Street Fighter V
Overview -
'Street Fighter IV' was a phenomenon back when it hit arcades in 2008. The 2009 PS3, 360, and eventual PC versions not only seemed to resurrect the fighting game genre, but also brought it to an online savvy audience. The game went on to have four versions and a mess of DLC costume content.
'Street Fighter V' as pitched by Capcom and Sony is an Unreal 4-powered series' entry, complete with the roster, move set, and other trappings worthy of a numbered mainline 'SF' entry. But this time out, Capcom has promised there will be no 'Super' or 'Ultra' variants. Instead, 'Street Fighter V' will receive new content, including an already announced slate of six additional fighters via updates. This new content will then need to be earned or else bought. The idea, in part, is to keep the player-base together. Likewise, the PS4 and PC versions support online versus play (Ranked, Casual, etc.), which is a major first for the series.
Video Review
We've come a long way since the debut of 'IV,' and the step up in stylized realism for the characters, when combined with a very clean UI, makes 'Street Fighter V' look pleasingly sharp. The fighting animations are mostly lovely, and there's a strong discipline with the camera that helps to keep the repetitive nature of certain moves from being boring visually. Unfortunately, in spite of the triggered changes, the background stages detract from the presentation. Many of the smaller character details also depend heavily on some funky physics, and in turn do some very ugly things. Because characters strikes take planar priority, the layering of the fighters works great during a match, but often gets messy at the end. The Story Mode's very temp-looking cutscenes are overshadowed by the Story mode costumes that Capcom is clearly showcasing. It'll be interesting to see how things change when the flood costume options start.
Audio Review
The audio presentation has been dramatically tailored to avoid grating repetition, and the music and guttural fighting sounds are top notch. The exception is (as ever) the voice acting. Both English and Japanese voices are available, but avoiding the worst of it is as easy as always skipping the character intros. (Way to make Laura annoying in multiple languages.) Some of the music is outright excellent.
Final Thoughts
'Street Fighter V' stops short of being an online-only experience, but players need to want to play online nearly all of the time to get much mileage currently. The roster is impressive, but undercut by the game's insistence that players pre-select a single character before going online. In essence, the fighters are more accessible than what the game modes facilitate, but there's no denying how each human vs human match can be marvelous. With the framework in place, and an incredible fighting system delivering on being a new numbered 'Street Fighter' installment, what's left is for Capcom to deliver on their promised content and feature pipeline.
