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Dead or Alive 5 wasn't created with educational intent, and we don't recommend it for learning.
Positive Messages
very little
This is a fighting game, so it doesn't have a positive message. None of the fighters seems to get seriously hurt -- and there's no blood or gore -- but it's still a game about inflicting damage on someone else. Plus, women in this game dress sexually suggestively, and the camera zooms in on cleavage, buttocks, and legs -- which can send the wrong message to boys about objectifying women.
Positive Role Models
very little
The game stars many male and female characters, but there is no main protagonist -- and thus no good or bad role model. That said, the characters are here to fight, so many would argue they aren't good role models for kids, anyway. Plus the women are dressed provocatively.
Ease of Play
some
Dead or Alive 5 isn't too difficult to pick up and play, but it's one of those games that's easy to control but difficult to master. An online dojo attempts to show you various moves, but it's too bad it doesn't teach you the strengths and weaknesses of each character. Some patience might be required to get ahold of more advanced moves.
Violence & Scariness
a lot
Although there is no blood or gore, this is a fighting game. Players can punch and kick, use melee weapons (such as a sword), projectile weapons (such as throwing stars), and some magic. Players sound like they're in pain and fall down when defeated.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.
Sexier than most other fighting games, Dead or Alive 5 has a large cast of female fighters, most of whom wear very revealing clothes that show off large amounts of cleavage, buttocks, and long legs. The camera often zooms in on these body parts, and breasts jiggle when the fighter moves. A photo mode lets players take control of the camera to zoom in on body parts. A hologram of a female in the game appears to be nude, though private parts can be seen. There also is some suggestive dialogue (for example, "Enough with the foreplay already" or "Pleasure me").
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.
Parents need to know that Dead or Alive 5 is a fighting game that has a lot of violence, including the use of weapons and finishing moves. The women are dressed suggestively and utter sexual innuendoes, and players can zoom in on body parts to take pictures of these half-dressed characters (including poses of them in their underwear).
Only bad if you think the body is dirty and wrong and teach your kids thus.
Let me start off by saying that besides what's rated as "partial nudity" and "sexual themes" (neither of which are even at an M level) there is pretty much nothing else that could be of concern to anyone in today's society as the violence is definitely NOT at the level of an M rated game (like Mortal Kombat or GTA). It's no worse than a typical violence you find in cartoons. There's no blood and you cannot kill your opponents. It's about as violent as The Karate Kid. This is more correctly about "Martial Arts" (albeit, with some supernatural twists), than simply raw "fighting". Each character may have different motives but it really all comes off like a sports fighting tournament or a spectator sport like WWE/TNA wrestling. In fact it could even be argued that the game can be used as a good starting point to learn more about the various martial arts in the world, or at least build some interest, as each character has moves that come from their respective styles the same as they would in real life (which other fighting games of this kind also do). If not for the showing of skin in this game, I am sure it would otherwise be officially rated a T.
Now, about the "showing of skin", it should be noted that not only can the women be selected wearing skimpy outfits, but equally, the male characters can also be. But I wouldn't go as far as to call any of this sexual content. Would anyone reading this consider themselves to be sexual content when they go for a swim in their bathing suits? Even if they are as a attractive as the characters in this game are made to be? All the characters can be made to show a lot of skin in this game, but whither that is "sexual"/"sexy" or not is up to the viewer. I know plenty of people who find their characters more sexy wearing more clothes. Should we label a game with Disney Princesses of having sexual content? Sure the breasts wobble in this game, but they do so in real life too, and on top of that their movement can be restricted by what they're wearing (hey, if we're moving towards total realism in the virtual world one day, you can't deny that this falls under that realism). I truly believe that if this is why you wouldn't allow someone under 17 to play this game, then I'd fully expect you not to allow them to go to the beach either. But I will not deny that there is SOME sexual content in this game, but only because some characters are more sexual than the others are, such as Tina Armstrong who intentionally does one or two poses to appear more sexually (as a reflection of her character), regardless of her attire. Definitely nothing worse than what you'd find in a PG-13 film, though. Now, if you truly believe that showing a lot of skin is an inherently sexual thing (and that by puberty it'd somehow be better to not even be thinking about the body of the opposite sex), then you should also know that the skimpier outfits are optional and aren't even usable until you actually buy them through DLC or, for a select few of them, after completing very difficult tasks. Every character has perfectly G rated costumes (even more character with more sexually liberated personalities like Tina or Christie) and you can even turn off the breast movement completely in the options menu if you want them to be more like plastic dolls (personally I think it's wrong to include this option at all as it just makes it seem like it's somehow wrong that breasts should be able to move).
I mentioned characters having characters and personalities before and I'd like to bring that back up. It's because of this that I truly believe this game doesn't need to be restricted to adults. I say this because that if you are one to fear about players seeing characters as "objects", then I would say you shouldn't have to worry about this in this game. I've known far too many people, male and female, who talk about the opposite sex in a demeaning and degrading manor, especially when it comes to sexually open people. I am not one of those people and I truly believe I owe it to games and other media with content like this. I see people who don't like this game calling the characters "sl*ts" and "wh*res" just because of what they're wearing, and yet I play this game and never use those words to describe any character. Those are two words I never use on anyone in my life. I see the characters as attractive yet strong (especially the female characters), with personalities and feelings, and in some ways I even look up to them. Characters like these inspired me to learn to take better care of myself physically, to be the best that I can be, and encouraged me to be a stronger person. But I also understood these characters were fantasy characters and a part of a fictional story and world. It is, after all, a game in the end. If I play any game or watch any film with a kid I always use it as an opportunity to teach them something, help them understand what I believe is right and wrong about it (what the game does right and what it could do to be better), and I just generally help them understand whatever subjects are brought up. The key is to play with your kids, which is what I would say in regards to any and every game, even Mario games. To any kid I played this with, I did explain the rating, why it's rated M, and why I feel it's ok for them to play this game with me.
And kids are definitely capable of playing this game... even extremely well. I feel that more than any other game in its genre (3D fighting games, not 2D like Smash Bros), Dead or Alive is the easiest to learn and understand. Although I learned how to do all the moves in Street Fighter at around the age of 10, which is a game with moves that are harder to learn than most of the one in Dead or Alive, I'm sure I would have learned this game's moves before 10. It's easy to learn and get good with most characters, but hard to master, and that's where part of the fun and challenge comes from. Fighting games allow you to figure things out on your own. When you find the person you are playing with is getting the better of you, you find the time to practice on your own, learn new techniques, then come back to your opponent and see if it works. If nothing has taught your kids the value of practice yet, a fighting game like this one just might do the trick. Or, even if a kid doesn't have the interest or time to want to get good at a fighting game, this one does make it easy enough to learn and have fun with other players casually on the same level as well.
I have younger cousins, both male and female, as young as 7 who have played this with me and they're still perfectly normal, typical, crazy kids. They still watch silly Disney channel shows (which I would argue are far more harmful than this game, lol), they still go to the park with their friends, etc. They definitely still speak of other people respectfully, and I'd like to think I helped in that department. You would never think they were kids who have played an "M rated game" (in fact I find it crazy that this game shares the same rating as GTA5 and Mortal Kombat). They're actually better at the game than I am and beat me often. I myself played fighting games (some far more violent than this, such as Mortal Kombat, although I've never really liked it because I've never liked hyper-violence since childhood) with some sexual content in them when I was their age and I'm fine myself (in fact I could argue I'm better off for it). And by "fine" I mean mentally sound, sociable, friendly, educated, working, and in a dedicated relationship. I will have kids of my own one day and I will definitely play this game with them.
EDIT: Oh, and I forgot the photo mode, probably because I feel this is a moot point but since the rest of the site seems to think it's a concern then I'll address it too. Even my youngest cousin has used the photo mode, although he never even knew it existed for months. He only used it once and he took perfectly innocent shots of the fighting. I'm sure he doesn't even know he can zoom into the breasts and butts of the female characters if he really wants to (if that was the case, I wonder what would happen if I ever gave him a real camera), and he probably won't realize that for a couple of years (unless he turns out to be gay, who knows? What do parents of homosexual boys worry about, I wonder... would they keep this game away from them too because of sweaty muscular guys in shorts?).
Look if you have a kid in middle school and you’ve told them how baby’s are made and the self pleasure is normal this is a must buy my 13 year old cant stop looking at the boobs
This title has:
Great messages
Great role models
Easy to play/use
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What’s It About?
As with past games in this series and the cringe-worthy Dead or Alive feature film, DEAD OR ALIVE 5 features a number of sexy female and male fighters, along with some guest characters from Sega's Virtua Fighter series. There's frantic hand-to-hand combat (as well as weapons, magic, and deadly finishing moves) and interactive environments that also change during the match. Visually speaking, this game offers high-definition graphics, including realistic-looking and smoothly animated fighters (that even sweat while they fight), facial expressions, and clothing that flows according to physics. The game also has numerous solo and multiplayer modes, including Internet-enabled matches and tournaments.
Dead or Alive 5 is a fun and fast fighting game -- just like its predecessors -- but with more realistic characters and environments than ever before. On that note, be aware that most female fighters dress suggestively, usually showing off ample cleavage or partially covered buttocks. Unfortunately, in Camera mode, players can snap pictures of these scantily clad females, including having the option to zoom in on underwear, cleavage, and so on.
Along with a few single-player modes and recommended head-to-head fighting that can be played in front of the same television, the game offers online matches, tournaments, and a global leaderboard to compare your performance with others. Although the online dojo could do a better job to help you practice your moves, Dead or Alive 5 is overall a very good pick for fighting-game fans -- although it has more than its share of overly sexy eye candy.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the role of women in this fighting game. Does it objectify women?
ESRB rating:
M for Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence
Last updated:
August 26, 2016
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