Arnold-KatayevTekken has long been one of videogaming's biggest properties, thanks to the massive growth it experienced on the original PlayStation. Now, as many of us have seen, the fighting genre is experiencing a bit of rebirth at the moment, one that is largely fueled by the release of Street Fighter IV earlier this year. Games like Virtua Fighter and SoulCalibur have both appeared on next-gen platforms, but both failed to amass the type of sales and hype that Street Fighter IV garnered. But it can be argued that perhaps Virtua Fighter simply isn't as big as SF, and that SoulCalibur, while extremely popular at one point, has fallen due a lack of true creativity. Ultimately, Tekken is still more popular than Virtua Fighter and SoulCalibur, but does Tekken 6 live up to the popularity and fandom?
Immediately, I noticed one major issue with Tekken 6 as soon as I booted it up. The loading times. Now, I'm usually not one to nitpick load times, but for a series that has historically had lightning quick loading, why is Tekken 6 so slow in that regard? Matches can take up to 20 seconds to load, and navigating from the main menu into a game mode takes as much as 10-15. Thankfully, a five minute install takes care of all of this and cuts down the loading considerably, albeit it's still not quite as zippy as past games.
With that out of the way, how does Tekken play? Well, there is virtually no feeling of being lost, as all of the classic commands for every fighter have been retained, in addition to an assortment of new actions that have been added. Fluidity is still the top priority of the franchise, and it shows as comboing looked and felt effortless if you know what you're doing. Each and every character still possesses unique attributes that makes him or her feel completely different – and when you have a total of 40 characters, that's a commendable feat to achieve. So with a massive roster of 40 fighters to choose from, you have a very wide assortment of fighters and fighter-types to choose from. But Tekken 6 remains unlike other fighting games. Take Virtua Fighter, it tends to focus a lot more on being very technical, and so loses accessibility in the process. That's not a knock on the Sega franchise, it's simply the truth. Tekken, on the other hand, manages a perfect mixture of being both accessible and very deep simultaneously. All you need to know is that if you've played a Tekken game before, you'll feel right at home here.
Now, all 40 characters are unlocked from the very start. Some may like it, some may not. Regardless of your preference, if you're a perfectionist, you're still going to want to see every single ending in the game. If you're not the perfectionist type, then you'll want to know that a majority of the endings aren't worth seeing. So don't feel disappointed when you finish the game with Lili only to see some terrible ending. Likewise, a number of the endings are the same or similar for two characters, for example: Christie and Eddy, Lili, Asuka and Panda, Raven and Dragunov, and Kuma and Heihachi all share endings. There are a number of proper and more serious endings, some of which are really cool, but those are particularly limited to characters like Armor King, King, Marduk, Jin, Kazuya, Yoshimitsu, Hwoarang, Baek, and Wang. Many of the endings are threaded and feature numerous fighters in them, so in order to see the full story, you'll have to unlock the specific other fighters from that ending to see the rest. Likewise, some of the characters also have two endings which helps counter the amount of pointless or lame endings Tekken 6 boasts.
But of course, for those looking for something new, there are still a ton of enhancements and additions made to the fighters, such as the Rage system. And what would a Tekken game be without a whole bunch of game modes to choose from? An all new Tekken Scenario Campaign mode is featured here, and in a way, this is actually the core of the game, as the adventure and its ending seems to be the aim and focus of Tekken 6's storyline. Much like the past Tekken Force mode, Scenario Campaign is a beat'em-up adventure where you take control of a new character named Lars, as he and an unexpected accomplice, Alisa, fight together in order to destroy the Mishima Zaibatsu and the G Corporation. Now, some of you may be excited by the prospect of a full blown Tekken Force with nearly two hours of cut-scenes. But I suggest you contain your excitement. Not only are the mechanics for the mode clumsy, but the story is absolutely awful. These cut-scenes are without question some of the most boring storytelling this generation has seen. Namco would have been better leaving the Scenario Campaign alone as a mini-game, and incorporating the story directly into the Iron Fist battles, instead.
Lastly, I also wouldn't get excited for the online, either. The netcode isn't very refined and experiences a number of issues, which Namco should be addressing, but still hasn't just yet. Furthermore, the Campaign mode doesn't have any co-operative gameplay, which it seems to be designed for, and once again, Namco has said they may likely issue an update for that.
As far as the aesthetics go, the game now boasts a notably bigger bump in animation and its smoothness. Despite how nice the fighters animated in Tekken Tag, Tekken 4, and Tekken 5, Tekken 6 manages to outdo them all considerably – bravo, Namco. Fighter details are very nice, but it's the stages that looked really fantastic and steal the show, featuring destruction and numerous levels. The art direction shines here yet again, making this one pretty game to appreciate. But, perceptive gamers may notice that Tekken 6 isn't a very sharp looking game. And if you've noticed that, you're right. Unfortunately, Tekken 6 is not a full 720p game, so that soft haziness you see is a result of that. The game runs a resolution of 576p, which is considerably lower than this generation's status quo. We're not quite sure why the game runs at this resolution, because the arcade game, which is based on PS3 architecture, runs at 720p…but we'll just have to chalk it up to multiplatformitis. Textures in the environments aren't always so pretty to look at, and the cloudiness of the resolution only looks worse the larger your TV set. Running Tekken 6 on a 60" Pioneer Kuro wasn't exactly a pleasing experience, granted it did look better on the TV in my office, a 1080p Samsung LN32B. Still, we're simply way too far in this generation to be seeing sub-HD resolutions.
Then we have the audio, which I found to be extremely odd. The game splits the voice acting between Japanese and English, with no option to choose which you want to hear exclusively. It gets pretty annoying when you have to read what Lars and Alisa (neither of which are of Japanese decent) are saying during the Scenario Campaign, especially considering how boring the story is. Two hours of boring dialogue, and you have to read most of it. In this Campaign, you'll also see Eddy and Nina speak English to Jin, and Jin reply in Japanese – it just feels disorienting; either sub it all and leave it Japanese, or give us a choice like most Japanese games do. The soundtrack is pretty good, as are the rest of the sound effects, but you probably already knew that.
I'd have to say this, though, I went back to my PS3's XMB and selected Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection HD, and I felt like it was somehow the better game. It doesn't boast any unnecessary campaigns, it's still extremely tight as far as balance and mechanics, and it's character roster is still very large. In addition to all of that, the PS3's HD Tekken 5 is playable online, boasts an assortment of gameplay modes, and still looks quite nice with its proper 1080p resolution (unlike Tekken 6) and the 60 frames per second. Which leaves me wondering, what exactly is the point of spending $60 on Tekken 6? If you're a real die-hard fan, then there's no stopping you from already owning this game. But if you're a money-conscious gamer who wants a solid fighter, wait it out for a price drop, or just go and get Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection from the PlayStation Network, you'll save yourself quite a lot of money, for a very comparable experience.
I really thought Tekken 6 would score higher. If what you're saying is truth I'm a little disappointed.
'I'd have to say this, though, I went back to my PS3's XMB and selected Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection HD, and I felt like it was somehow the better game.'
Thank you. Ive been saying this for a while.
I never could get into the Tekken series. I always walked by and went to the Killer Instinct, Street Fighter VS, Darkstalkers, and Samurai Shodown machines. Same with the home versions.
Heh, looks like Tekken 6 got a price drop today at GameStop. It's $50 now. Still too much, imo.
i got it at frys on day 1 for 47 dollars. I dont know when they started discounting new release games on launch day but its very welcome. they did the same for rachet and clank and modern warfare 2.
I installed Tekken so i had no issue with the loading, The game doesnt have any interesting new characters (Though thats nothing new, last one to do so was Tekken 3. But the game itself is great. Alot of people disliked the scenario mode, but i loved it it had me laughing at many moments and got me really engaged, its by far the most indepth Tekken Force they've done.
At first i was upset about the 40 characters being unlocked, but when you go onto Scenario you have to beat each scenario section to unlock a character in Arena, Which is the Arcade mode with the story clip for each character at the end. Though to my disapointment this Arena mode only had 4 stages…..
I have yet to play online mode but i'm hoping to get my connection sorted so i can soon, i'm highly antcipating it.
As for the Customise mode, it never impressed me in Tekken 5, nor did it in Tekken 6. One gripe i did have is i wanted to turn Heihachi's hair black so hes like the classic Hehachi, but you cant change the hair colour of the default hair style, which is daft. Most people will find the customisations fun. But to be the Tekken characters are just so iconic that i dont want to change them, like Kazuya in his purple suit, Paul in his red Karate costume…. it just donest feel right changing it, so costumisations dont really interest me.
I personally enjoy Tekken 6, To me its been the most fun since Tekken Tag, T4 was different, but T5 i got bored of pretty quickly. I'd say its a must for Tekken Fans and a rental for others.
scenario arena may be short but its still a pain in the ass to beat the final boss. I mean not only is it strong but he can even block attacks while he attacks, at least during the beginning of the attack.
You said it! Ultimadream. I'm loving Tekken 6 a lot plus the Scenario Mode is really enjoyable. Your missing big time on the customization, you could dress Marshall Law exactly like Bruce Lee with that yellow/black and sneakers.
does kuma speaks jap too?ehe how about gon?ehe or that kangaroo thing with the stupid gloves,is he australian?haha stupid tekken characters!they should have removed these from the list and focused more on the resolution and other important details.namco sucks!
Dude you'd be destroyed by Kuma and Roger in the hands of a skilled player. Utterly destroyed. Go back to your play pen.
with 40 characters, even the kangaroo and bear guys, they didnt put gon in it.
Thanks for saving me the money. I guess I'll just redownload T5:DR (which I deleted since i couldn't play it after I changed my user account).
My last favorite Tekken was Tekken Tag. My wife revealed the other day she liked Tekken, I was going to get it but now I'll wait.
I love Tekken, but there's simply too many other games at the moment that I have to get to first. When I started hearing that the online play was kinda glitchy I cried inside as all my Tekken loving friends no longer live in town. This might have to wait for a price drop or at least a patch that solidifies the online experience.
yeah well guess i might be devastated by a skilled player but atleast i dont have to see their stupid looking faces if namco knows what they are doing.
?
I remember something like the arcade using something called Namco System 357 is a system board based on the Sony PlayStation 3.
so why they are loadings in the game? I'm gonna blame the time they spend on the 360 version.
Tekken has always been a great series. I've grown up with it haha. One thing I dont like about this is the lag issue online. Its worse than tekken 5. Namco has said they are working on a patch. But i'm positive it isnt my internet connection. I have Cox's lightning fast speed or whatever its called.
Tech Guy Chris
all internet connections are pretty much the same. Its the bandwidth that is the real problem.
chris brown is that you?
lol
Never thought I'd dissagree with you, Arnold. I thought the gameplay was very well done. Yes, loading times are a pain to sit through, and the online stinks for now until the fix it, but other than those two things, the game simply rocks. The graphics are very nice if you can over look subtleties here and there. maybe I am just that much of a die-hard Tekken fan, but I absolutley love this game!
i was glad that you didnt have to win to get most of the online trophies. online sucked when you put together lag and one move players.
I was a little disappointed in Tekken 6 because it's obvious the game could have been better. I think the campaign mode was kind of weak with the targeting system. If you forget to switch targets, you'll be swinging at nothing while the enemy gets a few shots in on you. I would rather it automatically switch to the closest opponent. I wish I would have gotten Dragon Age: Origins instead. Tekken 6 is worth $30 at the most, but I think it's better than Dark Ressurection.
"I remember something like the arcade using something called Namco System 357 is a system board based on the Sony PlayStation 3."
I guess you missed the news months ago when it confirmed that it was confirmed by a website that the console release was downgraded.
Anyhow I never expected Namco to release a arcade perfect conversion especially when you consider the fact that BR is a big money maker for namco(as current ranks above VF5R according to Arcadia Magazine); to make a comparable arcade perfect version would do nothing but work against namco.
As for Tekken being accessible game, its not. In fact Tekken is everything like VF down to the tee.
"I remember something like the arcade using something called Namco System 357 is a system board based on the Sony PlayStation 3."
I guess you missed the news months ago when it confirmed that it was confirmed by a website that the console release was downgraded.
Anyhow I never expected Namco to release a arcade perfect conversion especially when you consider the fact that BR is a big money maker for namco(as current ranks above VF5R according to Arcadia Magazine); to make a comparable arcade perfect version would do nothing but work against namco.
As for Tekken being accessible game, its not. In fact Tekken is everything like VF down to the tee.
Ok one question, since when did Tekken need a "campagn mode"? Okay two questions why did they wait until now to make this a big factor in the game? Hmmm seems like Namco has user base research to do.
they're trying to add story to the game which gamers dont really need in fighting games. Maybe a few background stuff but not a full blown story.
You can blame Smash Brothers for that one. Adding some nonsensical beat 'em up campaign to a brawler is just a sad attempt at adding "value for the consumer."
wait so they add something to the game and thats a bad thing?
campaign mode is the reason i bought this since the online mode is fooked.
I ALWAYS want more story in my fighting games. The more story, the better. That being said… the cutscenes in Tekken's Campaign can be pretty awful sometimes (the hour-long dramatic death scene of Random Soldier #3 at the beginning, for instance) and some of the endings are beyond stupid (Paul's).
-Arvis
Big disappointment. Remember the prerendered footage of Jin Kazama enticing us for the next iteration of Tekken on PS3? Talk about falling short of the target, but they couldn't even try for 720p? I'm figuring they did this to eliminate screen-tearing, which I hope has been eliminated completely.
Not the next generation of Tekken I was expecting. Well it sort of was, especially when I heard long back it was no longer PS-only franchise, but still. Tekken was one of the feathers in Sony's cap, and I'm sure this franchise had sold plenty of ps1's and ps2's.
Yeah, it's painfully obvious what going multiplatform has done to the visual fideltiy of this game. It BARELY looks any better than the Dark Resurrection PSN download.
-Arvis
The resolution that they picked is an odd one, it DOESN'T sound like it was a choice made for performance reasons since the game runs at a full 720p in the arcades, and 576p is a progressive scan PAL image. PAL being the TV standard in Europe. Why choose that resolution? It may just be a coincidence that it's exactly the resolution needed for progressive scan PAL, but then again…
what i hated about the game is that the money is pretty much useless, especially for campaign mode. I mean you can buy costumes but the ones you buy is pretty useless. All the good items with added bonuses can only be dropped. I spent so much time farming for good items. I havent even used the money i earned to buy costumes because it was pointless in campaign. another thing that bugged me was they sell you costumes with different colors seperately, i rather buy one and customize the color later.
this gen fighters on PS3, i only got and kept two: BlazBlue and SF4, two of the best. not gonna get anything else. no KOF12 or Tekken 6 or anything else. sold Soul Calibur 4 already, SC2 is the best.
Last edited by BigBoss4ever on 11/16/2009 9:40:07 PM
Yup!
I agree with you on many of your thoughts/preferences.
thank you!
Ah, wonder how much having to spend time making a 360 port had to do with the disappointment that Tekken 6 turned out to be…
Oh well, lucky for me I was never a big Tekken fan.
Stop putting all the blame on the 360 version and focus that blame on namco themselves
aaronisbla I know but I couldn't also help but think like Scarecrow, seriously, the first Tekken multiplat and its gotten mediocre scores, you should smell something fishy.
That's what you get for not staying with Sony's PS3!
Kidding fanboyism aside, dammmmn.
😉
I probably wasn't going to get it any ways seeing as I already have Tekken 5:DR.I Sadly only have SCIV to feed my fighting game thirst.C'mom Rare, where's my god damn Killer Instinct 3.
i had to choose between this or sciv and i chose sciv. tekken 6 has all those cool character options and u can't make you own character? that sucks!
Indeed.
SC4 still needs some DLC from Namco, what they did so far was pathetic, and SC4 misses the single player content that SC2 and SC3 had, a decent story/campaign mode in SC4 would have made me a lot more positive about it. As would toning down the cheap, cheating AI towards the top of the Tower of Souls.
Still, making custom characters whiles away the hours in a way that cannot be matched by simply changing the costumes on pre-created characters.
campaign mode actually made me buy this.
something has to hold me off till assassins creed 2.
i swear to god im cursed though.
uncharted 2, brutal legend and opp2 were suppose to be out on the 15th of october, uncharted 2 was the only one i wanted early, so its the only one to hold its date, both brutal legend and opp 2 came out on the 10th.
than dragon origins on 360, R&C and tekken 6 were all suppose to be out on the 5th of nov.
i only wanted R&C out early, so its also the only one to hold its date.
than L4D2, dragon age origins on ps3 and assassins creed 2 were suppose to be out on november 19th so both L4D2 and dragon age origins came out today the 17th but AC2 is still the 19th.
coincidence?
the 6 i dont give a 2 hoots about break their street date, the 3 i do give a 2 hoots about dont.
wheres that black cat following me?
Errrr. . . Actually Lars is of Japanese descent
*Spoiler alert*(Always wanted to do that. Lol.)
He's Kazuya's half brother. And the hairstyle, if that is not Japanese, i don't know what is 😛
Actually…..Lars is mixed… which is why he doesnt really look all that japanese
Last edited by aaronisbla on 11/17/2009 12:55:59 AM
Well to me Tekken 6 is my best fighting game so far and I know I'll be playing for a long time. I enjoyed SC4 and found SF4 getting boring quick, so I think T6 is just complete.
One thing is the graphics are stellar, the lighting is by far better than SC4. There's a whole lot to do in the game, I don't know why its getting average scores when SF4 is so overrated, had no campaign, the stories were the daftest, repetitive modes which are all also readily available in T6 plus, T6 got scenario mode to unlock all kinds of attires and arena to unlock movies.
Tekken 6 has way more content, I refuse to understand why it should be rated this way due to the laggy online when it could be patched. Now I dunno if going multiplat is to blame!
Yeah I don't think a Guitar Hero enthusiast should be reviewing intricate fighting games like Tekken – or fighting games in general for that matter. Not that I care that it got a 8.3 (which is still good) but to call it a disappointment and say Tekken 5 was better. Leads me to believe the reviewer has no clue what he's talking about.
Okay, I thought I’d put my 2 cents in after reading through everything and actually playing this myself etc…I’ve been an loyal fan of the Tekken series since it came out on the PS1, back then I was totally blown away by the difference of game play & animation which was a total shift from Mortal Kombat & Street Fighter genre. What drew me to this franchise was how detailed the fighting styles were, that fighting cast wasn’t as strong as it is now but this never hindered the game at all, it had total replay value. Then Tekken II was released & Namco totally hit the nail on the head with that game, even Tekken III was to take the Tekken franchise to the next level of fighting games & dare I say it but for me Tekken Tag was the best version of the Tekken series hands down (well, for me that is).
After that, I just started losing interest. Yeah okay, I admit Tekken 4 was fun to play but to me the storylines started to get weaker & weaker, and that’s what I really liked about the series is how the storyline remained consistent, it made a player want to find out what happened to who and why this character got involved in the first place. I haven’t touched this game until Tekken 6, as I’ve just haven’t been bothered with this ever since Tekken Tag. Come to think of it, I’m quite surprised that they haven’t done a new version of Tag. I mean come on…tagging in and out your player was awesome! For example King & Amour King, & how they would have their way of tagging in & out each other (I always loved the Doomsday Device they did, I’m sure you all remember) but this was just the start, other characters that teamed up had there own “special†partner tag as well but also the ability to juggle these tags was awesome as well. I don’t know, I guess that’s just me really…I can see how you all feel about the Tekken series etc…but for me keeping it simple and consistent was always the best approach. Take a look at BlazBlue, 12 people in that roster but it’s on of the most awesome 2D fighting games since Street Fighter III.
If you ask me the apple has fallen far from the tree since the previous version, yes graphics & other modes have been updated as they went along but honestly…the thing that Namco should really focus on, is Quality & not Quantity. I would reduce the fighter count, concentrate on bringing the storyline back to where it all began & focus on the core of the game…& for god sakes, can we please tone down on the juggles already?!! I mean DAYUM! I’m all for juggles, they’re cool to do but to juggle people until they’re dead…where’s the fun in that? The reason why I like this game is that the moves the characters do, mimic real fighting styles. The fact that you can fight some one, do it toe to toe & beat them hands down with authority is a thing of beauty! Especially when you pull off a “Chicken†Ohhhh yeah…now that’s what I’m talking about!! LMAO
That is All.