Tekken 6

by Ashley Coomer - 2008/02/01 7:56am

One of the reasons we play videogames is because they let us do things we wouldn’t otherwise be able to get away with. Whether it’s mowing down old ladies in Grand Theft Auto, drifting around the streets at great speeds in Ridge Racer or, in the case of Tekken, beating the crap out of a bear, they’re all things we can’t do. Well, we could, but apparently mowing down old ladies and fighting with bears is frowned upon these days. That’s why we’re eagerly anticipating the release of Tekken 6. Before we go on, we have to admit to not expecting a great deal more with Tekken 6. For the past few years the games haven’t really changed… yeah, there have been innovations and the surprise treat that was Tekken: Dark Resurrection, but nothing to redefine the ageing fighter. With that said, forgive our cynical approach to the game, but let’s face it Namco has a lot to lose if things don’t go well this time round.

Tekken 6 will be built around the well-received elements of Tekken 5 and Dark Resurrection, while adding in some newer pieces such as a more in-depth character customisation feature and bigger and more destructible stages. A big emphasis has been put on the fact that for Tekken 6, every animation frame has been changed which for newcomers to the series won’t mean much, but diehard Tekken fans are going to have to learn the animations again. Another thing that has been changed is the stages. Some will now have multiple tiers and day and night cycles, though this won’t apply to all stages.

With all this change you could well be thinking there is no room for brand new elements, but you couldn’t be further from the truth. The Rage System is a perfect example of this. The lower your fighter’s life bar, the more damage they will be able to deal, though this won’t always apply – it will only make a difference when it has been activated, not every time your character falls low on health. Another thing Tekken 6 introduces is item moves, where each fighter has an item they can use against an opponent, an example being Bryan Fury’s shotgun from the latest trailer of the game. What’s not clear however, is what level of damage these will inflict once used… we’ll place our bets on them being the equivalent of a finishing move.



With changes and new elements out of the way, Namco has decided to improve on some core existing elements. First and foremost, the health bar has been increased slightly as opposed to that of previous titles, the reason being several of the aforementioned features will knock down health like a striker in a bowling alley. The other is the character customisation feature letting you change top and bottom clothes of the fighter, and use universal options such as glasses, shoes and gloves. Of course, these are unlikely to improve your performance but like in Virtua Fighter, you want your champion to look good!

Along with those additions, Namco is also adding six new characters into the mix. The first, Zafina, is female and her fighting style is Harada, better known as the spider movement, making her a largely unpredictable fighter. Leo, on the other hand, is a Hakkyoku-Ken fighter, that being the most popular style of Japanese Kung Fu. Leo, apparently female (how can you tell?!) will be comparable to Akira from Virtua Fighter, an all-round fighter. The third, Miguel Caballero Rojo, executes the Zipota (brawling) fighting style and as such will be of interest to fans of less serious beat-‘em-ups. Bob, the fourth new character, is an American Karate fighter best distinguished by his obesity, fifth is Jack-6, a Brute Strength fighter and finally is Azazel, the game’s final boss, whose fighting style is as of yet unknown. Other than new faces, familiar fighters will be returning and according to Namco, almost every character from Dark Resurrection will be here, making it the biggest Tekken to date in terms of the amount of characters that could even top the 40 mark.



Sadly to detract from the newer and improved elements of Tekken 6, some things had to make way and the one we know about is one of our favourite bits of the series – it’s the mini-games. As small as they may seem, the mini-games were what gave a welcome break to the hectic gameplay. Things like Tekken Bowling, Tekken Ball and Tekken Force will be missed.

Looking back over this preview, it’s obvious there will be a lot to stop the game from sucking, but at the same time, it doesn’t really introduce anything groundbreaking like we’ve been asking for. Still, with online multiplayer and the new elements mentioned in this preview, it looks as though there’s still life in Namco’s famous fighting series yet.