Dragon Ball Z Battle of Z Preview: Find out why Artdink’s take on the Dragon Ball Z gameplay might be the most ambitious yet.
You can read our preview of the PS Vita version here.
Disclaimer: I was not able to get a connection when I was searching for agame to participate in: Therefore, this preview will not focus on the online aspects of this game.
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z, at first glance, doesn’t change the basic formula at all. Players pick their favorite character, and duke it out in a open arena until someone emerges victorious. The controls are what first stood out to me as I was pleasantly surprised over how well everything worked. For the most part, the game controls fluently with very little hiccups. I do have to mention though that there were some issues that plagued the initial experience. The camera and lock on system both move in a slow/clunky motion when players are in “free movement.” In combat, this problem would of becomes less problematic, but another issues comes up that still makes these things a issue. Basically, a combo doesn’t finish until it’s final execution. When a players hits a enemy this is no problem, but I found myself missing my targets due to slight misjudgments in position due to the camera and lock on system. This caused Goku to attack the air without anyway of stopping; giving my enemies a open opportunity to knock me on my ass.This affair happens less the more players adapt to the changes, but it did overstay it’s welcome regardless.
In terms of visuals, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z is easily one of the best looking games in the video game series. Artdink managed to not only create a artstyle that is beautiful on it’s own, but one that is manipulated in ways that actually make the game play better (or give the illusion that it does.) When in close range combat, the game will manipulate the camera and add certain graphical details that make the gameplay feel intense. I would love to perform, albeit repetitive, yet exciting combos that would launch my opponent across the map. Although the lasting appeal this will have on the entire package can’t be determine until it’s full release, I will say that the combat was a lot of fun to playthrough in the demo.
One of the newest changes to come to the combat is a new “multiplayer” mechanic. Basically, the game allows fights that consist of a maximum of 8 players. This new and exciting feature was shown in the single player, but it is clearly made with a multiplayer focus. In single player, this feature was initially cool but became irrelevant quickly. The poor AI didn’t seem to aid me in any signifigant ways, so they become more of a decoration to the battlefield. This issues status will most likely be different in the final product however. The only multiplayer based features I was able to truly experience was the character customization. Players can customize their favorite Dragon Ball Z character in terms of stats and appearance. Appearance is limited as players can only customize the color palette: However the stat customization did show a healthy amount of depth. Players add cards to the character of their choice which can change stats or other aspects of the character. All I can confirm about the cards is that you can earn them through playing the single player.
Overall, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z does show some promise, but it is not without it’s problems as well. If consumers are looking at this game for it’s multiplayer, you might want to check it out. The game plays very well, and it most likely plays even better in multiplayer. However, any person who is strictly looking at the single player may want to skip this game. Another side note, this game does not feature split screen multiplayer.
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z is the latest video game coming from the popular Dragon Ball Z anime series, and is set to release on January 23 (JP), January 24 (EU), and January 28 (NA) on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox 360. The demo has been available on all the featured device since December 2013.
