HIGH- Awesome graphics and character movement; taking game realism to the next level.
LOW- Loading time: animal species have become extinct quicker than waiting for the next battle.
WTF- The ridiculously massive and amazingly hard-to-survive-against boss; Azazel.
Tekken is easily one of the most classic, successful and hands down just awesome fighting series to date. After seeing trailers I believed that Namco was going to screw up since the characters and the fighting system seemed completely unchanged as if all they worked on was quality of graphics and a few new characters. After actually playing the game however, I was surprised to see that all the hype about Tekken 6 came to realization; it was ridiculously fun to play. Though majority of the fighting system remained unchanged, simple adds to graphics, character moves, and speed made it seem more realistic and that more satisfying when you knock your opponent to the ground.
Tekken 6 promises excitement even as soon as you start it up. In a black and white graphic novel style it takes you through the plot from the very first Tekken to the sixth one in the story. Though there is no play yet getting the player up to speed on the story and building up to the tension makes the player hunger to get into the action-packed combat that is Tekken. For those gamers who don't know Tekken it's a simple one-on-one fighting game taking place in The King Of The Iron First Tournament in which the winner usually takes home a large fortune and scores the head position of the Mishima Zaibutsu; a company with overwhelming power. The characters in the game each have their own unique fighting style, personality and reasons for entering the tournament. The main characters (as always) seem to be Heihachi, his son Kazuya and his son, Jin. The company has been ruled by each of them at some point and this time the series overall main ‘good guy’; Jin is in charge. Though now of course that the ‘good guy’ has power, Namco decided to seamlessly make him evil hearted by waging war against, well, the world. Kazuya sees this and wishes to take his son down with his own company; G Corporation, not because his son is evil but because he believes that only he should have world domination. Which now makes us wonder who is the main good guy. Introducing two new characters which take place as our new Tekken heroes, a rebel leader going against the G Corporation and the Mashima Zaibustu and that has hair that makes Paul Phoenix's hair cut actually look normal, Lars Alexanderson. Accompanying him is an android girl he found called Alisa Bosconovich; who by the way has been installed with a jet booster and chainsaws that come out of her arms. If that's not enough she can also take off her head and beat her opponents to death with it (my personal favorite move to do).
The main difference with this game is, is the main story mode. In the past players would simply choose a character and have battle after battle until they win and become the King Of The Iron Fist. When the player does win, the character’s ending is viewed to show what happens when they win the tournament. That function is still there, yet it has now become almost like a mini-game or a side story. It is also only four stages long as opposed to about ten like they had in the past. The main story now is similar to Tekken Force mode or Devil Within that Namco introduced in past games. A more 3D playing field where Lars and Alisa take on henchman after thug whilst moving through the area until they face one of the actual characters from the series (whom of course have a very, VERY large amount of health). When gamers do beat them they unlock them to use their skills in the main story or in the King of the Iron Fist tournament.
With this change this is the first time Tekken has had long cut scenes every time you finish a stage to advance the plot. I'll give them props for trying at least since it is Tekken's first time having such more story in it, that being said the cut scenes can get boring and sometimes mean little or nothing to the player since the plot isn't often too exciting. What is also bad is that if gamers are playing on a non-HD TV (like I was) than some of the subtitles (that need to be read since majority of the characters will speak a foreign language) will be completely illegible no matter how long or hard people stare resulting in complete ignorance of what is actually happening in the story.
Now that the negative stuff is out the way, I can say this is still a really fun game. I may have spent at least five consecutive hours playing it; it can be that addictive! Someone, or rather something, I have to give a special mention to is the last boss. Since he's already been shown in the starting movie it's not going to spoil anything for future King of Iron Fist competitors so don't worry. If players thought previous last bosses were difficult e.g. Devil, Ogre or Jinpachi than you haven't met the latest, that makes the others seem as easy as pie. He is some kind of twisted Egyptian demon called Azazel A.K.A ‘The Rectifier’. Most characters will face him in the King of the Iron Fist Tournament at the end and for those characters I feel sorry for, even if they are just pixels. Azazel will destroy players, not only is he ridiculously massive he's also armed with a tail that hits you when he summersaults at you, weird bugs he'll shoot at you, ground spikes he can make by punching the ground, and of course if that’s not enough a nice laser from his eyes. Azazel is the hardest boss in the Tekken series to date making a victory against him that much more satisfying.
Overall I'd give the game an 8.5 out of 10. It is definitely one of the best games to come out this year. Even if the player is the type just to enjoy it for the multiplayer than they’re in luck since in multiplayer mode every character is unlocked. Introducing 6 new playable characters to tinker with along with 36 veterans of the Tekken series. The ranking system is also back, along with customizing your characters with purchased costumes and items that can coincide with online play as well, allowing yourself to prove to others around the globe how original your character is and how good you really are. In my opinion Tekken 6 is one the most superb and totally awesome fighting games ever that needs very little room for improvement, Well Done Namco!
Please Rate This Review: Tekken 6
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