Back in TGS 2011, Team Ninja confirmed the existence of Dead or Alive 5 through a one-minute teaser trailer, and it marked the first real sequel since the departure of former Team Ninja general manager Tobunobu Itagaki back in 2008. In said teaser, series brawlers Hayate and Ryu Hayabusa fight on the roof of a construction site in downtown Tokyo — trading the kind of lightning-quick combos the series is best known for. While everything in the trailer at this point looks painfully familiar, it all changes the second Hayate kicks Hayabusa into a reactor. The resulting explosion hurls the black-clad ninja through the air, and knocks loose a crane that then sets a group of construction beams spinning wildly around the environment — knocking over columns and other set pieces encircling the two combatants. The trailer closes on a dramatic cliffhanger, as Hayabusa desperately grabs the edge of the stage after almost being knocked off the rooftop.
While this manufactured drama felt a little ridiculous — especially for a series like Dead or Alive where people shrug off being bounced into explosive surfaces like a pinball regularly — I remained eager to see more. Yesterday I spent an hour playing a pre-alpha build of this Itagaki-less Dead or Alive game and I can tell you two definite things: First, that DOA5 feels as fast, fluid, and combo-driven as any other title in the series, and manages to add new simple mechanics that aren’t immediately overpowering. And second, that the dynamic environment of the construction site makes arenas in the new DOA feel both chaotic and alive at the same time. Both the combat and environments lend themselves well to what developer Team Ninja calls “fighting entertainment,” a concept that apparently emphasizes transforming fighting games into more of a spectacle while keeping player-driven actions simple.
