Dead or Alive Xtreme 2

Gabriel · November 22, 2006

Just a few initial thoughts about this game after playing it all yesterday evening.

First, the graphics are beautiful. The opening cinema has some photoshop issues which make a couple of shots look pretty damn freakish and scary, but the in-game graphics are more than acceptable. There is a little shimmer in things like the net and fine detail though.

Volleyball, the Hopping Game, and casino games return and are accompanied by a few more games to play at the pool and jetskiing.

In the original, you'd go to the pool if you wanted to relax and do some really mild rhythm games. It was always available and was a good low-risk and easy way to rack up a nest egg. Now, the pool games only become available if one of the other girls is hanging out in that area. So, it's no longer a sure thing. The games are also all competitive against other AI controlled girls now, so the relaxation aspect is gone too.

Volleyball is mostly the same as in the original. The main difference is that the game has been made harder by turning your AI partner into a total idiot. Even when I had the relationship maintained well, my partner tended to just stand there and look at the sand more often than not. The AI also seems to absolutely refuse to move more than one step from whenever they're standing on the field, resulting in a lot of lost points.

More often than not, I found myself playing the jetski game. The control takes a little getting used to, but I got the hang of it quickly (although I haven't really gotten the hang of stunts). The first few tracks are extremely simple. Then you suddenly hit some with narrow hairpin turns, so the learning curve is a bit rough. The Jetski game is definitely the easiest way to win money, and, if you have problems maintaining your partner, then you'll find yourself playing it A LOT because it's about the only thing you can do by yourself and there's ALWAYS an opponent hanging out at the jetski place.

The ability to take photoshoots of the characters which was promised and not delivered in the last game makes it's appearance. You start off with a camera which is always out of focus and simply get to take snapshots while the girls do their relaxing animations. I've found the camera controls awkward, and when you try to take a picture there isn't much you can do in terms of positioning. There's a more expensive camera available, but I don't know if it solves these issues. Regardless, the pictures don't make you any money, and are merely for your scrapbook to recall that time you went on vacation and were peeping at the DOA girls.

The casino is still the casino. You can play a variety of slot machines, roulette, blackjack, or poker. Poker is amusing, because the girls do seem to have some tendencies. For instance, Cristie seems to have a bad habit of betting high on a low pair. Ayane seems to bluff quite a bit and she gets pissed off and leaves the table easily. Helena likes to bid extremely high on just about anything. But, the casino's overall presentation is pretty cheap. You just get a polygon rendered room with tiny bitmap images of what girls are at the table. I don't think it's unfair to have expected to have the girls rendered in full polygon glory across the table, complete with mannerisms and facial expressions.

The name of the game is still giving and receiving gifts along with trying to complete your swimsuit wardrobe. There are some new suits this time around and many of the old suits look much improved with the new level of detail the X360 provides. But, mostly, it's about the same as the last time around.

And that kinda describes the game: it's about the same as the last time around. There are more games, but it actually feels like there's less to do. The new requirement to ALWAYS be competing against one of the other girls and overall higher difficulty ruins the original game's relaxing sandbox nature.

Edit: A little correction. Apparrently you CAN play the old Hopping Game if you don't have a partner. The pool is now separated into two separate locations you can visit: Pool and Poolside. The pool games are only accesible at the Pool, and it's easy to mistake one location for the other. The Jetski game can also at least be played if you have a partner and no other girl is present in that area. It may be possible to race the tracks solo if no other girls are present and you don't have a partner.

Edited November 24, 2006 by Gabriel