Tekken 5: Just A Taste Company: Namco ..."As the curtain falls on Iron Fist Tournament 4, Jin Kazama carves a vengeful swathe through his family, defeating Kazuya and Heihachi in a furious battle at Mishima Zaibatsu headquarters. Suddenly an army of Jacks bursts through the walls and ambushes the Mishima clan. Jin flees and Kazuya betrays his father by heaving him into the path of the murderous Jacks to escape himself. Seconds later, Honmaru, Heihachi's personal residence atop the Zaibatsu, is consumed in a titanic explosion with the elder Mishima still inside. A mysterious man in black who has been observing the struggle scans the flaming ruins and intones into his radio: "Heihachi Mishima is dead." A month later, the announcement the world was waiting for is made: King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 is set. The battle begins to determine the fate of the entire Mishima Zaibatsu conglomerate and its fallen ruler, Heihachi Mishima." ...Or so the story goes, according to Namco's website. Could Heihachi Mishima actually be dead this time? I'd be surprised. Well, Tekken 5's release is just around the corner, but Namco? is offering a small glimpse of things to come in the form of a demo disc that is packed as an rider (or extra disc) in their new title, Death by Degrees, starring Tekken's own Nina Williams. While it's slated for a February 25th release (as of this writing), the demo doesn't show a whole lot. Mind you, what it does show looks pretty darn good. I was, however, quite surprised to see that the limited view offered by the demo was so, well, limited. The Tekken 5 Demo Disc offers a chance to play a single round as either of two new characters (Asuka Kazama or Raven) against the other. It offers a glimpse at two locales, alternating between them if you play it repetitively. One of the stages is an industrial rooftop setting, with a richly detailed cityscape surrounding you. The other playable stage is a mysterious palatial Asian arena that seems mythical in nature, complete with a stone statue of a dragon encircling the arena. Both of these arenas take damage as you and your opponent alike are slammed into the floor and walls. As for the features to expect from Tekken 5, I'll check off the list provided at Namco's website, and comment on my related observations based on the demo... Stunning Graphics: Check. The graphics present in the Tekken 5 Demo seem to live up to their claim of "the most beautiful fighting game experience on the PS2." The realism is amazing, the cloth dynamics are excellent, and the detail in the environments is stunningly beautiful. Variety of Characters: Negative - While Namco claims that in Tekken 5 you will be able to, "Play as one of many characters, including three new characters - Asuka Kazama, Raven and Feng Wei", the Demo offers only Asuka Kazama and Raven (who happens to bear a striking resemblance to Wesley Snipes) Realistic Environment: The game should launch with an "Interactive environment with a variety of destructible objects" . It seems that almost everything in the arenas can take damage to some degree, but since the Demo doesn't allow for playing a two player game, I was not able to fully explore the environment. I saw damage to the floor when bodies slammed to the ground, and repetitive hits caused further damage. I did notice that in the Dragon Arena, some of the stone wall that surrounds the arena could be damaged in the course of a fight. Exactly how large a factor this plays in the actual game, of course, remains to be seen. Other Features not shown in demo: Characters Customization (costume items), A Bonus Action Adventure Game, Tekken: Devil Within: an action adventure game and even an Arcade History Mode (the arcade classics of Tekken 1, 2 and 3 are now on the PS2). These all sound exciting and quite cool for Tekken fans out there, making Tekken 5, as Namco puts it, "the ultimate Tekken title to commemorate its 10th year anniversary." -Geck0, GameVortex Communications AKA Robert Perkins Related Links: The Official Tekken Official Website Namco's Tekken 5 Website Namco's Website