PixlBit

I'll be the first to admit, Tekken has never really been my thing. Don't get me wrong, I love fighting games and tend to play them in excess whenever I get my hands on a new one. However, there has always been something about Tekken that just didn't click with me. For full disclosure, Tekken 6 hasn't changed my opinion of the series and it feels very much like more of the same.

This is not to say that the Tekken series is bad, clearly it has found fan acceptance and is a mainstay of tournament brackets all over the world. For me, I think it has always been the very staccato nature of the fighting. Moves don't flow into one another, everything is so planned, and without knowing the entire moveset it never feels like you can truly succeed in the game.

At this point, players know what to expect from a Tekken game, and none of that has changed in Tekken 6. The core mechanics are mostly the same, with only a few tweaks to the engine found in 5. The roster has been increased by six characters, four that came in the original Arcade version, with the extra two appearing in the Arcade update, Bloodline Rebellion - the version this game is based on. The first arcade version of Tekken 6added the characters Bob, Leo, Miguel, and Zafina. Bloodline Rebellion added Lars Alexandersson and Alisa Bosconovitch, a robot chick with chainsaw arms. The roster is quite large, featuring around 40 characters with almost all notable characters in the series making an appearance.

The game is rich with modes, some of which are good, others that fall flat. An example of such is the Scenario mode, which continues the Tekken Force mode that was featured in Tekken 3. Players will run around in a fully 3D world fighting enemies until they reach a boss. This feels awkward due to the way the game engages players in a battle with the enemies. When players near an enemy, the game locks them onto their opponent, making it feel similar to a normal Tekken fight. Though you can lock on to other enemies, this doesn't prove to be a smooth way to handle all of the action on the screen. The mode also features atrocious loading times and ridiculous cutscenes that progress a story that is none-too-interesting.

Aside from the subpar Scenario mode, players have access to the standard modes they'd expect to see in any fighting game. An arcade mode wherein players take on fighters from the roster one-by-one until they reach the always ridiculous final boss fight. There is also a Time Attack mode that operates in basically the same way. Players can also fight against a friend in the local multiplayer. As with more recent fighting games, the game features an online component.

This part of the game is both a success and a failure. On one hand, the head-to-head fighting leaves quite a bit to be desired due to its lagginess. In a game where every millisecond counts, the delay is unacceptable, truly destroying the whole purpose of playing the game at all. On the other hand, the game has a ghost mode that builds a computer player from a real player's fighting style. This will allow players to challenge computer-versions of their friends and online adversaries. It definitely improves single player fighting and is generally just a cool idea and tool to have at your disposal if you love the Tekken series.

Aside from the online mode, the game features a number of other typical modes like Team Battle, and Survivial, as well as a character modification option. All of these features help round out what amounts to be a decent offering. Tekken fans will undoubtedly be upset about the online mode's shortcomings, but will love the new ghost mode, the large character roster, and the game's stunning graphics. Non Tekken fans won't see much in Tekken 6 that will encourage them to hop on board with the series. The gameplay is still very much the same, and though it's more feature rich, if you weren't a fan of the fighting style in the past, you still won't be a fan of the fighting found here.