Long time fans of the Tekken series know the sound of an incoming battle, and this is one of them. Tekken Revolution is a free-to-play downloadable game exclusively for the PS3. The game features an interesting way of playing. You receive tokens that allow you to do specific things. For instance, you get one Arcade Coin every 60 minutes. This type of coin allows you to play through the Arcade mode of Tekken Revolution. Battle Coins are used to play Ranked and Player matches. These replenish every 30 minutes. There’s also something called a Premium Ticket, and these are used for anything. You can use them to play through Arcade mode, or you can use them to play online against other people in Player or Ranked matches. If you use a premium ticket on an online match and win, you’ll be rewarded with another Premium Ticket. If you lose, you’ll receive additional experience. Additionally, there are things called Premium Coins. You can purchase them in the Playstation Store and they act exactly like Premium Tickets.
In Tekken Revolution, you can actually upgrade your characters. Every time you win a match, you receive experience points. Eventually, you gain levels by doing so. In leveling up, you also get Skill Points which can be spent on three categories. There’s Power, Endurance, and Vigor. If you spend a skill point on Power, obviously, the character’s attack strength will increase. If you spend a point on Endurance, your health gauge will increase and you can take more damage. Spending a point on Vigor will increase the likelihood of landing a critical hit on an opponent or entering rage mode. The chance of the effect is decided by the difference of you and your opponent’s Vigor levels. It’s a pretty cool system if you ask me. It’s important to note that the full Tekken Character roster is not included in the game, at least not off the bat. I was beaten once (I swear only once) in Ranked mode and I was rewarded with the character Alisa. I’m not sure if every Tekken character is in this free-to-play game.
Tekken Revolution may be limited in the options it presents you with, though it’s unfair to label it as “stripped down.” The fighting system we all know and love remains intact, the online play is a blast and the game is absolutely gorgeous in its presentation. What’s more, the free-to-play business model the game adopts does not come across as predatory or required. Newcomers to the series who are on the fence have nothing to lose; the game is free and is an excellent introduction into the world of Tekken. Veterans probably won’t find anything new here besides the improvements in presentation, as the online modes are practically identical to previous, more fully-featured games. Nevertheless, Tekken Revolution is a fun diversion, and an optimistic take on the often controversial free-to-play market.
4.5