(LAST UPDATE: 7/26/09)
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Developer(s): Sega-AM2
Publisher(s): Sega
Designer(s): Noriyuki Shimoda (producer), Yoshihiro Tsuzuku
(director)
Platform(s): Arcade,
PS3, Xbox 360
Release: July 12th 2006 (JP Arcade), February 8th 2007 (JP PS3), February
20th 2007 (NA PS3)
Characters:
Akira,
Jacky,
Kage,
Lau,
Jeffry,
Sarah,
Wolf,
Pai,
Shun,
Lion,
Aoi,
Vanessa,
Lei
Fei, Brad, Goh,
El
Blaze, Eileen, Dural
Related Games:
Viruta
Fighter, Virtua Fighter Remix, Virtua
Fighter 2, Virtua Fighter Kids, Virtua
Fighter 3, Virtua Fighter 4, Virtua
Fighter 4 Evolution,
Virtua Fighter 5 R, Fighting
Vipers, Fighting Vipers 2, Fighters
Megamix, Last Bronx
Story:
All of the sought after invitations
for the Fifth World Fighting Tournament have been sent and now the 17 best
fighters in the world begin their final phases of preparation. They must learn
from their prior mistakes and perfect every aspect of their mind, body, and soul
- for there is no room for mistakes in this competition. Little do they know
that J6, the organization funding the tournament, has sinister ulterior motives
for the contest and the company's top secret Dural program is already well
underway. In the organization's quest for world domination, the scientists at J6
are creating the ultimate fighting machine with human features. Their first
model was defeated in the Fourth World Fighting Tournament, which drove them to
kidnap Vanessa. She was able to escape with the help of an insider, but not
before they captured her combat data and transferred it to the new advanced
Dural model named V-Dural. J6 is determined
to find out who the inside traitor is that released Vanessa and more
importantly, if V-Dural is indeed ready to defeat the world's best fighters. The
Fifth World Fighting Tournament will reveal both - let it begin.
Review: Following
in Virtua Fighter tradition, Virtua Fighter 5 showcases two new
characters: El Blaze and
Eileen,
each representing unique fighting styles to the series. As any fighting
game enthusiast would expect, all the extras and graphical polish are improved
over predecessors, "leading the pack" graphically as well as gameplay-wise.
Sega is one of the original pioneers of 3D fighters, and needless to say,
the PS3 has been blessed with it's first quality fighting game, and Xbox
360 gets a much needed 3D fighter for it's library of games.
If you've seen VF5 on a good HDTV, you'd agree that the visuals are indeed groundbreaking. Simply put, the character models, lighting effects, clothing effects, and textures are incredible eye candy, and likely some of the best seen in any video game (period). The newest and one of the most impressive graphical effects is the clothing, which actually appears "wet" when characters come in contact with water... Impressive stuff. The backgrounds also look breathtaking and are nicely designed all around; definitely some of the best of the series. On the flipside, if you look closely in some backgrounds, you actually might be able to notice a few poor quality textures here or there. Thankfully it's not noticeable during gameplay, since the focus is on the characters themselves, which really end up stealing the show.
Many
character animations from the prequels have been "tweaked" which makes
the game even smoother and cooler looking than we remember. Among the most
noticeable are the basic (8-way) walking animations, which are incredibly
smooth and are likely best of any 3D fighting game (or 2D for that matter).
Throws and counters also look awesome for the most part, but some are actually
quite awkward/stupid looking (Lau's choke-slam for example). 
Throws are a big part of the
"ouch-factor" of a game, and many of VF's throws definitely look like they
hurt; but on that note, some of the throws and "holds" are actually very unrealistic... Being
a martial artist myself, I know you can't break an arm or even hurt an
arm with some of the moves/holds shown in this game, and for a game
seemingly going for realism, I gotta take off some points there. 
On top of that some of the collision detection just isn't quite there,
and certain moves just don't seem to hurt very much... I think the VF series'
collision/ouch factor would actually benefit putting in some sort of hit
effects, as seen in the Tekken series.
As a player
of Virtua Fighter 4 and Evolution
would hope, returning are customization items and a more detailed character
customization mode. But *sigh* ...So expensive! 
You can earn money to buy new clothing items from the shop by playing through
the 1 player "Quest Mode." This mode pits you against countless computer
AI challengers as you continue to achieve higher ranks. There's also Arcade
mode where you try to obtain the highest score, and also Training mode
with Command training (imperative for beginners).
"Winner gets
a prize" and "Ranking Matches" are the most fun part about VF5's VS (and
1P) mode, along with the large stage selection, which consist of free-standing
"squares" and a few "caged in areas". The stages are a bit odd and
uninspired in some
cases.... "Wow. So what's this big square in the
middle of this mall? Ohh I know! It's a Virtua Fighter ring! Heh." 
Others are more thought out however, and in general the backdrops are gorgeous once again, really showing off the
360's and PS3's off graphical shininess... Both versions look great, nuff
said. Characters can also "back up" really far into the background, which
is a very cool effect in itself.
The only downside
about the 1 player experience is that the computer AI is nearly a pushover,
even for "mediocre" players... or at least it appears that way for a while.
For example, in "Quest Mode," the type of fighters you face in the beginning,
and even hours upon hours in, can be beaten even by mashing a single button
at times. Other moves from certain characters also seem to hit 99% of the
time, no matter when they're used or from what distance. Or you could just
stand there and block for a while, and the AI will eventually stop attacking
and just block themselves, as if to say "Throw me now!" It's just too easy
at times, but sometimes it is fun taking your frustrations out on these
sorry excuses for punching bags. 
Anyhow, unlike
the mainstream reviewers like Game Informer, IGN, and Gamspot, I'm not
going to just leave it at that... They simply dubbed the AI as "too easy"
and that was the end of it. I know for a fact they didn't play the game
enough, because much further down the road in quest mode (200 + wins) you'll take
on some new challengers like "Masters, Gladiators, Veterans," which will
offer a far better challenge, and might even be difficult to beat
for "mid-upper level players." Even a step higher in difficulty are "Vanquishers,
Vindicators, and Avengers, etc." who offer an incredibly tough fight even
for skilled players with beefy combo skills. 
Thankfully though, there are some tricks to beat the AI that a good fighting
game player, with common sense, can still find... So at least the computer
AI isn't impossible to beat in the upper levels. Of course, to get the
most out of VF5, like any quality fighting game, you should definitely
challenge your buddies (if they're
any good that is).
So, have the
character personas improved any? Somewhat yes, and somewhat no... Characters
have more win quotes and entrance taunts than they ever did, and most of
which sound better and make more sense than those of VF4:
Evolution. Although, the "cheesy-ness" factor is still there... Virtua
Fighter characters still don't like to use "bad words," and usually seem
to create "unintended" laughter after they say anything at all.
But if you look
past the actual dialogue, these characters speak much louder with their
fighting abilities, which of course is what the game is about. The head to head
battle always looks awesome, even when newbs try to play... But like any
good fighting game, when two skilled players go at it, VF5 looks it's absolute
best.
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Closing Comment: The Virtua Fighter series has been known as one of the most technical and advanced fighting games ever, only rivaled by the likes of the Soul Calibur and Tekken series. These days, VF seems to be the only 3D fighting game left that is actually going for "realism." The fighting styles are authentic for the most part and the action is incredibly realistic... besides the air combos, which, much like in Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, can be a bit awkward to green players, as seemingly "mid" and "high" attacks can usually still juggle an opponent while they're on the ground. But what is a fighting game without air combos? I'll tell you with one word... BORING.
Virtua Fighter
5 and Tekken 5: DR are actually similar in more ways than one, but their
presentation is much different... Unlike Tekken, there is absolutely no
"story" in Virtua Fighter. 
Alas, Tekken characters still have a lot more personality and coolness
factor, but VF's characters seem like they're trying to catching up. The simple look
of the VF characters allows them to be nicely altered with the customizations,
although some of them just can't be helped... For example: Lion will always
look retarded and/or gay, and Aoi will always look boring. 
Besides it's
expected quirks, VF5 is a great game, but with no story element
and a very rushed and uninspiring intro, it still has more of a generic
arcade feel. You can still become immersed in the gameplay however, and
it's definitely worth your time as a game... As for a fighting game fan?
It's a must have or a must play at the very least. ~F.Yagami,
Webmaster
of TFG
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