Dead or Alive 5: Last Round has been announced as the new-gen debut on PlayStation 4 & Xbox One of Tecmo’s long-running fighting game franchise. It’s also coming to the last-gen consoles PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360 and is the definitive version of Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate. It’s worth noting that DOA5: Last Round will be a digital-only release on last-gen, but will be a retail + digital release on new-gen systems.
Check out Dead or Alive 5: Last Round in action with this trailer!
As you can see in the trailer above, the biggest news regarding DOA5: Last Round is the return of Raidou, the Master of the Game and final boss from the original Dead or Alive from 1996!
Here’s the Dead or Alive 5: Last Round image gallery.
Click on any of these image thumbnails to see the full-size screenshots:
Last Round is scheduled to hit on February 17th, 2015 in America & February 20th in Europe for a “competitive price”, which means it should be ten or twenty dollars cheaper than normal due to this being ANOTHER iteration of the same game.
Pre-order the game to net yourself some super sexy costumes including the Beach Party outfit set, the Aloha outfit set, the Showstoppers outfit set, the New Challengers set, as well as the Ninja 2015 set.
Two all-new fighters join the roster in Dead or Alive 5: Last Round (the other is yet to be revealed), bringing the total to 34, the biggest amount of playable characters in Dead or Alive history!
Last Round will also feature at least two new stages: “The Crimson”, with the neon signs that you saw in the trailer, and “The Danger Zone”, which looks to me like the classic stage from Dead or Alive 3.
Tecmo is also experimenting with some new pay models with Last Round on next-gen consoles. In addition to a completely free trial version of the game which features Kasumi, Ayane, Ryu Hayabusa and Hayate, you’ll also be able to pay a DLC-style price and gain access to “Core Fighters”, the above plus Hitomi, Tina, Jann Lee & Bass. It’s worth noting that only the PSN version of the Free Trial can be upgraded to Core Fighters.
With the Core Fighters version, you can play all modes but the Story Mode for as long as you like without having to make extra purchases and can fight against all other characters from the full game. You can then make small microtransactions to slowly add new pieces and build up to the full game; picking and choosing which new content (or presumably characters) you want to add. Additionally, all unlocked content (titles, costumes & story progress) is transferable to the full version whenever you want to upgrade. Sounds like an interesting deal. Core Fighters will be available both on Xbox One & PS4 along with the free trail version.
And to not upset fans who own Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate, all of your Ultimate progress and DLC is transferable to Dead or Alive 5: Last Round.
About Raidou:
Presumed dead after being defeated in the original DOA Tournament, Raidou was partially reconstructed with cybernetics and now returns as a half-mechanized killing machine. Having lost his memory as a side effect of his cybernetic upgrades, all that remains is his unquenchable thirst for power, and his willingness to use whatever brutal methods it takes to achieve glory.
Hailing from the same ninja clan as Kasumi and Hayate, Raidou was exiled from his own village when his brutal thirst for power went too far, only deepening his hatred of the clan.
His fighting style is Mugen Tenshin Ninjutsu at its core, and he even possesses the ability to recognize and imitate the moves of opponents he has encountered, while keeping original techniques up his sleeve.
My cousin was a huge fan of the Dead or Alive series, and it’s one of the funnest button-mashing fighters available due to it’s three-button control scheme of simply punch/kick/counter.
I’ve always liked how Dead or Alive really focuses on the sex appeal of the female fighters and is unabashed & unashamed about that fact, something they’ve really taken to the next level with the hundreds of additional DLC costumes that you can purchase, in order to put the girls in the most skimpiest outfits humanly possible.
But even though the series focuses on sex appeal aimed at men, it isn’t an all-female fighter, as you could just as easily only pick male characters if you wanted too, and those characters are badass and fully developed (pun not intended). Dead or Alive definitely has the gameplay to compete, it’s just got an… uh, interesting “worldview”, shall we say. It’s amazing they’ve kept it up for this long.
Will you be buying Dead or Alive 5: Last Round, or do you consider this to be too much of a desperate cash grab on Tecmo’s part?