Tekken 6 Review

Tekken is one of the most venerable franchises in the world of fighting games, with it initially appearing on home consoles way back in 1995. Fourteen years on, the King of Iron Fist Tournament is still throwing its weight around, but with a vastly expanded roster of fighters, all of whom wish to take the crown and become the new head of Mishima Zaibatsu.

Whereas most fighting games just give players a roster and put them up against other fighters one-by-one, Tekken attempts to change things up by letting players play through a mode that was initially called Tekken Force Mode. Nowadays it's just called Scenario Campaign, but it essentially allows players to take their favourite characters through levels more akin to a beat 'em up. At the end of each level, they then get to square off against one of the main characters in a more unconventional fight than traditional fighting fans will be used to.

It's a mode that helps to change things up, but as when it was initially debuted in Tekken 3, it still feels really rough around the edges. Nothing seems overly tuned, and the controls feel quite clunky and awkward. If playing single-player, the AI partner is generally quite useless too, and unless they are literally forced to walk through health pick-ups, they won't, causing them to die quite frequently on the harder levels. It can become incredibly frustrating because not only does the player have to worry about what they're doing, they also have to worry about keeping the AI alive.

There are actually quite a lot of stages though, and players even get the chance to play as a huge mech, wreaking havoc. They can also use an assortment of weapons, and completely customise their characters with stat-enhancing items. However, what will actually keep players playing is the story, which follows the adventures of Lars Alexandersson and Alisa Bosconovitch as they look to stop the maniacal Jin Kazama from destroying the world. If this wasn't present, it might be difficult to continue playing the mode, as it does get a bit boring and repetitive after a while.

The crux of the game comes in the actual Versus modes though, and the standard modes are all available. Arcade Battle offers the generic experience, whereby players choose a character and fight against random opponents until they get near the end. Here, they'll face off against the 'boss' characters, which pose a distinctly different challenge. There's also Ghost Battle, which puts players against an unlimited number of opponents, Team Battle, Time Attack and Survival.