Street Fighter V
A bit of a sucker punch
DEVELOPER CAPCOM, DIMPS PUBLISHER CAPCOM PRICE $ 59.99 AVAILABLE AT STEAM streetfighter.com
Street Fighter V is a hard game to review for a number of reasons. It makes you question your priorities when thinking about a review. Should I concentrate on the tight fighting engine, the mostly well balanced roster of characters, the excellent presentation and the cross-platform online multiplayer that is wonderful so long as you can get your machine to push out a steady 60fps? Or should I concentrate on the laughably weak story mode and the overall lack of content, the fact that the game launched with severe server problems that meant that player’s couldn’t access online content and had no real offline content to play, and that Capcom has taken the rather strange approach of patching in some additional single player content a month after release and are “considering” adding an arcade mode somewhere along the track, a feature that has been a mainstay in every previous game in the franchise?
The fighting engine has been refreshed for SFV, with some abilities introduced in SFIV being removed and replaced with a new system that lends a unique set of skills to every character. The new V-System (Variable System) gives each character access to three abilities with exact effects differing depending on the fighter. V-Skills use none of the V meter and provide some kind of limited boost. R. Mika, for example, grabs a mic and delivers a wrestling promo about Muscle Spirit, gaining a damage bonus to her next command throw. The V-Trigger uses the V meter and either gives a limited time power boost or grants access to a special skill. Ryu’s V-Trigger, for example, allows him to
should I concentrate on the laughably weak story mode and the overall lack of content
throw the Denjin Renki fireball from Third Strike. The Denjin Renki is much faster than the regular hadouken and can be charged to break blocks. The V-Reversal uses a pip of the V meter and can turn the tide of an engagement by either reversing a move or allowing a player to break a combo in some fashion. It’s a great system that really adds a new layer of depth to an already wonderful fighting engine.
It’s that new layer of depth that is, ironically, one of the key problems with Street Fighter V. Unless you’re a real competitive player or are willing to fight time and time again against online opponents in the hopes of improving skills, there is little in the way of content that makes the game accessible for new players or gives them the facility to learn how to play characters effectively. At the time of writing the only two single player options available are a laughably short and poorly presented story mode that features three single round fights for each character, all of which can be easily completed in under an hour, and a challenge mode that sees you facing off against one opponent after another. There is a training mode that allows players to record moves to a training dummy, but it’s not what you would call fun. All of this is made extremely odd when you consider that Capcom has stated many times that they are looking to capture new players with Street Fighter V.
So where does the game stand? At the moment it is an excellent couch game, with tight fighting mechanics, a small but diverse roster and fantastic presentation. It’s a problematic online game with good netcode when you can connect. It’s a severely lacklustre single player game with little meaningful content for anyone looking to fight alone. As it stands, Street Fighter V is a promise of a great game to come, but feels much like it’s still in the beta phase, waiting for the rest of the content to be patched in. In a couple of months there will likely be a lot more to do in Street Fighter V, with more characters (as paid DLC of course) more game modes and hopefully better connectivity. By then it will most probably be the game it was meant to be at launch. At the moment it just feels unfinished – a tease rather than a full game. DANIEL WILKS
Venerable game develeoper releases half-finished (yet full priced) game with promises to fix issues and add new elements with rolling DLC. Sign of the times, right? Why Capcom decided to release Street Fighter V in its current state is open to debate, but the fact it lacks so many of the features its predecessor had in abundance is just baffling. Features like an arcade mode, combo challenges and a CPU versus mode were standard at launch for SFIV, and that was five years ago. SFV’s online connection problems are also a bit of a mystery as the beta has been running for months.
At the core, though, Street Fighter V is great. Once you get into a match versus another human (this may require some patience...) the game plays as well as any Street Fighter and better than many. The four new characters offer a good assortment of play-styles to complement the returning cast along with a whole lot of ‘fan-service’ in Laura, and general weirdness in F.A.N.G.
As many have noted, maybe reserving judgement is the only option. But who knows when SFV will be ‘complete’ enough for a final evaluation.