ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.ย. 2024
- A playthrough of the hidden character Spartan-458/Nicole in Team Ninja/Tecmo’s Dead or Alive 4/DOA4.
A little while ago, I went on a long-winded rant talking about games which defined the Xbox and Dead or Alive’s attempts to make itself a staple of the platform. And, well, the reason I did that was because that sentiment eventually culminated in this character.
Spartan-458, or Nicole as she’s also known, is a Spartan from the Halo universe. No series quite defines the original Xbox like Halo. Hell, I even took the opportunity to finally play through Halo 1 and 2 in full while I was playing through Dead or Alive 3, because if I’m going to be playing original Xbox games I might as well go with the most iconic of them.
The Halo series is actually probably my favourite FPS series. It’s a lot freer and less constricted than most FPS series and has a huge emphasis on spectacle battles and choice. The first game sees a Spartan known as the Master Chief investigating a mysterious Alien land known as Halo, all while fighting off a theocratic confederation of aliens known as The Covenant. The Chief is a Spartan; a sort of genetically engineered super soldier designed to fend off the Covenant’s invasion of Earth and its space colonies, effectively turning him into a one-man army. The first Halo is a pretty brilliant game on the whole, but it does have its downsides. In terms of positives, the game is surprisingly open for an FPS and each scenario and level the player faces often has a number of different ways to tackle it. This variety is helped not only by the inclusion of vehicle combat, where the player can use both human and Covenant vehicles, but also by the contrast between useable human and Covenant weaponry. For instance, a shielded covenant enemy has an energy shield with only a small opening for the enemy to use its pistol. With human weaponry the player can shoot in the vulnerable gap with a scoped weapon in order to take out the opponent, or they can use a Covenant energy weapon to temporarily disable the shield and make the opponent vulnerable to all types of fire. The game allows you to freely mix and match different gameplay styles depending on your preference; you can hang back and attempt to snipe opponents one by one and play it safe, or you can rush in and take out the opponents on their vulnerable flanks with shotguns, rifles, energy weapons and of course grenades. This free-flowing, vibrant combat turns Halo into an experience which is always incredibly lively, thriving and more than anything else enjoyable.
The game has its drawbacks though, as I mentioned. For a start, it feels a little undercooked and is bogged down by a couple of the game’s levels, most notably those where you face zombie-esque opponents known as The Flood. Remember the gameplay-variety I was talking about earlier? It goes entirely out the window here, with tedious corridor shooting sections which would make even Deus Ex: Infinity War blush. Then there’s the fact that you can only use two weapons in those levels; the assault rifle to take care of the Flood squid things, and the shotgun to take care of infected enemies and flood pods. I mean, sure, it makes sense to kill zombie-esque weapons with a shotgun, but I’d be hard-pressed to say that it doesn’t bring the game down to a crawl at times. There’s also the fact that a couple of the enemy weapons are innately unuseable in this game; the Covenant rocket launcher will actually explode after it’s been dropped by an enemy, and the now iconic Plasma Sword will actually vaporise into nothing. Despite those minor drawbacks however, it’s still a fantastic game on the whole.
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Halo 2 was where the game really started to reach its strides however. The story is widely expanded, bringing a playable Covenant character known as the Arbiter into the fray and having contrasting levels where the player alternates between playing as the Arbiter and Master Chief. Weapon selection and vehicle selection was also expanded, with the player now also being able to steal enemy vehicles by jumping on them and bashing them repeatedly. It will surprise no one to learn that this was actually inspired by the GTA series. This also means access to vehicles which were enemy-only in the first Halo, such as the Wraith. The game also introduces dual-wielding, which helps the gameplay variety even further by turning decent weapons like the Covenant Plasma Rifle into absolute monsters when dual-wielded, tearing through opponents if you can keep your accuracy up. And, oh, you can use not only the unplayable enemy weapons from the first game but also new enemy weapons such as the Covenant grenade launcher and the Brute Plasma Rifle. Level design is also significantly better than the first game as well, and then there’s to be a much greater emphasis on aerial combat which helps the game to considerably stand out from contemporaries from the era. I mean, Halo 1 was a good game but Halo 2 was just a damn amazing experience from start to finish, and simply one of the most thoroughly enjoyable games I’ve ever played. It had a few downsides though; there are some areas where you will just be stuck for ages (which is a standard for any Halo game, really) and the game is infamous for its hilarious underwhelming ending where Master Chief simply utters the “finishing this fight” before the screen cuts to black. Indeed, the game was actually technically rushed to release, which is not something I would have even realised had I not read up on it. The biggest example of this is how botched the difficulty is for Legendary in this game; while the first game had a finely tuned difficulty, Halo 2 is infamous for being one of the single most difficult games in existence on the higher difficulty settings.
2007 saw the release of Halo 3, a much-anticipated game which fully lived up to its high expectations. More of an expansion on Halo 2’s gameplay, it’s easily one of the single greatest gaming experiences in existence, with a fantastic combat system, tons of amazing set-pieces and probably one of the most satisfying stories I can think of in a video game. Halo Reach, a prequel, was released in 2010 and turned out to be a fantastic title, giving a brilliant, poignant origins story to the Halo series, while also introducing a limited perk system which included a number of unique changeable abilities, including a fantastic and highly useful jetpack. The highlight of the game is a mission which sees the evacuation of the human colony New Alexandria, as the player flies all over the city in order to fight various covenant forces in one of the most emotional experiences of the entire series. The game also interlinks eventually into the story of the first Halo, but in a way which feels understandable and enjoyable. If I had to sum it up, it’s basically Rogue One done right.
Then there was Halo 4, which I honestly just gave up on because it felt too inspired by the woefully dull COD series, which was eventually followed up by the polarising Halo 5, which I haven’t even played.
It’s important to keep all this in mind to simply understand how big Halo was back in 2005/2006 when DOA4 was released. The biggest hype period for a story-based series is between its second and third game, and the release of said third game. Some series pull this off spectacularly (such as Halo and the Witcher series, to name but a few) while others completely fail at it (the Mass Effect series being the best example of that). Given that this game was released only a year after the smash success of Halo 2, it’s understandable as to why a company so obsessed with becoming a defining Xbox-brand would decide to include a Halo character. And so, we ended up with one of western gaming’s biggest franchises making a guest appearance in a decidedly eastern series, and looking so out of place that it’s utterly laughable.
That said, it’s worth noting that Nicole kicks ass. She should do, considering she’s a super-human, and if this game were true to Halo canon then she’d break the bones of any character she hit with just one hit. Her moveset is actually mostly derived from Leon and Bayman (as I hinted in my videos on them), but weirdly I actually find that her moveset works better than theirs for some reason. It might have something to do with her reach or power being better than those two characters, but despite being a decidedly slower character I actually found her really damn fun to use. The fact that most of her moves send the opponent flying into walls certainly helps, and though her moveset is a little limited in terms of combos she more than makes up for it in terms of raw power. Also, you know, you’re playing as a Spartan in a fighting game. It’s badass as hell, even if it is incredibly silly.
The game even includes an unlockable Halo stage known as Nassau Station, which you can see in my Helena playthrough where she faces Nicole there. Also, brilliantly enough, the Halo theme will begin to play whenever Nicole is fighting against Alpha-152. It’s a brilliant little easter egg, and definitely appreciated on Team Ninja’s part. Unfortunately, I did too well against Alpha-152 and so you barely get to hear it. If that isn’t a testament to how competent Nicole is, I don’t know what is.
Although originally non-canon, Nicole has since been integrated into the Halo Universe. The Halo extended universe is just as ridiculous as the Star Wars one (seriously, you need to watch a bunch of shows and read a bunch of books to even understand what’s going on in Halo 5), so that’s probably why it occurred, but it’s a hilarious inference all the same. Either DOA exists in the Halo universe, or the Halo universe is connected to it in some way. I have to wonder if the Covenant have sacred texts on ancient titty ninjas. Would explain the galactic conquests a bit more.
That wraps it up for Nicole. A silly guest character, but definitely one who is more than competent. Up next, it’s a very familiar face.
All great civilizations have sacred texts about titty ninjas. If they don't seem to exist then that's only because they have yet to be discovered.
Funnily enough, the books actually don't do much to explain Halo 5's plot; there's a reason why a lot of the expanded universe fans actually hated the campaign even more than game-only fans. Also, Nicole even now still basically resides in canon limbo; her backstory is a reference to a Halo 2 ARG that was originally intended to be 100% non-canon, only to be brought into canon status (sort of...), except the ARG's big plot point about there being a second class of Spartan-IIs (of which Nicole is supposed to be part of) is still considered non-canon.
I love that Nicole is actually canon to Halo. I mean, the events of Dead or Alive 4 aren't canon besides maybe being a fever dream, but it really makes me happy that she exists somewhere.
I think their luck just ran out.
When you realize this is the same VA as Slippy Toad from Star Fox 64
That’s pretty funny how this character is voiced by the same woman… who voiced a *male* character.
Proof that the Chief Locke fight should’ve been much more epic
The less said about Guardians the better. Or anything beyond Halo:Reach, quite frankly.
Shouldn't have been "more epic"
Locke shouldn't have been standing
@@buttpiratesbuttpirate5913 No he's right. Chief and Locke should've been fighting faster and better.
Andrew Elam sure they both could have fought better and faster, but ever going all out, Locke would absolutely not beat Master Chief in a fist fight
@@andrewelam4124 hell, maybe even stronger
A Halo character in a fighting game? Man. I totally forgot that Halo was still happening from that time. Takes me back when Bungie was still around making Halo games. I missed those times.😢
Ah yes that one character I still have trouble unlocking in this game despite already knowing how.
In fairness this game is damn difficult; sure was a trial for me to get through it all.
It may not be John-117, but hey, we can work with what we got.
it will always depress me that I loved both of these games and NEVER knew that there was a spartan in DOA4.
Literally the only reason why I want to get this game now
I find it funny that Nicole from Halo is the only English speaking character in DOA 4
nicole sounds like tex from RVB
The next time we see a Halo character in a fighting game would be Killer Instinct (2013), the character in question being Arbiter (who isn't the same Arbiter we all know and love, he is actually an amalgamation of different Arbiters in the Halo series, the devs say so). And, not gonna lie, I actually wanted SPARTAN-458 (Nicole) to return in said game, as something to blend in with Arbiter's inclusion, but nope! Arbiter was a nice addition, though, and the same thing goes for Rash and General RAAM, personally.
Dang, why didn't they just use Master Chief instead? It would've been much cooler and badass to see him kicking ass and hearing his voice instead of a completely new OC.
They didn’t use master chief because they wanted to make it canon and it wouldn’t make sense if master chief just disappeared out of no where to the DOA4 area so they just made up a whole new sparten
Something something not conflicting with canon or whatever, from what I recall.
Odd that she has exactly one Japanese line, Koko de mita mono wa wasurero
I almost think it's a glitch. Probably more likely an easter egg though.
I was gonna say! I’ve played this game through the ground and never heard her say that.
@@KStormtrooper I wonder if it's a stage specific line? I noticed she only said it in the stage where there's a crowd of people
at 3:00
Doa always has interesting guest characters
So does soul caliber and Mortal Kombat
Surprisingly good, really. I think the Virtua Fighter ones are still my favourite, if only because we still don't have a new VF by this point.
@@AdmiralMcFish Does Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown count?
@@thejman5683 you know damn well it doesn't
@@dsmassive2182 I guess your right
Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't KT give most of Nicole's moves to Rachel when she was added in DOA5U?
You are correct, yes. I'll actually mention that in the description for that video, as I realised it when I was doing that vid on Rachel.
Master chief VS Locke but lore accurate
Well
im Speechless
Look at the model
and then Look at Halo 2 Anniversary Cutscenes
And
Sh!t this looks very similar
It's the same Mjonir Mark VI, that's why
@@eduu729 i mean the 3D model
I am already aware that it's a Mjolnir VI Armor
but the problem is that is very different in terms of graphical design from the original 2004 halo 2 game
looks like the 3D model blur Studios used in Halo 2 Anniversary Cutscenes
Nicole gotten Spartan armor just my dam day , like the voice actress
Wow, only 10 more videos left to #1000 congrats. Also, since you still have Guilty Gear left in terms of series, I was curious if you ever played Battle Fantasia. I unlocked the boss of the game recently (which isn't worth doing a video on, due to the tedium of unlocking him )
Thanks! I did technically do quite a few videos on Guilty Gear; I'm not even sure what there is to cover in Xrd and its versions, if there even is anything at all. I don't currently plan to cover it, nor the BlazBlue series at this point in time.
As for Battle Fantasia, I know it pretty well and actually own it. I did plan to unlock End of Deathbringer at some point, but after realising it was going to take about 20 hours to unlock a character who I'd be able to play as five minutes of at the most, I decided not to bother. I even hacked the game to see if he was accessible that way but unfortunately he isn't; he's just a flag for the regular Deathbringer instead.
I had never notice that she's talking in English and the others in JP. 😱
It's pretty hilarious, now that you bring it up. Would explain why she keeps saying the same thing over and over again though.
Hearing the characters make sounds when they take damage feels wrong for DOA cuz the prior games didn't have it 😭
This doa4 is better than doa 5 and 6
Is ture
Why?
Idk about 5 but definitely better than 6.
He doesn't need any guns and his energy sword. Only hand to hand.
*she.
@@AdmiralMcFish
Not to mention and correct if I'm wrong but to my awareness to this day anyone from Dead or Alive would get massacred by Nicole if they tried to take her on.
You should do game reviews.
Thank you! I've been planning on doing some review-type videos for quite a while now, and I hope to start working on them after I conclude this series first.
Ah the female version of master chief since all spartans are chief
Originally was supposed to be Master Chief, apparently, but they didn't include him to avoid issues with canon. Even then Nicole eventually became canon, meaning that titty-ninjas are canon in the Halo universe. Well, least it's still more coherent than Halo 5.
Can someone tell me when my luck will run out.
Mommy 😳
She can speak English and Japanese
But
She is Filipino why she didn't speak tagalog
...is she? I've never heard anything about that.
@@AdmiralMcFish Her favorite Food/Drinks
Halo-halo
@@strikecommander7002 Oh yeah, you're right, go figure. It says that she's of Filipino descent, and English is the universal language of the future (if I recall my Halo lore correctly), so it's possible that she comes from the background but doesn't know the language, a bit like how a lot of Italian-Americans don't know Italian, or only know some.
@@AdmiralMcFish according to lore she is Filipino I think its probably the the team are Japanese and most likely only did English and Japanese voices. Not sure if Japan even has relevance to halo lore. I guess the closest thing would be South Korea since they developed the commando variant of the spartan III armor
@@AdmiralMcFishi wish they used swahili more since kts supposed to be the secondary language of the UNSC
Halo in dead or alive 😱😱😱😱😱😱
Doa2,3,4 The last best Doa games. DOA5 And Doa6 Sucks
Well said. DOA6 seems to have flopped too, from what I can tell.
I love doa 6
Really? Would you mind explaining what you love about it?
AdmiralMcFish - Bosses and Hidden Characters just have fun playing it can’t really point out what I like about it yet though probably the fighting system and stylish attacks
AdmiralMcFish - Bosses and Hidden Characters though the fan service is really annoying since at that point that’s all you see and too much fan service is just cringy
3:00 Wait what?
Hahaha, what the fuck. Good spot man, never even noticed that myself and I'm the one who recorded it.
Doom guy
No it's halo
Bruh I have no idea how I unlocked this as a kid
Master Chief de saia
@NewEndings