Street Fighter X Tekken PC Review - PAGE 1

Capcom has never been shy about mashing up its Street Fighter cast with that of a rival fighter, the most recent example being Street Fighter X Tekken. The game takes many elements and fighters from both series' and rolls it all up into one unique experience. Released on consoles in March, a couple of short months later we're here taking a look at the PC version.

Characters

On the Street Fighter side of things, you get 19 characters, including Vega, Juri, Ibuki, Poison, and standards like Ryu, Chun-Li, and Bison. As for Tekken characters, you also get 19, including Hwoarang, Yoshimitsu, Raven, Ogre, and standards like Heihachi and King. Unfortunately yes, it appears as of now none of the extra characters like Mega Man, Pac-Man, Lars, Guy, or Blanka are included or even available to buy as you might hope, but at least some of them are said to come at a later date.

Mechanics

Tekken vets should feel cozy with the four button system, while those fresh off or still playing Street Fighter 4 will feel a little too at home in terms of both look and move lists. However, there are key new mechanics which provide a somewhat different experience, namely the tag/KO system, Gem system and special moves.

The tag system means you're always using two characters, though typically only actually playing as one at a given time. Whichever one is up to you, as you can 'tag' your partner whenever you like and in a variety of ways and swap them in as you see fit. Borrowing from Tekken, once either of your characters is down, you lose, and of course the same applies to your opponent. As such, it's critical to keep an eye on your health guage when you're losing and know when to adjust your tactics accordingly; when winning, you've got to keep the pressure on and prevent your opponent from swapping in. I found this adds a strong element of excitement and tension to each fight.

Gems, meanwhile, aren't exactly new to the series -- it's more that they've been tweaked and given a different name. If you've ever had the pleasure of playing Street Fighter Alpha 3, for example, you'll notice strong similarities in that both systems make your fighter behave differently and more according to your play style. The difference with SFxT is the abilities you can equip are very specific and come in just about every variety imaginable. Some might love this, but I found it somewhat overwhelming and less enjoyable -- better would be to focus on roughly ten Gems per character, each with broad effects as opposed to the 'hit with 5 normal moves and increase damage by 10% temporarily' abilities you see now, each accompanied by a handful of variations on the same basic idea. Nevertheless, once you wade through the lists, you should be able to find a couple of Gems which suit your favourite character and playstyle, whether they assist in defense, offense, speed, health, or various abilities. I couldn't find the infamous 'Ultimate Defense' gem, so it appears that one may have been removed for this version.

Special moves, like Gems, are plentiful and can be overwhelming. There's EX moves (more powerful versions of specials), Cross Arts (combine both of your fighters' Special Arts), Cross Rushes (a two-person combo), Pandora (sacrifice a character low on health to boost another), Charge moves (each character has one move which can be charged for a Super Art like effect), Super Arts (your typical all-out one character special move), and...well yeah, you get the idea. You could say this adds more depth to the game, but I found myself preferring the more basic approach found in either series' main installments.

Modes & features

Modes offered are in line with Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade (with Fight Request, so you can play offline while waiting for online matches), Versus, online matches (standard 2v2, unranked Endless, and unranked simultaneous 2v2 Scramble), Training, and Challenge (extensive tutorials and challenges for bettering yourself and learning the game).

While modes are plentiful and interesting, the key draw of course is online play, which is terribly broken at the moment. Sure, you can get in games, but they're almost always very laggy, and sound drops out constantly, both elements making for a very disruptive experience not worth your time at the moment.

Super Street Fighter IV had excellent netcode, but all online modes other than standard Ranked were barren; SFxT is currently suffering the barren issue and has terrible netcode, so you're even worse off. Waiting around twiddling your thumbs extends to the 'Partner' searching system and Replay feature, too: more often than not you'll find yourself playing with the CPU against live opponents or waiting endlessly for a given channel to load.

Matchmaking filters are lacking in the region department: you can select only from local and worldwide options, which is especially odd given the Replay feature supports specific regions.

PC features

Street Fighter X Tekken sports the usual list of graphics options you'd come to expect of Capcom, and performs as smoothly as you could ask for on even remotely good hardware. As ever, it supports controllers, keyboards, and fight sticks as you see fit. In short, it's pretty much all it could be on PC.

Final thoughts

Capcom have crafted an interesting and often fun fusion of two classic fight series', though for those still playing or burnt out by Super Street Fighter IV, it may not be different enough to hold your interest for long. If you are insatiable when it comes to Street Fighter, though, it should provide a new way to enjoy your favourite characters. Tekken fans, meanwhile, should definitely pick it up while they continue to wait for the next installment from Namco, as this is a pretty solid translation of the mechanics and cast you know and love.

On the technical side, online play is more or less useless right now, but is something I'd expect will be cleared up before too long. Still, there's no guarantee, and right now it's miserable which takes it down a point. Whatever happens, it's a solid fighter with compelling offline play, and worth considering even now.