Tekken: Dark Resurrection Review

Fighting fans get their fix with a budget-priced release.

Posted by Chris Faylor on Friday, January 05, 2007

Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection for the PlayStation 3 marks a few milestones for developer Namco Bandai. It represents the debut of the acclaimed fighting series on the new platform. Distributed exclusively via the online PlayStation Store, it also showcases Namco's first real embrace of digital delivery. Would-be owners merely need to hop online with their PlayStation 3, purchase the game (2000 yen in Japan, approximately $16 USD) and patiently wait as all 830 MB of its assets download. Unfortunately, that 830 MB doesn't include everything gamers have come to expect from a home version of Tekken, but Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection still provides enough to justify its price tag.

Stored entirely on the PlayStation 3's hard drive, this setup eliminates any loading times that occurred in previous home editions. Instead of momentarily dawdling at a screen filled with art as assets stream from a spinning disc, the game now loads matches imperceptibly fast, the transition between menu and gameplay nearly instantaneous. Given that past editions were also known for their speedy load times, the brief pauses found in earlier versions now feel archaic by comparison. In addition, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection outputs in high definition up to 1080p, all the while running at a solid 60 frames per second.

Compared to the regular old Tekken 5, which hit PlayStation 2 in early 2005, this Dark Resurrection revision adds new characters, moves and stages. Arcade Mode throws players through a random assortment of matches, always culminating in a showdown against the same two characters. Meanwhile, Ghost Mode lets players influence the next bout by providing a list of three opponents. The whole time, players earn gold, useful for customizing their character's appearance, while the game tracks their overall win-loss ratio and assigns a ranking based on their performance. Of course, the game also includes a two player versus mode.

Many of the maneuvers within Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection have multiple outcomes depending on the specific buttons used and the length of that button's depression. For example, tapping left on the directional pad during a certain move leaves Xiayou with her back turned, whereas holding the direction has her facing forward after its completion. This provides two wildly different sets of follow-up actions, effective gameplay based off how the various commands play into one another, not random button mashing.

However, the limited number of gameplay modes highlight some shortcomings. Given the emphasis placed on mastering a character's move set and the proper timing thereof, the exclusion of this new version of Practice Mode hurts newcomers and returning veterans alike. In past editions, the customizable behavior of Practice Mode's opponents encouraged players to experiment with a character's numerous attack combos across a variety of conditions in an atmosphere free of competition. The PlayStation 3 version of Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection forgoes this formality, forcing players to work things out in the heat of the moment instead of at their own pace.

Nor does Practice Mode constitute the only exclusion. It also lacks the series' beloved mini games, such as the self-explanatory Tekken Bowl, the Tekken Force beat'em up and Command Attack, which challenges players to execute a specific move as quickly as possible. Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection also lacks any sort of online functionality, squandering the opportunity for online play, ghost downloads or at the very least, online rankings. The closing cinematics for 32 of the game's 35 characters end up unattainable, with only three specific endings downloadable via Gallery Mode.

To be fair, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection does sell for under one-third the price of a traditional next-gen game. Though this helps justify its inability to match the contents of its predecessors, that excuse fails to make up for the negative effect these exclusions, most notably Practice Mode, have on the overall experience.

Still, arguing against this fancied-up port proves difficult, especially given that the Dark Resurrection revision was formerly restricted to arcades and the PSP. Sure, it may be a little short on features, but not only does Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection bring the core game to into a home console,it also supplies the PlayStation 3 with its only fighting game. Well worth the paltry price of admission, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection acts as both a shining example of the potential of digital delivery and an essential purchase for fighting enthusiasts.



Final Score: 7/10