Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball

for Microsoft Xbox - Review

February 10, 2003

originally written for ParentsTV.org

In order to understand how this game came to be, I feel a brief history lesson is in order.  In 1997 Tecmo released Dead or Alive for the Sony Playstation.  It was a moderately successful fighting game featuring a number of voluptuous women beating each other and a number of men senseless.  In 2000 Tecmo released Dead or Alive 2 for the Sega Dreamcast followed by Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore for the Sony Playstation 2.  These were also fighting games with extraordinary graphics, the same revolutionary “counter” system that allowed you to turn your opponent’s attack moves into attack moves of your own from the first game, and interactive environments that allowed you to throw your opponent through a glass window onto the pavement below where the fight would continue.  The DOA2 games featured a technology called “weighted vertices” that allowed for “realistic female body movements”.  The female characters were decked out in revealing attire, and it gave the game a sexy edge that other fighting games did not have at the time.  Enter the Xbox, graphically the most powerful gaming console available, and Dead or Alive 3 was one of its launch titles.  Heralded by many as the best fighting game ever made, DOA3 features more eye candy, the counter system, the interactive environments, and new characters to play.  At this point, Tecmo has a successful fighting game franchise on their hands with memorable characters and a reputation for catering to the prurient interests of their mostly male demographic.  That brings us to 2003 and the release of Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball (hereto known as DOAXBV).

The gist of DOAXBV is that Zack, a male character from the games, won the DOA3 tournament.  He took his winnings to a casino, bet it all, and won big.  So Zack buys an island and tells all the girls from DOA3 that he is holding the Dead or Alive 4 tournament on his island.  Once all the girls arrive, they find out there is no tournament after all.  Rather than get mad, they just decide to have a 14 day vacation where they play volleyball, shop, and lounge around on the beach.  As the player, you pick a girl to play and you decide what to do throughout the day.  During the day, you can play volleyball (if you have a partner), hang out by the pool, play the pool-hopping game where you jump across platforms floating in the water, go to any of the shops, give gifts to the other girls, or just hang out by yourself.  At night, you can send gifts to the girls, look at your own collection of gifts, or hit the casino.  Once in the casino, you can play blackjack, roulette, poker, or slots.  If you go through this process 14 times, the game ends and your vacation is over.

DOAXBV is like a collection of mini-games, none of which are very compelling.  The volleyball portion of the game is as simple as you can get.  For a controller that has 8 buttons, 2 triggers, and 2 analog sticks that also act as buttons, you’ll find yourself using 1 stick and 2 buttons for volleyball.  You don’t even have to jump; they’ll do it for you.  If you play console sports games at all, you might be expecting stats, schedules, or a tournament at the end.  This is not the case in DOAXBV.  It doesn’t matter if you win or lose the games.  As a matter of fact, you could play the entire game and never finish a game of volleyball.  The only reason you are playing volleyball is because it is the easiest way to win money.  Which brings us to the major portion of DOAXBV:  shopping.

If this game has a point, it is to make lots of money so that you can buy the other girls lots of gifts.  That way they will like you and play volleyball with you, so that you can win more money, etc., etc.  You can buy suits to wear yourself, or you can spend the money on the other girls.  If the girls like what you buy for them, they will be wearing it when you see them next.  Each girl has particular tastes though, so you have to read through the manual to see who likes what.  If you don’t buy gifts for the girls, they will start to dislike you.  When that happens your partner will leave you, and the other girls will refuse to partner up with you, making it impossible to play volleyball at all.  While watching the game,  my girlfriend would ask me, “What are you doing, again?”  My answer usually consisted of, “I’m trying to buy Christie some tomato juice or a steering wheel so she’ll like me and wear the swim suit I gave her,” or something similar.  I spent my last 3 days on the island penniless and alone…some vacation.

Grown men have to be the audience Tecmo targets with this.  The game is very voyeuristic.  If you go to a secluded section of the island, your character will lie in the sand or do stretching exercises.  At this point, the camera pans around them and the player can switch views or zoom in to get a better look.  This is the reason the game carries an M rating, I believe, because you are basically playing a peeping tom.  The gambling probably plays a part in the M rating as well, but at least it teaches the lesson that “the more you play the more you lose”.  I’ve never seen a blackjack dealer get so many 20s.

While the gameplay in DOAXBV suffers, the graphics are exceptional.  The animations applied to the girls are very life-like, and the girls themselves are a step forward for video game polygonal models.  The few volleyball courts that you get to see have an amazing level of detail; right down to the sand changing shape throughout the course of a game. Unfortunately, after seeing the graphics enough, you are left with just mediocre and shallow gameplay with very little reward for your efforts.  It seems that the point of the game is to make enough money to buy the $1,000,000 Venus swimsuit and try to get all the girls to wear it.  This is not an easy feat, to say the least.

The graphics may be exceptional, but the sound borders on horrifying.  I guess I can understand why they did not dub the game for the U.S. since they have not dubbed any of the other DOA titles, but I don’t understand why Tina and Lisa from America sound like 9 year old Japanese girls.  I think Tecmo took a note from women’s tennis as well, because every time the girls touch the ball, they grunt or squeak as the case may be.  And the less said about the music the better.  Luckily, you can rip your own songs to the Xbox hard drive and change them in game at the radio station.

DOAXBV is certainly an impressive technology demo, but I found the gameplay to come up short.  If you’re considering buying this game for a child, don’t.  It is an M rated game and that should be enough.  The game features gambling, a lot of sexual innuendo, and plenty of girlie ogling.  I would not consider the game a form of the objectification of women, because these are not real women after all.  However, it will not do much to teach your young son not to stare.  This is a game for adults.  Women may find the shopping and gift-giving entertaining; although, I think it all wears a little thin by the end of the first week.  I look forward to Dead or Alive 4 when the girls will get back to the karate.