I've been a fan of Dead or Alive since the fledgling fighting series appeared on the PlayStation back in 1996. The game introduced a unique rock-paper-scissors style of gameplay, as well as a healthy dose of sex appeal in the form of scantily-clad female fighters with hyper-bouncy breasts. The series took major strides in Dead or Alive 2 on both the Dreamcast and PlayStation2, and looked to become a legitimate contender with the Tekken, Virtua Fighter and Soul Calibur franchises. Although the game looked great and was generally well-received, it wasn't deep enough to satisfy entrenched fighting game aficionados.

The launch of Microsoft's new Xbox console in late 2001 provided the perfect opportunity for Tecmo to prove its fighter was in the same league as the big boys. The Xbox-exclusive Dead or Alive 3 was a gorgeous game that took full advantage of the capabilities of the system, and was eagerly snapped up amidst the throng of subpar launch titles. But while system fanboys and ignorant journalists proclaimed DOA3 the "best fighting game ever", objective analysis will tell you otherwise. DOA3 is certainly an improvement over the previous installment, but the visual difference isn't ground-breaking by any means, and the game itself feels like a carbon copy of Dead or Alive 2. And while I'm a long-time fan of the series, I was hoping for a much better and deeper game then what DOA3 turned out to be.

When turning the game on you're treated to the wacky, over-the-top lunacy for which Dead or Alive is famous. The action-packed real-time opening sequence showcases the impressive visuals, frenetic action and asinine plot elements. The segment is scored to the hard-rocking tune of Nine Lives by Aerosmith, whose cheese-rock riffs provide the perfect musical style to accompany the high-tempo opening. After the ass-kicking introduction, you're sent to the main menu, where fly-throughs of the gorgeous 3D fighting arenas provide the backdrop for the menu selections. The game provides many different play modes, such as Story Mode, Tag Battle, Survival Mode and Sparring Mode. The latter is an excellent training mode, where you have access to complete move lists for each character and can practice against a fully-customizable opponent. The game also earns my praise for the inclusion of Watch Mode, in which you can watch an endless Single or Tag Battle of your choosing. Noticeably missing, however, is a demonstration mode (like that found in Soul Calibur), which would have been an awesome way to showcase the visual splendor of the game.

One of the hallmarks of the Dead or Alive series is its in-your-face sex appeal, which began with the bouncing breasts and skimpy costumes in the original game. Detractors of the series decry this as gimmicky and offensive, but I personally see little wrong with it. Dead or Alive 3 continues the sexually-charged trends of the series, with very detailed breasts and buttocks, but doesn't take them far enough. For one thing, each fighter is limited to two costumes, which is much fewer than the fourteen outfits the females could wear in the original and the seven or so clothing options in DOA2. What gives? Where are all the peek-a-boo bikinis, daisy dukes, trashy lingerie and cat suits? Granted, there is a free booster pack which provides a few extra outfits, but they're just not enough. Where is Tina's cat suit? Jann Lee's yakuza gangster outfit? It sounds like a silly complaint, but DOA is infamous for its wide range of zany outfits, and in this regard DOA3 mildly disappoints.

Dead or Alive 3 does not disappoint with its amazing visuals, however, and rightfully earns its praise at the best-looking fighter out there. The fighting arenas are massive and sport more detail and more destructible areas than those in DOA2. The lighting is uniformly excellent, and the texture detail is a pleasure to look at; you won't find any smear jobs in DOA3, that's for sure. The environments themselves are diverse, ranging from a blizzard-ridden snow forest to a mountaintop mansion to a beautiful coastline at dusk. These areas feature lots of great effects like rippling water in ponds, snow that shifts as fighters move around, and glass walls that break into thousands of little fragments upon impact. The multi-tiered arenas are loaded with breakable balconies and walls, and the fighting usually spills out onto the many well-designed areas in each stage. The attention to detail is very high, and it's obvious that creating this game was a labor of love for Team Ninja. While DOA3 is an extremely smooth game overall, there are still some common visual defects like aliasing and texture shimmer which mar this otherwise impressive game. (Yes, there are jaggies in DOA3, and don't you let IGN tell you otherwise.) The camera is excellent, though, and always seems to be in just the right position to capture the fast-paced action and abundant panty shots.

The ultra-round character models are the best this genre has ever seen, and are easily comparable to the high-detail models in Final Fantasy X or the Resident Evil remake. While most of the characters closely resemble their DOA2 counterparts, they look quite a bit more realistic thanks to a technique called pixel shading. The effect isn't dramatic, but Team Ninja makes good use of it here to add subtle shadows and highlights to skin and costumes alike. As is the norm in a DOA game, each character is animated in expert fashion with hundreds of different moves. The game always runs at a consistently high frame rate, with only a few barely-noticeable hitches here and there. While the faces are very detailed, the characters hardly bat an eyelash when delivering their lines, lending them a stiff, soulless look. One problem that I'd hoped would have been addressed by now is the rampant collision detection errors that plagued the previous game. Arms and legs will clip through one another with alarming regularity, and this is especially pronounced during the games' many multi-part hold maneuvers. It's not a major complaint, but I do hope Tecmo cleans up the clipping in future installments.

The character roster is largely the same as in Dead or Alive 2, with a few additions. New to the game are the spunky gi-wearing Hitomi, the silver-haired assassin Christie and the drunken master Brad Wong (hmmm... haven't I seen him in another game before?). Ein makes a comeback as Hayate, and he's an armor-clad ninja this time around instead of the Saturday Night Fever wannabe from the last game. Old favorites like Zack and Bayman are back in action as well, rounding out the 16 character roster. There's a good mix of fleet fighters and lumbering brawlers, so you should be able to excel with at least one of the character types in the game. A long-standing complaint about the series is the lack of original character designs, and DOA3 does little to fix that. I don't mind so much, as the inherent goofiness of the title tends to turn them into charicatures of fighters featured in other games (Gen Fu, Zack and Jann Lee come to mind). Again, Dead or Alive is a game that shouldn't be taken too seriously, even though Tecmo is trying their damndest to instill a sense of legitimacy in the series.

The game is a mixed bag with respect to sound effects and music. The three licensed songs from Aerosmith are pretty cool, but the rest of the background music is generic hard rock or midi-techno and generally sounds pretty lousy. The game makes use of the built-in Dolby Digital capabilities of the Xbox, but it really doesn't sound any better than normal two-channel stereo. And what good is Dolby Digital if your music and sound effects are subpar? Most of the punches and kicks are loud and clean, and the bone-shattering sounds of your opponent crashing through a glass window are pretty satisfying as well. The Japanese voices sound like your standard anime assortment, with high-pitched females and slightly less high-pitched males. Thankfully there is no English voice option, sparing us the horror of hearing the inane lines read by third-rate American actors. Not much has changed from the last game in terms of sound, though, so I can't shake the feeling that I'm playing DOA2.

Dead or Alive 3 features seven modes of play in addition to the spectator-only Watch Mode and Theatre. Story Mode is where you fight your way through a series of opponents on your way to the end-boss Omega. Snippets of each characters' story are revealed before a fight, but it's all pretty insipid and gives the game a comical feel that I'm sure Team Ninja didn't intend. The story elements are fairly easy to ignore, however, and I must admit that they are slightly less stupid than those featured in DOA2. Once you clear Story Mode with a character, you can watch their brief ending movie in the Theatre Mode. These movies are all pretty dull with the notable exception of Christie's, which features an unobstructed view of her bare naked ass as she showers. (This game got a T rating? Yowza!) Also included are the Tag Battle and Team Battle modes introduced in DOA2, and they function much the same. The Survival Mode makes an appearance, but other than getting a higher ranking there seems to be little reason to bother with it. The Time Attack mode is kind of fun, as you try to blaze through a series of opponents in record time. There is some fun to be had in the game, but I wish Tecmo had developed a mode with more lasting appeal, like the AI Training mode in Virtua Fighter 4 or the World Tour Mode in Street Fighter Alpha 3.

Once you've finished marveling at the pixel-shaded boobies, it's time to actually play the game, and for fighting game fans this is where DOA3 starts to fall apart. For starters, the game feels extremely sluggish with the standard Xbox pad, and I had to plug in my trusty DualShock (via Innovation's wonderful X-Connection peripheral) just to be able to compete. The game does include an option to configure your joypad however you like, a great feature I think should be included in every game. The same rock-paper-scissors play mechanics are still in place and the game is as accessible as ever. Punches and Kicks can be countered with Holds, Holds can be broken with Throws, and Throws can be beater with Punches and Kicks. Also returning are the explosive danger zones, which inflict a great deal of damage if you're knocked into them. Knocking an opponent off a ledge or through a wall will also dish out some pain, so you've got to watch your position and use the 3D movement to keep your back away from dangerous situations. There is a modicum of strategy to worry about, but not nearly enough to keep you interested for any length of time.

While the accessibility will undoubtedly appeal to novices, the entire system will feel horribly unbalanced for veteran fighters. Reversal moves require proper timing, but you only need to press one button to do a typical reversal and the damage inflicted is about the same as if you'd hit your opponent with a combo. As a result, two-player matches degenerate into a stalemate of button-tapping with each player trying to reverse every move. This is less of a problem in the single-player modes, but the CPU-controlled characters will reverse your attacks with alarming regularity, sometimes three or four times in a row. One of the few proven methods of attack is the jump kick, but I felt pretty cheap resorting to that to win a match. The progression of opponents in Story Mode is similarly unbalanced, as early matches are way too easy to win while later ones become frustratingly difficult. Even the Story Mode offers less gameplay than the previous game, as you must win four or five battles in DOA3 compared with eight or nine in DOA2.

In addition, the end-boss of the Story Mode (Omega) is one of the lamest the genre has ever seen. He's a dark, powerful warlord who can use mysterious powers and wields a double-ended red lightsaber. Sound familiar? Yes, I too liked him much better when he was called Darth Maul, and I didn't even like Darth Maul all that much. Copyright infringements aside, the battle itself is frustrating, as Tecmo once again demonstrates their fondness for gimmicky final showdowns. Instead of the normal side view, you're forced to fight from a skewed angle that is somewhat behind your character, and the visuals are covered in a weird distortion pattern that makes it hard to concentrate. On top of all this Omega hurls fireballs and spews hard-to-avoid flames at you, and knocks you back a few miles every time he hits you. Oh, and when you knock him down he explodes so that you take some collateral damage. Introducing new play mechanics in the final battle is a cheap way to add challenge, and I would have much preferred a final boss who required skill and timing to defeat rather than sheer luck. (These cheap shenanigans remind me of the infamous M. Bison scissor-kick barrage that greeted players at the end of Street Fighter II for the SNES.) Any fun you've had up until the last boss is quickly forgotten in a torrent of expletives and outbursts of "Shit, that's lame".

This review may make it sound like I completely hate the game, but that's not the case. I love the visuals and the sexy over-the-top style, and I even relish the mash-tastic gameplay. While I appreciate the depth and complexity of games like Soul Calibur and Virtua Fighter, I just can't commit myself to learning their dense battle systems. Dead or Alive 3 lets me jump in and kick ass without knowing every single move for a given character, so unlike most fighting game fans I actually like the lack of depth in the DOA games. But the package we received in DOA3 for the Xbox feels incomplete, and it's obvious that Team Ninja concentrated strictly on the visual aspects in order to meet the Xbox launch, much to the detriment of the rest of the game. There are very few new moves, and the new characters feel much like the old ones. The game is also lacking in extras, as even elements like the artwork gallery from DOA2 are noticeably missing. There just isn't as much strategy in Dead or Alive 3 as you'd find in one of the top fighting games, like Soul Calibur or Tekken, so Tecmo needs to include some exciting new modes of play to breathe life back into the franchise. (And no, I'm not talking about a volleyball mini-game.)

Dead or Alive 3 is a game that gets by with its good looks and sex appeal, much like a super model does, but in the process it takes your money and leaves you with an empty, unfulfilled feeling. Overall the game shares most of the same play modes and move lists with DOA2, and without any worthwhile gameplay additions, Dead or Alive 3 is basically the same game as Dead or Alive 2 with prettier graphics. Xbox owners looking for a great-looking, accessible title to show off to their friends will likely pick this game up, and it will likewise appeal to casual gamers looking for a quick fix. Despite being a fan of the series thus far, I'm a little disappointed in Dead or Alive 3, as aside from the improved visuals there's little here to get excited about. Here's hoping the series receives a major overhaul if there is to be a fourth game, or even the games' few diehard fans might not care anymore.