Dead or Alive’s HD debut

The games story picks up from Dead Or Alive 3, only with Helena at the center of the campaign as she inherits DOATEC from her mother who was assassinated in Dead Or Alive 2 but learns the corruption within the company is deep within. Other characters have their own storyline, some which interleave with the main plot with Kasumi/Ayane resolving their conflict to take down DOATEC. These are shown in the cutscenes when you play the characters respective story mode and will culminate with an ending FMV.

A few of the new characters introduced in the game:

Eliot: A young martial artist and a disciple of Gen Fu, and is on a quest for strength.
Kokoro: Bastard daughter of Fame Douglas, who is unaware of her true heritage.
La Mariposa /Lisa Hamilton: An American masked wrestler who also works as a scientist for DOATEC, entering the tournament to investigate or escape from her employers.
Alpha 152: The boss of the game, a clone of Kasumi in energy form
SPARTAN-458: A non-canon fighter inspired by the Spartans from the Halo franchise, A nod to the exclusivity of the game to the Xbox family of consoles.

A lot of the fighters from the previous installments return, including Kasumi, Tina, Jan Lee, Bayman and Helena.

There isn’t much different with the game modes, though they are refined for online play. You do have the story mode which combines the games cutscenes with the fighting rounds, which are rendered within the game engine allowing for characters to use the costume you have chosen which can lead to some funny moments. Returning modes include Time Attack, Survival mode and Team Battle.

The main issue with the game is its difficulty. Dead or Alive 4 lacks an easy mode, with the default difficulty setting being quite challenging, even for seasoned players. The AI was too aggressive and seemed to cheat by countering player moves almost instantly or executing combos that were difficult to break out of. This was particularly highlighted in discussions where players felt the game required near-perfect timing and execution to succeed, which could be frustrating for newcomers or less experienced players. This is the case with the final battle between the boss (Alpha) who is difficult to beat even on the standard difficulty. There were certain rounds where she completely spammed attack moves repeatedly, leading to an instant defeat.
I honestly wonder if the AI is flawed in some way? A lot of matches are won on the basis of luck.

The game remains exclusive to the Xbox 360, but was ported to the Xbox One and Series consoles as part of Microsoft’s backward compatibility program. This also means the game can be purchased digitally online.