Tekken 4: first playtest
First playtest of Tekken 4 outside of Japan? We\'ll have all of that. CVG took some Tekken experts down to Namco Europe\'s arcade offices to try out the new fighter everyone wants to play
Tekken 4 has been in development under wraps at Namco\'s Japanese HQ since last October, but it\'s only in the last couple of months that information has started to leak out. Suddenly it\'s almost finished, and ready for the world to see. Well, almost. It\'s common practice for arcade games to go on "test", in almost complete form, in selected arcades. Tekken 4 isn\'t even at that stage yet, and we had to trek down to Namco\'s West London offices to give it a go.
First impressions are that Namco\'s R+D team has been very busy recently. Characters are crisp and detailed, with flowing hair and clothes, and the all-3D stages are rammed with life-like detail. The version available was quite limited, with only eight characters and five stages available. Most of the arenas you\'ve seen in screenshots were there, though, with fights going on in locations as diverse as lush jungles and spotless airport terminals.
The only new playable character in the test version was Steve Fox. Dressed in either flamboyant boxing gear, or more restrained streetwear, the Brit fighter is only able to perform punch-based moves, as suits his discipline. The kick buttons won\'t wither away, though, as they are used to \'sway\' left and right - making him a tricky character to grab and throw. Combining sways, stick directions and punch combos should mean Steve will as flexible a fighter as the rest.
All the returning characters have gained a load of new moves to keep the gameplay balance intact, and some of them are rather special. For example, Yoshimitsu can now use his Sword Parry to steal an opponent\'s attack and use it against them. All the characters are stylishly dressed in slightly futuristic streetwear or sharp suits, as always in Tekken games, and even Paul Phoenix has let his hair down. In fact, the animated hair on the fighters is one of the most impressive new visual effects - it really does seem to react to what you\'re doing. Xiaoyu has the coolest trainers, though, and was our early favourite in two-player games.
The test version we tried out had five stages available, all of which feature uneven floors and are enclosed by walls. This is a radical change of style for Tekken games, and you notice the effect it has on gameplay immediately. Smashing someone into a wall does a load of damage, and all the characters drop from a wall impact at the same speed, so you can follow it up with a juggle for more humilation. At the moment it looks like it won\'t be possible to juggle your opponent back into the wall, so cheesy infinite combos are hopefully impossible.
Some stages also have pillars and obstacles dotted about, so you can drop in a sneaky wall hit in the middle of an arena if your positioning is right. Uneven floors seem to be mostly for show at the moment, with punches and kicks homing into the right place.
A vital new technique is the "position change". By tapping left kick and punch together with a direction on the stick, you can dodge round your opponent and get a temporary advantage to do a throw or attack from the side or behind. Regular side-stepping is now a lot faster too, with a simple double tap up or down to get moving. Holding the stick after this makes your character continue walking. Because of the 3D movement, crouching is now a down/back motion, while jumping is up/forwards.
Inital impressions of Tekken 4 are positive, with the feeling that all the new moves have been well thought out - unlike Tekken Tag which seemed a bit slapped together. Fighting is less close now, with characters naturally standing further apart, and with the addition of walls and the clever "position change" move, it looks like there may be almost limitless potential for combos amongst expert players. Put it this way; all the hardcore down at Namco today were jumping up and down like kids as they worked out new techniques, staggers, parries and reversals.
Oh, and if you\'re lucky enough to track down a test machine yourself, here are the first moves for the three new characters.
Steve Fox
British Edge Combo: LP (Left Punch), RP (Right Punch), LP, RP
British Edge Combo 2: LP, RP, LP, down, RP
Sonic Fang: down/towards, RP
Waving Left: LK (Left Kick)
Waving Right: RK (Right Kick)
Craig Marduk
Alligator: down, RP, LK
Tornado Chop: (while rising) RP
Elbow Sting: forward, hold forward, RP
Back Breaker: quarter circle back, LP + RP
Crouching Style: LK + RK
Christie Monteiro
Combo Silar: LP, RP, RK
Back Handspring: LK + RK
Mirage: down/forwards, LK + RK
Satellite Moon: RK, LK
Fruit Picker: down/back, LK + RK
We\'ll have a full Tekken 4 preview from our local expert later this
Topic: Tekken 4 impression!!!!! playtest version. (Read 993 times)