With the exception of Dead or Alive 3, the Xbox console has had little luck with the fighting game genre. And while DOA 3 has stunning graphics and plenty of “personality,” the game lacks the appeal, distinctiveness and depth of fighting games like Soul Caliber for the Dreamcast.
Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus, released in March 2003, gives the Xbox fighting line-up a little more umph. Developed by John Tobias’s (of Mortal Kombat fame) Studio, Gigante, Inc., Tao Feng offers players beautiful graphics, an intriguing backstory and several innovative features.
The game is set in an alternate universe locale called Metro China. The good Master Sage of the Pale Lotus sect and his evil opposite-Wulong Goth of the Black Mantis Sect-are clashing over a set of relics which give their possessor a chance at immortality.
Players take the role of either of these leaders or their disciples and attempt to recover the relics in one-on-one battles against members of the opposite sect.
Visually, the game is amazing. The characters look fairly lifelike, even if they do have a comic-book feel to them. And while the characters don’t have the “personality” of DOA 3, they are enjoyable to look at and their moves are impressive to watch, if somewhat stilted at times.
The basic gameplay is fairly solid. Attacks consist of trailing and leading kicks and punches which can be strung into combos which vary by character. Attacks can be blocked by holding back on the D-pad. Blocking prevents damage from all attacks but chi attacks and environmental attacks.
The characters can move in and out of the screen by tapping the joystick and pushing the D-pad up or down. In addition to the standard health meter, there’s a chi meter. The chi meter builds every time you make an attack or taunt (by pressing the black button) your opponent. When the meter is full, unblockable special moves called chi attacks can be used or damaged limbs can be healed.
Which brings us to the first two of Tao Feng’s innovative features, chi attacks and limb damage. Chi attacks are special moves with different effects depending on character and which of each character’s three chi attacks are used. They vary in damage, range, area of effect and appearance, but all are unblockable attacks. Limb damage, another innovative feature, occurs when a character sustains enough damage to either their arms or legs. High attacks damage the arms while low attacks damage the legs. This damage accrues even if the player is blocking. When limb damage occurs, either punches or kicks are reduced in effectiveness by fifty percent.
Two other innovative features are worth mentioning. As a character takes damage, their model becomes battered and bruised, with torn clothing and scuff marks to boot. This adds a great deal to the atmosphere and also adds noticeably to the eye candy. Check out Jade Dragon after a rough fight.
Excluding chi attacks, only one other set of moves does damage-albeit reduced-through blocks. These are the innovative environmental attacks. They involve jumping off a wall or pool to do considerable damage to your opponent. These attacks are potent to the point of being over powerful. My roommate was able to beat most of the game using almost nothing but these attacks.
Tao Feng’s problems don’t show up until after the first few fights. The control system is a little awkward, especially with Xbox’s triple cheeseburger-sized controller, but it’s good enough.
The two biggest problems to show up were overpowered combo moves and the insane camera angles. Combo moves, once started, can go on for a significant amount of time and take off over half a character’s health in one set. Unfortunately, once part of a combo lands, the rest is guaranteed to score. Matches often degrade into one player firing off an extended combo while the other sits completely helpless. There should at least be a way to break the combo attacks.
Even more aggravating than being stuck in a 3-million hit combo of doom is the “you’re facing right-zip-you’re facing left” camera. Instead of phasing through objects, the camera swings to avoid them, often switching left and right for the players. It’s more than just disorienting, it can often end a combo flat or cause a player to drop his guard for no reason.
Outside the ring, there isn’t much to Tao Feng. The promising back story isn’t really explored. There is only one unlockable character and one unlockable stage. Replay value on the game suffers accordingly.
The bottom line is that Tao Feng is a beautiful and innovative game that comes up a little short in playability and depth. Its main faults lie in its poor camera system, difficult controls, lack of hidden bonuses like characters and stages and its overly powerful combo system. Much of these problems are made up for in the innovative chi, limb damage and off-the-wall attack features.
With luck, the problems will be addressed in the sequel, for Tao Feng’s innovations definitely deserve a more polished game. In the end, Tao Feng is a decent, innovative game worth renting for the weekend, if nothing else.