Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball Video Games

Average Rating:

Story: What a great story!!!! With his DOA tournament winnings, Zack goes to Vegas and hits it big gambling, and with his newfound wealth, he buys an island. He then sets up the lovely DOA ladies to come to his tropical island getaway by making them believe a DOA4 tournament is being held there. When they show up and realize there is no tournament, "Hahaheehee" they laugh it off and spend a summer on the tropical island playing volleyball in bikinis. Delicious. But that's not all. There's a new character named Lisa who joins in on the fun. Yah!

Gameplay: Tecmo makes great games and this will be another solid title. It will have solid volleyball action, playing out with simple button actions. It will be very user friendly. But don't let that fool you. So was Tennis 2K2. Easy to learn, but the real joy will be in mastering the game. Timing bumps and sets will be vital in becoming a DOA Xtreme beach volleyball champion. The multiplayer will be great too. 4-player volleyball is going to rock. And the one player story/career mode will actually be pretty deep. You can build relationships with other potential volleyball team partners. You can buy a potential partners a gift, and she may wear it during a match or even buy you something in return. Sounds like the sims. But regardless, it will be an important part of the game for strong relationships off the court will lead to better tag play in the matches. Sega had a simialar aproach early this year with Beach Spikers. (Which by the way is a solid volleyball game also) Also, on the relationship aspect, past DOA grudges will come into play, and rivals will not play as well when paired together, so you'd better know your DOA!

Features Features Features: This is where the game gets good. 100 swimsuits and 50 accessories to choose from. Playing games will earn you points to buy new items. Just like Tennis 2K2 on Dcast and PS2. There will be tons of patterns and styles to choose from or even use your artistic skills to create your own! (This feature may or may not be in the final version) See-throughs here we come!!!!! Ok what would an Xbox be without the use of the hard-drive. Not only will the game have a 20+ song soundtrack, but you can use your own custom soundtrack! (Make sure to pick up the "Top Gun" and "Cocktail" soundtracks with your purchase) And you can record volleyball matches to the Xbox's hard drive, then watch them later or show them to your friends! "Remember that time I destroyed you in DOA Xtreme Volleyball? Don't remember? Well, I have it right here!!!" Hahaha.

Not just Volleyball going on: Not only will there be extreme volleyball going on, but extreme partying. You can explore Zack Island's night scene. The island casino features many favorites like blackjack, roulette, slots and poker. An arcade even lets you play a DOA 3 mini-game. Speaking of mini-games...

Mini games: Lifeguard drill, a dance competition, and a beauty contest. My my my. Delicious.

This game is just that: Delicious. I really don't have to tell you there will be half-naked girls running around on the beach, because you probably already know. But aside from that, It will be great game. Pick it up.

Let me start by saying that the game's graphics are excellent; the character models are well detailed and move fluidly. For those who might be interested, you can even zoom into the girls at some points. Graphically impressive.

The music is alright, but since you can rip your own CDs into the XBOX and use them in this game, it's not an issue. Sound effects, on the other hand are quite few, which is not surprising considering how little there is to do in this game.

My biggest problem with this game is gameplay. The volleyball games are overly simplistic with a 2-button scheme (receive and hit), your character automatically jumps to hit the ball and all you have to do is press the hit button at the last possible moment in order to perform a hard spike. It can be fun at first, but it is extremely easy to win in it and you will most likely soon lose interest in it.

Then there's the casino, where you go to try to turn the few dollars you make in the games (you make money by winning games or by making good serves/spikes in them) into a fortune. The casino is also "just ok" with offerings of BlackJack, Roulette, Poker and Slots. I just think it's ironic that you will most likely spend more time in the casino than playing ball.

Now why do you need this money? Well, to by new bathing suits of course! This is what the whole game boils down to. Its a digital doll showcase. There is NO OBJECTIVE in this game unless you consider getting every swimsuit for every girl an objective. Now I don't know about you, but I never played with dolls before and I'm not about to start now.

I am sorry to say that this game is ultimately boring. The lack of a set objective (or an end for that matter), the blandness of the volleyball, the awful odds at the casino and the tedious gift purchasing and giving simply kill what could have otherwise been a good game.

In the end, you should probably rent this game so you can stare and zoom a little if that's your thing, just don't expect to get much more out of this one.

Ace