Tekken 6 Review
- Posted November 3rd, 2009 at 08:36 EDT by Mike Harradence
- 34 Comments
Review Score
- PSU Review Score
- 8.5
- Avg. user review score:
- 7.2
Summary
While offering only incremental upgrades to the formula, Tekken 6 is a worthy successor to Dark Resurrection and ultimately one of the best entries in this venerable franchise to date.
We like
- The superb fighting mechanics
- The heaps of game modes unlockable goodies on offer
- The sprawling and diverse character line-up
We dislike
- The dodgy Scenario Campaign
- The lag during online matches
- The load times
See PSU's review on Metacritic & GameRankings
When it comes to Tekken, there are certain aspects that will inevitably register at the very mention of Namco Bandai’s venerable beat ‘em up franchise. Juggles that don’t just bend the rules of reality but crash them under an iron fist, ten-hit combos, ridiculously muscular old blokes sporting equally ridiculous hairstyles, voluptuous babes, pugnacious Pandas, boxing Kangaroos and feuding families are just a few of the inherent oddities that’ll spring to mind.
Concurrently, the more discerning Tekkenite may also ponder over the following: What fresh moves will my character boast this time around? Will Tekken Ball ever show up again? Will Heihachi Mishima ever kick the bucket? Will lovable sumo buffoon Ganryu descend even further into the realms of toe-curling obsequiousness in an attempt to win the heart of his beloved Julia Chang? Who knows, but one thing’s for sure, it’s Tekken - and we’ll inevitably embrace it with open arms.
If there’s one aspect that’s as synonymous with the franchise besides the obvious it’s the convoluted, sprawling plotline. So it comes as little surprise that Tekken 6 continues the series’ apparently inexorable descent in to brain-numbing absurdity. This time around things center on devil child Jin Kazama, who, having battered all adversity to a pulp in the last tournament and ultimately gained control of the sprawling Mishima Zaibatsu conglomerate, has apparently succumbed to his inner demon and begins waging war and terror across the globe using his newly formed Tekken Force. Naturally, this doesn’t sit well with daddy Kazuya Mishima, who utilizes his newfound power and wealth as CEO of rival firm G Corporation to put a bounty on Jin’s head and meet his own goals of world domination. Old man Heihachi also rocks up in an attempt to regain control of his company, as well as the usual array of familiar and fresh-faced brawlers who also enter the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 for their own lofty ambitious – and essentially, that’s all you need to know.
To be honest, you’d be forgiven for perceiving Namco’s latest effort as nothing more than a roided up Tekken 5 featuring a swanky new HD pain job and a couple of incremental upgrades strewn about here and there – since essentially, that’s all it is. However, while this may seem an overly inauspicious claim, it really isn’t; after all, Tekken 5 was a mighty impressive brawler to say the least, garnering heaps of praise from fans and critics alike. So it should come as no surprise to hear that its successor is an equally competent affair. The character roster is the most impressive to date, packing in a whopping 40+ fighters including several newcomers, such as the obese yet deceptively speedy Bob, Spanish brawler Miguel and complex, stance-based Zafina. Virtually everyone from Dark Resurrection made the cut save for big bad boss man Jinpachi Mishima, who has been replaced by a hulking, non-playable behemoth named Azazel.
Chances are a high proportion of you have dabbled in Tekken over the years, although for those of you that haven’t, now is as good of a time as any to test the waters. Newcomers certainly can’t go wrong, with Tekken 6 offering an intrinsically user-friendly control scheme, albeit still packing in an impressively comprehensive set of advanced maneuvers and tactics to sink your teeth in to once you’ve mastered the core fundamentals. Indeed, Tekken has traditionally always planted its cheeks firmly on the sofa between Soul Calibur and Virtua Fighter in terms of playing style, differing from the more stylish leniency of the former while falling short of the brutal, meticulous sensibilities of the latter. Combat is still based on the principle of assigning a fighter’s limb to each of the four buttons (namely, triangle, square, circle and cross), with each character boasting his or her own diverse range of techniques based on the style they practice, along with some basic offerings shared by all combatants. Throws, jabs, combos, power attacks and unblockables can all be performed with deadly efficiency thanks to the responsiveness and fluidity of the controls, although there’s plenty more complex maneuvers to master too, from tech rolls, counter attacks, throw escapes, wall combos and more that’ll have you spending hours trying to perfect.
When it comes to Tekken however, nothing is ... (continued on next page)
Email
Related Content
Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
wetfbbqchiken
- 4:45am EST - November 3rd, 2009
- 6
lmao @2
dont think i will be getting this as theres a few other games out soon that i want :P
-
-
-
-
-
Ellezzdee
- 6:55am EST - November 3rd, 2009
- 11
i got this game as a gift, im after playing it for about an hour im ready to toss it in a trash can. i LOVE soul calibur, but i just cant get into this game at all. the gameplay itself is pretty aweful in my opinion, but the complete nonesense of a story mode just made it completely worthless to me. i guess ill just trade it in at gamestop for $20 and be done with it.
-
melvinmilquetoast
- 7:24am EST - November 3rd, 2009
- 12
After all this time waiting for this game, I was expecting radical changes.
Some of the moves have been redefined - Law's are particularly more interesting, but the graphics haven't improved that much. There's also a lot of jagged edges. It would have been nice if they had anti-aliased the characters.
-
gwmayar
- 8:19am EST - November 3rd, 2009
- 13
The game is not perfect, it must be remembered that it is primarily a port from Arcade. And Namko done a tremendous job, especially if you compare what was done in Suolcalibur 4. At the moment better 3D fighting game does not exist in principle. I think that lag will be fix soon. I'm playing it already 3 day and get real pleasure.
Believe me no one will do nothing better for a long time, if you're a fan of Tekken, you simply must buy it, my score 8.5.Why is 8.5, well, because the graphics could be better, but remembering that this is the port with the Arcade and if they started to alter engine, the game we were in the best case in late 2010.
Good job Namko.
-
-
-
-
iplayonlysony
- 11:32am EST - November 3rd, 2009
- 17
I expected the game to look better than this. What makes this Tekken better than the old ones?
-
Bigdoggy
- 12:09pm EST - November 3rd, 2009
- 18
bleh, just download Tekken: DR off of PSN, practically the same damn thing. out of all the videos I have seen for this game, I see no difference besides the graphics. I think these developers need to really get their heads out of their butts and do some "true improvements" on these fighting games. We should be so far suprassed this same crap they dish out over and over again, it's really pathetic to say the least.
-
-
This will permanently ban this user and delete all associated comments. This action is irreversible, are you SURE you want to do this?!
