Heihachi Mishima hosts a fourth King of Iron Fist Tournament two years following the previos one, promising the prize of his entire wealthy international empire, in order to lure his son Kazuya(who has dusted himself off from that whole "gettin' tossed into a volcano" business... frankly, I think he's a bit of a pushover, who *hasn't* had that happen to them? Honestly) into a trap. Yes, this actually has a plot, and if you play as one of the three people involved(the two aforementioned, and Jin, who dons a hoodie and behaves slightly emo), you will see a resolution to it. Whether you find it completely satisfying or not is... erhm, individual. There are roughly 20 characters, from a fairly wide range of backgrounds(albeit most are human, this time around... the exceptions being the grizzly Kuma, Panda, Combot(a robot that imitates the others... that makes an awful lot more sense than a magical tree) and Yoshimitsu) and using distinct styles of martial arts(everyone in this can hold their own, if you know how to use them), and all have two outfits(and they are great, if there are really unfortunate choices here and there... the top pick definitely being our villain choosing to wear Sumo garb, complete with the thong part... whose bright idea was it to put a senior citizen in that? Who wanted to see that, or for us to?) and a coherent, personal tale(of differing tone, seriousness and... how engaging they are) that you will see both a prologue and epilogue to if you complete it as them. Old favorites return, such as the temperamental short cook Law, the strong psychopath Bryan, the assassin Nina, the teenybopping Xiaoyu(who, in her Summer dress, is a non-stop upskirt shot... well, I suppose that can serve as a distraction technique...?), the biker Paul and the determined police officer Lei. There are surprisingly few new faces, and one might wind up missing some of the ones that didn't make it here from 3(which I will be comparing this to, and for most other aspects, this one is superior). Other than the already mentioned, this gives us Christie(Eddy with boobs that she doesn't mind showing off, in spite of the obvious fact that they do not follow Newton's laws... what? I'm a male and I have a pulse), who is indeed a mere reskin of the one we already know, Violet(an AI expert who gives the returning Hwoarang a run for his money as far as who is better at taking out others with little trouble using only the lower half of their body), Marduk(a... wrestler. Another one. We already had King, and he's still here, so...? Well, he's bigger, and he can dish out punishment) and Steve, who genuinely does add something. He's a boxer, and thus he does not use his legs at all. Instead, those functions are replaced with dodging(ducking and weaving), sacrificing range for swiftness. He can even use these to "sneak up on" the opponent, who will have trouble hitting him, allowing for powerful uppercuts. There are tons of cool moves, and they tend to be easily accessible even to beginners. The four buttons on the joystick are for low and high, punches and kicks. Adjusting the exact strike can typically be done by combining it with one of the directions, and there are combos that you can pull off right away. This can be fun for both new players and more expert ones, not scaring anyone off and yet rewarding honing(and learning how to execute the grander stuff). The new physics engine has you feeling the impact of every blow, the muscles and joints tend to behave as they should, and you can even use the surrounding area to your advantage, knocking the foe into a wall or a large object(which may even be breakable, such as a phone booth). The level of interaction is reasonable, with such things as crowds/civilians that you can move towards and that may then try to run away. This also has proper 3D, where you can wander slightly around the richly detailed(complete with beautifully done water, that splashes and otherwise acts quite realistically; that also goes for the fog), gorgeously lit, impeccably designed and varied stages(with airports, an underground arena with howling onlookers, the top of a building, etc.). In general, the graphics are astonishing, with almost everything looking natural(including the expressive faces... and yes, there are some that look unsettlingly fake), the colors being nuanced and enunciated, the The fighting is addictive, tense and remarkably smooth. Controls are responsive and largely intuitive. This is stylish, with deep atmosphere, a memorable mix of rock and techno music, and well-directed, impeccably animated full CGI cut-scenes that tend towards being compelling storytelling(a couple of them are confusing, and/or don't add up). The length is appropriate, and there are several difficulty settings(thus making it a challenge to newcomers as well as veterans), unlockable combatants, and the extra modes of Survival(last for as long as you can), Time Attack(see how fast you can get through the entirety of Arcade), Team Battle(assemble a group and eliminate all members of the adversary's, each time one is defeated, the next in line takes over), Training(where it tells you how to do certain tricks, and you try to do them in the best time), Practice(take on someone to teach yourself how to use different people in the cast, in a safe environment) and Tekken Force. In the last one mentioned, you take on waves of enemies of increasing volume and toughness. You will have to change what direction you face and move at an angle, and this is much easier and less frustrating than it was in the third one. There are new features such as storing replays of entire matches(all rounds of them!). There is disturbing content and brutal violence(albeit no blood or actual gore... still, bones are broken, death occurs) in this. I recommend this to any fan of the fighting game sub-genre and of this series. 8/10
