Following its unveiling at the August Amusement Machine Show, Sega went quiet on Virtua Fighter 5, putting games like House of the Dead 4 and Psy-Phi on test while leaving the Lindbergh arcade board's killer app locked away in its corporate offices. The details are slowly starting to come out, though, with this week's Famitsu shedding new light on the game's characters and gameplay.
The magazine shares first details on one of the two new characters to be featured in VF5. The masked wrestler character from the Amusement Machine Show trailer is called El Blaze and he uses the Lucha Libre fighting style (also performed in Dead or Alive 4... by a similarly masked character). El Blaze uses acrobatic movements and throws to fight his opponents. Story-wise, there appears to be a connection between El Blaze and Wolf.
Gameplay details are still being kept under wraps, but the Famitsu story does reveal that we can expect a few new gameplay systems. One new system is hinted at by some of El Blaze's moves, which allow the wrestler to leap over and beyond downed opponents.
Don't worry about your favorite fighting game being tinkered with by inexperienced designers -- VF5 is being developed by veteran AM2 staffers. Serving as "game director" is Daichi Katagiri, who's been with the series since the start. The title's "overall director" is Makoto Osaki, who's worked on the development of Daytona USA and various other racing titles out of Sega.
The creators reveal that Virtua Fighter 5 will not feature Online fights. While it's technically possible, they feel that doing so would create something other than Virtua Fighter. Instead of allowing for direct fights, they hope to build upon the network functionality featured in VF4, allowing for greater player communication and building up a strong community.
IGN
