Those who remember Sony's 2005 E3 press
conference when they revealed the Playstation 3 to a stunned audience for
the first time will also know that one of the more impressive titles shown
on the demo reel was Namco's Tekken 6. Later released in the arcades, the
fighter was an impressive technical achievement for the series and caused
quite a stir in Japan. Early in the PS3's lifespan, Namco also released an
updated HD version of Tekken 5, subtitled Dark Resurrection, to tide fans
over during the long development process. This version of the game also
appeared scaled back on the PSP. Now, after what seems like an
interminable wait, the legendary Tekken series has finally made its first
full scale appearance on the PS3. It's a smooth, polished fighter, but
with the advent of other fighters on the console, such as Soul Calibur IV
and Street Fighter IV, the question is whether its been worth the wait.
Featuring about 40 playable characters
right from the start, Tekken 6 delivers a fairly solid roster of playable
fighters. The series' long-standing gameplay mechanics haven't changed
much over the past few installments, and those who've become accustomed to
its play style won't find much innovation here. Many of the characters
have the same moves lists as in previous installments which means all
their signature moves remain intact. There are a few tweaks and minor
changes if you look closely, and a couple of new characters make
appearances which helps to keep things a from becoming stale. The real
stars include everyone you expect to see in a Tekken title, such as Jin,
Paul Phoenix, Yoshimitsu, Marshall Law, Eddy, Nina Williams, Christie,
Heihachi, Julia Chang, Jack, Bryan Fury, King along with the weird Panda
and Kangaroo characters. A couple of new characters have been added and
they generally fit right into the mix. These additions include a fighter
named Lars Alexandersson, the new leader of Tekken force, who has a funky
hairstyle and some cool moves, Miguel a Spanish brawler who watches his
sister killed by the Mishima and seeks revenge. Other new characters
include Bob, a rotund karate expert from America, and a mysterious girl
named Alisa who was found inside her father's lab by the Tekken Force. The
game plays very much like previous games, though this time around, you're
able to earn points and money that you can use to purchase items to
customize your character's appearance. Similar to trophies, you accumulate
money after each successful round, or by going through scenario mode. It's
fairly easy to navigate the menus and each character has an extensive list
of items you can use, which offers a fairly strong impetus to keep
playing.
Another motivational factor comes in the
fact that you earn higher rankings by winning matches in the various
modes, and the difficulty increases simultaneously. Tekken 6's AI starts
somewhat on the low side, but the opponents you face become less
predictable and tougher as you move along. In the arcade mode, the end
stages now feature a boss character, usually starting with Devil Jin and
moving to a final battle with a winged character. These give you plenty of
things to beat up on, and players will find the usual array of moves to
use including throws, counters, blocks, super moves and other combos.
There's an extensive move-list for each character, which you can find in
the onscreen menu, handily allowing you to practice. As in the other
Tekken games, you can kick or punch with any limb, jump or roll to evade
attacks and more. However, in Tekken 6, there are now destructible
environments in certain stages that you can use to inflict additional
damage on your opponents. It's a minor addition, but it play a large part
in some of the battles. The moves lists and specific specials are too
numerous to list here, but most players will find the system fairly easy
to learn and logical in the way it progresses. Most moves are fairly easy
to perform using the standard controller, but using an arcade stick
increases the game's arcade feel exponentially.
Tekken 6's flow and pacing is excellent
in the arcade mode, which also features other variants including
time-attack and survival modes. These allow you to challenge a series of
opponents as you go through an endless succession of foes in either a
clocked mode or testing your skills by trying to defeat as many as
possible on a single life bar. You can also polish your skills in the
practice mode, where you can fight a dummy opponent and master the timing
and sequence of your moves. This gives players the chance to play through
the game without pressure, though any Tekken veteran should be able to
play right through without much effort. The game feels very much like
previous installments, and this familiarity makes it easy to jump into.
In
addition to these standard gameplay modes, Tekken 6 allows you to compete
online against other players. Setting up the matches and tournaments is a
fairly simple task, but actually logging in and playing proved far too
problematic to be useful in many ways. While its disappointing in its
current execution, we hope that future updates and server fixes will make
many of these problems disappear. The other main mode of play in the game
is the scenario mode, an updated version of the Tekken Force mini-games
seen in earlier console releases. This differs substantially from other
sections of the game and is a run and punch mode that's similar to
classics like Final Fight. In this mode you control a main character who
battles alongside the mysterious girl Alisia as you try to uncover the
battles between the two rival gangs war for world domination. The game
offers a range of simple punch and kick moves, and you can collect
numerous health and money power-ups along the way. Other items such as
machine guns and weapons can be collected as well. Each stage is
relatively short and simple, but the controls make things more frustrating
than they need to be, and there are some sections which suffer from some
very poor camera angles. However, its worth going through these stages,
because they unlock a huge amount of money that you can use to purchase
items for your characters. Unfortunately, the awkward controls mean you'll
spend a lot of time punching and kicking at air, while enemies make a lot
of damage on you. This can make for a frustrating experience that doesn't
quite have the visual polish and solid gameplay of the main fighting game.
Despite the somewhat disappointing
scenario mode and an iffy online experience, Tekken 6 still remains a
solid fighting game that delivers the fast action, tight controls and
entertaining characters players have come to expect from the series. While
it doesn't have the epic feel of Soul Calibur, it's grittier feel has its
own appeal amongst players. Its gameplay isn't as deep as Street Fighter
IV, but's its not as difficult to master, which is a fairly decent
tradeoff. Visually, the game looks fantastic with excellent backdrops and
slick character animations. It's smooth and polished appearance makes the
characters stand out in HD, and the fresh coat of paint rejuvenates the
series. Tekken 6 is kind of a sleeper title, but in the end, it delivers a
challenging and entertaining fighting experience that should please
long-time series fans.
- Michael Palisano
