been promised but at this moment in time there are no hints or details. Not even if the 360 or the PS3 will be able to download version: D if it is ever released in the arcades.
So, if you’re the hardcore VF fan who must have it all, you’re new to the series or were disappointed with Dead Or Alive this version of VF5 differs enough from it’s PS3 brother with its new modes, content and online play, and seems like the best version of the ultimate fighting series. Expect to throw down October 30th.
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That's some pretty huge 360 only content! Woot!
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