The Dead or Alive series has earned a reputation of graphical excellence over the years. So naturally Team Ninja, the development team for the Dead or Alive franchise, decided to bring Dead or Alive to the most powerful console currently on the market, and the result of their work is absolutely stunning.

The graphics in Dead or Alive 4 (DOA4) are some of the best graphics that money can buy. The various levels are rich and detailed, offering interactive elements such as moving vehicles or dinosaurs. The character models are refined to near perfection, but they remind me more of plastic dolls than of real people. But not to worry, DOA4 offers a relatively deep fighting system and tons of modes of play.

The DOA franchise has always relied heavily on counters in one form or another. This time around the counter system is intuitive enough for a novice to pick up and be able to counter on a regular basis, or effective enough for an expert to counter just about every blow you throw at them. There are also team counters, and some characters have multi stage combos that deal a great deal of damage.

The punches and kicks are what have become standard for 3D fighters. You can punch or kick high, medium or low. It is also relatively easy to string together small combos that take advantage of the ability to switch from high to low attacks on the fly. DOA4 can even be picked up by a novice who does nothing more than smash buttons, and fare pretty well (trust me, I got whooped by one on several occasions).

Team Ninja does a good job of keeping DOA accessible for newcomers, and satisfying the hardcore fighter fans. On the other hand there is no longer an easy setting for story mode. And some of the grappling characters can deal an insane amount of damage with one or two counters or throws. And the sheer cheapness of the final character can leave one utterly defeated at times, figuratively and literally.

Luckily there are plenty of characters to choose from. You have classic characters making a return, and several new ones that really hold their own. The variety of fighting styles is refreshing. You can select from several professional wrestlers who vary from big and slow to quick and tricky. The rest of the characters follow some sort of structured (or unstructured) martial art. One of the new characters even excels in drunken boxing. This variety gives the various modes more life, and balances things a bit.

You can play the standard modes such as Story Mode, Time Attack Mode, Survival Mode and Versus mode. You can also play each mode one-on-one or you can go at it with a tag team. In addition to the normal modes of play, you can also play online via Xbox Live.

When playing on Xbox Live you can host your own match, or search for a match that fits your skill level or play type. When searching for a match you can select what grade will be allowed to play, what language and what match types are acceptable. The more matches you win online the higher your grade goes up, and the more you lose the lower your grade goes. This helps balance the play for newcomers, yet still offer the experienced players a decent challenge. In addition you also have an onscreen avatar that you can modify or change depending on how much in game currency you have. Despite some slow connections causing some serious lag, the online portion of DOA4 is outstanding.

In Dead or Alive 4 there is also a great deal of unlockable content. You start off with a decent offering of selectable characters, but can unlock many more by beating the story mode. There are also two secret characters that are more difficult to unlock. In addition to the unlockable characters, you can also unlock more costumes for each character. The number of costumes each character has varies. You can also unlock a stage, and you can buy content with points earned from online play.

Needless to say Dead or Alive 4 has a little something for every fighting fan out there. It is also the only fighting game on the Xbox 360. But with good online play, a relatively deep fighting system, single and tag match bouts, DOA4 makes itself a must have for any Xbox 360 owner.