Product Description

The game that pioneered the 3D fighting genre is back with Virtua Fighter 5, the latest instalment in the popular series, currently under development for the Playstation 3 computer entertainment system. Virtua Fighter 5 will elevate the arcade fighting genre to all new heights as the game promises to take true advantage of the capabilities of the next generation hardware. Virtua Fighter 5 raises the bar for console fighting games including all the features fans know and love plus enhanced gameplay mechanics, additional characters and new fighting styles, as well as newly redesigned 3D environments.

Virtua Fighter 5 will deliver fast-paced, adrenaline-pumping action as players head into battle, taking on a host of popular characters. The game will introduce two new dynamic characters, El Blaze and Eileen, complete with new fighting techniques and from completely different backgrounds. Play as one of the 17 default characters in the game or customize a character to become the top Virtua Fighter. Players will be able to modify their characters by selecting from four base costumes and then decorate them by attaching a wide range of unlockable and earnable items. Players will not only achieve victory by defeating highly-skilled opponents, but also by competing for prizes and earning in-game money allowing them to buy many items at an in-game shop. Further building upon the depth of the series, players will now be able to move around their opponent using an "Offensive Move" technique, adding a new strategic element to their battles.

• Two New Characters, El Blaze and Eileen, round out the cast of 17 dynamic characters. El Blaze is a Mexican wrestling champion that uses the Lucha Libre fighting style, and Eileen, originally from China, uses a Monkey Kung Fu style which she learned from her grandfather.
• Stunning, Highly-Detailed 3-D Fighting Environments inspired by locales around the

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1257 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Sega
• Released on: 2007-03-23
• Rating: To Be Announced
• Platform: PLAYSTATION 3
• Dimensions: .29 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
Virtua Fighter 5 raises the bar for console fighting games including all the features fans know and love plus enhanced gameplay mechanics, additional characters and new fighting styles, as well as newly redesigned 3D environments.(p)Virtua Fighter 5 will deliver fast-paced, adrenaline-pumping action as players head into battle, taking on a host of popular characters. The game will introduce two new dynamic characters, El Blaze and Eileen, complete with new fighting techniques and from completely different backgrounds

Customer Reviews

another great game from sega
Virtua Fighter 5 does little to improve upon its PS2 predecessor, but it really doesn't need to. Fans of the PS2 game will find two new fighters and improved gameplay and graphics to boot. Cover boy Akira is joined by his entire set of Virtua Fighter 4 peers and newcomers El Blaze and Eileen. El Blaze, a luchadora, uses fancy wrestling moves while Eileen hops around a whole lot and utilizes what I considered cheaper hits than other characters. My personal favorite was the bald monk Lei-Fei.

Fighting is a breeze for newcomers and series vets alike. I can't say how grateful I am for this, because Virtua Fighter 4 wasn't so accessible and as a result I personally didn't appreciate it as much as my critical peers. On the PS3 pad, X serves as a punch button while Circle kicks and Square blocks. The triggers act as shortcuts for combinations of those three buttons, making special moves easier to execute. Combos are simple and flow together well, giving Virtua Fighter 5 a feel that is more similar to Dead or Alive than other fighting games. Fights tend to last longer than in other games, since the default settings require you to win three rounds, not two out of three, but three rounds, meaning close fights extend into five rounds.

Quest Mode is where it's at in this game; the mode is essentially a recreation of the experience of traveling to different arcades and challenging players on a machine. To start you create a profile and choose your preferred character, and then the Quest world is open to explore. There are several different arcades with "players" of different skill levels, so there is a feeling of progression as you go from one arcade to the next, improving in your ranking and piling up wins. Winning matches and tournaments in the different arcades will earn you money and items to customize your character and beef out your profile. Not only is it addictive to collect items and personalize fighters, it's very difficult to stop trying to improve your rank and dominate different arcades.

Unfortunately, Quest mode is the only attention-grabber. The Arcade and Versus modes are very generic and don't offer anything you haven't seen before. There's a VF TV mode, which is entirely worthless-it lets those with HDTVs and HDMI cables appreciate their expensive commodities by watching two CPU-controlled characters battle. Virtua Fighter 5's biggest flaw is its lack of PS3 online play. With Quest mode being such a focus and character customization being a bit part of that, I find the lack of at least some sort of online profiling to be inexcusable on SEGA AM-2's part. After all, A.I. opponents in quest mode don't recreate the tendencies of human players very well, and it isn't even until elite ranks that the CPU becomes difficult or utilizes techniques that force the player to study the fighting system beyond a few different combos.

At least Virtua Fighter 5 shows off the PS3's power for the most part. Arguably there isn't a better-looking game on the system. Every character is fleshed-out-literally, in fact-with detail down to their skin textures and hairstyles. All of the different outfits are colorful and react realistically as the players animate. I was very impressed with the animation in general; Virtua Fighter 5 stands right beside Dead or Alive 4 as the fighter with the most visual fluidity. The only complaint I have from a technical standpoint is that the overall sound of the game is slightly muffled and doesn't blast out of the speakers like I think it should.

Virtua Fighter 5 should be your next PlayStation 3 game if you enjoy fighting games and can deal with its "more of the same, but improved" syndrome. Quest mode could easily have you hooked for thousands of matches and have you searching for band-aids for gamer's thumb. The lack of online play hurts its overall longevity, but perhaps this will be attended to with the Xbox 360 version's summer 2007 release.

Need to play the others ones?
First things first, i've always been a Tekken fan. SoulCalibur too but that has weapons so i don't put it in the same fighter bracket.

I understand that many people regard the Virtua Fighter series quite highly and as a seasoned gamer i thought it was about time i expanded my beat 'em horizons.

I've enjoyed many, many hours of Tekken with my friends sat around a play station. But VF5 wasn't enjoyable at all. I'm not labelling it a bad game, it blatantly isn't cause people keep making them and fans keep buying them. I just didn't enjoy this.

My main problem is probably that i hadn't played the older ones and picked up the battle system. The learning curve seemed very steep and i wasn't prepared to learn it all.

From my point of view it seemed slow and really quite boring, but at the same time i suppose the fighting is more realistic. My warning is for other Tekken fans thinking of trying this out, get it pre-owned it rent it.

This deserves to be the new most popular fighting title
Virtua Fighter has always been the more technically demanding fighting game, with previous versions offering extensive training modes to understand how all the complicated pieces fit together (frames, evading, reversals, throw breaks, etc.). Virtua Fighter 5 does nothing to dumb down the complexity of the series but is slightly more accessible due to certain characters being tweaked.

The excellent Quest mode is still present, providing an environment of "arcades" to learn against AI opponents of different difficulties which - unlike in many fighting games - do actually play in a punishing and human style that serves as an acceptable practice for real opponents. Of course, real opponents are what Virtua Fighter 5 is all about and, with the depth of the game and the fact that it's the first major fighting game on the console, I predict a strong UK scene appearing of PS3 owners battling hard and to a high level with their chosen characters.

While Quest mode is the most exciting and compelling single player mode, the game of course has the standard story/arcade and time attack single player modes too, to complement the fully customisable one-on-one, human-on-human versus battle the forms the core of the package (for me at least, as a competitive gamer).

My only criticism of this PS3 Virtua Fighter 5 is that it lacks the comprehensiveness in training modes that Virtua Fighter 4 Evo had so it's not quite as easy to get up to speed on the subtleties of the game. I hope this will not matter if a lot of people play the game and pass on the detailed knowledge required for truly high level play.

For the serious, competitive gamer, Virtua Fighter 5 is one of the strongest reasons to buy a PS3. For anyone who already owns one, it is the must buy fighting game at the moment.