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Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus has been terribly hyped and is one of the bigger Xbox games of 2003. The game mixes a storyline with classic hand-to-hand combat and results in a great looking title. Great looking doesn’t always mean great playing, however. Does this live up to the hype?
If the game looks rather similar to Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is because this game was developed by Studio Gigante. Studio Gigante was formed by John Tobias, half of the original Mortal Kombat duo, after he split from Midway in 2000. Ed Boon, the other half of the original team, went on to work on Deadly Alliance.
Gameplay is rather similar to other fighting titles. Each of the game’s many characters has an arsenal of attacks at their disposition. Each of them also has their own unique fighting style. This adds some strategy as you can choose to play with a character who matches your style. If your style happens to press all the buttons and see what happens, or button mashing, you’re in luck. While you are rewarded for using combos in the game, you can go through the single player mode with barely any skill if you have quick fingers. Some of the more difficult moves have a higher damage ratio, and combos as always, are the way to go. This also makes the game more than just button mashing, a problem associated with many modern fighting titles.
One of the more touted features of Tao Feng is the limb damage. Unlike other games where characters gain damage regardless of where you hit them, this system lets you target a body part and be brutal. For example, if you are taking a beating on your arm don’t expect your own punches to be very effective. It adds some depth to the fighting and makes the game earn is bold M rating.
A minor gripe with the game is that the AI is pretty difficult. Until you gain a mastery of the combos and more advanced moves, you’ll need to result to button mashing to move on.
Tao Feng is definitely one of the more impressive looking games of the year, and among fighters, it really shines. This game looks great. The character models are awesome and really reflect the game’s tone. The level of detail is astounding with all characters and when a limb begins to take damage, you’ll see every bruise, and cut. The wonderfully designed environments take a beating as well and only add to the game’s great visuals. The environments are very varied and each has their own unique look. Particle effects accompany the more spectacular moves and look great. The cut scenes that advance the story look very good as well.
There are but two problems with the otherwise great visuals. All of the fancy effects really take a toll on the Xbox and you’ll notice some slowdown when you perform some combos. The slowdown also makes the game miss some animations which make the game look choppy at some point. While it never reaches graceful status, the slowdown also takes a toll on the animation. Regardless, you won’t notice that very often and the game looks awesome.
In the audio department, the game performs solidly as well. Each character has a pair of taunts and some expressions but the matches are briefed with voice-overs. The voice-acting is very good and actually adds to the game’s atmosphere. The soundtrack is techno-based as is standard for fighting titles. For some odd reason, you can’t use a custom soundtrack. The sound effects are rather generic. You’ll hear the punches, grabs, and kicks but you won’t hear bones breaking. The environments do have several atmosphere sound effects that add to their unique nature. For those with fancy audio setups, the game supports in game Dolby Digital.
Overall, Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus is a good fighting game for Xbox owners. If you are bored with Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, you should give this a try. While it isn’t the Deadly Alliance killer it was hyped to be, on its own, it is a fun game. And that is what matters. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Jun 8, 2003
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