After what I felt was a lackluster follow-up to Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament, I am of course referring to Tekken 4, we now get what could be argued as the sixth installment, but it is titled simply Tekken 5. The Tekken series has helped to redefine 3D fighting games, and with the latest installment, instead of throwing a ton of new stuff at you like Tekken 4 did, we go back to what made the game great in the first place, good old fashioned fighting. With a host of play options and a few new…nice options (instead of throwing in added crap) we may just have a winner on our hands.
The game plays well, and if you are accustomed to the Tekkens of old, of course I mean 3 and Tag Tournament, then you will feel right at home with this title. Each character has a ton of moves for you to master and use against your opponents. The list of characters both immediately available and hidden is huge, giving you favorites like Law and Nina, but it also brings in the good ‘ol boys like Bryan and King. A few new faces from the fourth installment make an appearance. But there is a character for all playing styles, and it is best to master one before moving onto another, since there are so many little nuances to them, like slight stance changes that provide a better starting hit to another combo. You will have a blast trying to string together the multiple combos and moves in this game. The possibilities are endless on how you will kick the crap out of your opponent. The artificial intelligence in the game for computer controlled players is much better than previous games but will in no way take the place of a real person going toe to toe with you. The game features story mode, classic arcade, time attack, a new adventure mode called Devil Within, where you play as Jin and fight though a ton of bad guys to get a bit more background information. Namco stole a page out of Virtua Fighter, with the customize your character, but though is plagiarism it is plagiarism at its best, this is a great feature and provides a host of options to customize your favorite character’s look, making it unique to your game.
Graphically for a Playstation 2 title, this game looks incredible. The character models are fantastic, and each animation is fluid and without any flickers. I was absolutely loving the environments you fight in, from a field that is blowing up pollen in the moonlight, to the pirate cove with gold strewn about, the arenas provide a great atmosphere and the animations of them can be quite hypnotic, so try not to focus too much on the beautiful arenas and forget that some guy (or gal) is trying to kick your ass. Particle effects off of even the minute of hits, or environment interaction is also fantastic and very well done by the folks at Namco, making you truly feel each blow. Overall the graphical quality of Tekken 5 is top notch and you will be tough to find a better title graphically on the PS2.
Audibly the sounds in past Tekkens were nothing memorable, so with Tekken 5 they changed up the soundtrack and put more music to their environments, to bring the arenas more alive. Also during story mode the voice acting is very well done, and helps bring the story to life. What’s nice is you don’t see an American fighter speaking Japanese, which helps to make the game a bit more believable, since each character speaks his native language, very nice touch indeed. Sound affects per blow and move also help to truly take Tekken 5 to the next level.
Overall Tekken 5 is one of the best fighting games on the market for the PS2. It is by no means a button masher, and if you think you can get by, with doing just that, someone is going to come on over and beat you pretty good. The game supports widescreen and progressive scan; though you seem to have to set them each time you start up. The core fighting of the game is absolutely fantastic, and that will beat out the fact that some of the other modes they have added are less than perfect. I am glad to see that Namco brought the Tekken series back to its roots with this title, and has made me a fan again. This game would probably get a perfect score from me if Namco had an online mode to it, since lets face it, online multiplayer is the next medium, and there is no excuse for games not to support it in the age of broadband. Tekken 5 is by all means a must have title for the PS2 if you are any type of fighting fan.
Rating: 9/10
