Unlike Bloody Roar 2, there is no real story version. (even though the story version in Bloody Roar 2 was kind of weak, it was kind of a cool premise) Granted the arcade version does lead you through a bit of story at the end, but it is long, drawn-out, and slightly confusing/anti-climactic.

On the otherhand, BR4 does have the career option, which gives you an arcade fighter meets RPG type of feel where you earn DNA points, and can buy extra activities to better your character (who you can later play in the other battle modes...similar to the Weapon's expert of Soul Calibur 2).

BR4 does introduce a few new characters, but the only one of mention is Nagi, the female psuedo-counterpart to Xion, the unborn. (Although I have NO IDEA what she is supposed to be...and calling her "the spurious" doesn't help that matter) The new character that is a duo, with a big guy and really tiny girl (who changes into a dog), is hard to play, and easy to beat...not an exciting addition. The crow is OK, but in my opinion doesn't compare to the phoenix/penguin combination (yes, this was just one character) of BRPF.

There are 5 characters to unlock, which is cool, but I know that at least 2 of them are repeat characters from previous games (I won't say who). The career mode seems to be where you unlock all of the characters (so far I've unlocked 4 there)...based on how many DNA points you have for ONE character.

All in all, the game is a must buy for Bloody Roar fans, and a should buy for any arcade fighting game fans. It delivers interesting characters, good animation, (bad dubbing), and a nice challenge.

7 of 7 found the following review helpful:


If you are a Bloody Roar fan but unsure read on...  Nov 30, 2003 By Karaleus Shadtow White
As far as fun is concerned this game gets a 5 star, as far as technical issues it does have its fair share of problems. The most noticeable is the fact that the voice overs are horrible, and there is slowdown on one stage, the sewage stage with a large air vent. There is a lot of blood in the game, it is cool but it may be a little over the top for some. Now that I am done with the negativity on with the rest of the review.

First of all upon playing the game it appears to be that the moves and characters are exactly the same as Bloody Roar 3 with the exception of 3 and half new characters. In some cases yes this is true but upon playing the career mode you will unlock new super moves (bring the total from 2 beast moves to 3 beast moves so far), and also new beast commands. Also the characters can acquire moves from defeated characters. What is really great about this system is that you can save up to eight characters on a memory card and play them at a friends house with the new abilities. The career mode is similar to the DragonBallZ Boudakai with different dragonballz representing different moves. In career mode you can unlock new characters, 5 to be exact, and new abilities such as human only mode, hyper beast and increase beast and human speed. Let me tell you that once you increase the speed of your beast character or human character the speed of the game is too fast for most normal people to play.

*Note:For fighting game fans this speed would compare to Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo on level 10.

This is by far the fastest 3D fighting game out there and the matches can be over in seconds. On to the new characters first of all there is Nagi which isn't a beast she was created using parts of Xion thus she is similar in style, but her moves are entirely original. Her win poses are cool, I like the one when she licks the blade, and her super beast moves are real bloody, but they are fitting and everything about her feels in place. Then there is a Crow who air juggles you and then can do an air super move, all of which is pretty much unblocakble once it gets started. Then there is a big guy and a little girl that fights as a tag team, she says some pretty sick stuff in the win poses. The trick with them is the big buy cannot turn into beast only the little girl can, but you can recharge her beast mode while she is out of harms way (if you didn't kill him once) while still fighting as him, this is very cheap, but there are drawbacks.

Even though I went into a little detail about this game there is still a lot to see and do, and to unlock all of the characters abilities you will have you going through career mode with each character. Flawed but yet a great game. First timers should rent this game, but fans would not be dissapointed, Bloody roar never got any rave reviews...I don't like most of the highly rated games anyway. Don't buy into the hype of commercialism (look at hyped games Devil May Cry 2, Metal Gear Solid Substance, Tomb Raider and Tekken 4) and just try it, believe me I would not waste time to write this reveiw if I didn't like it. I can't compare bloody roar to other fighting games because it has its on niche in the fighting game genre.nuff said

4 of 5 found the following review helpful:


Bloody Roar 4 is great  Dec 27, 2003 By Amanda
Bloody Roar 4 is a great game. But if you don't like blood then don't get this. This game is fast and fun. If you are a bloody roar fan you know the games are great. It has all your fav characters from the other ones. Activision made the other bloody roars, but this time Konami made it. So that may be way they have the new "Zoanthropes Guage" thingy. There are three new characters, Ryoho & Mana, Reiji, and Nagi. Besides the bad voice overs the story line is good. You may not understand some stuff at first but once you play with all the characters you start to understand it better. At first the game looks easy but then it gets harder and harder after every battle. So I say if you get over the voice for Uriko you can start to love it.

6 of 8 found the following review helpful:


did not live up to its potential  Feb 21, 2006 By Lyle Carbutt "ltgamer"
The Bloody Roar series has always been fun and unique. It has also been rated T in the past. This rating allows many people to enjoy the game. The mature rating surprised me and then I plugged it in I understood why it was rated M. The blood factor in this game detracts from the gameplay. Yes there was blood in the other games but it wasn't so overdone and you could turn it off. The blood in this game borders on the grotesque and twisted. It splatters everywhere with so many attacks it is almost comical. What attacks in beast mode don't make the blood splatter? The characters are cool but getting past the overuse of the blood is hard to do. This coupled with the fact that there are few improvements in the new game earn it a low rating.

5 of 7 found the following review helpful:


Bloody Roar 4- PS2 Review  Jan 18, 2004 By Krystle Takahashi
"Bloody Roar 4"....It is definately a game that fans will most likely appreciate a little more than someone who has first laid eyes on it. However, I personally became interested in this series in the third edition. Mind you that the third Bloody Roar is far less in superiority to Bloody Roar 4 in many ways. I was attracted to the game's original theme of humans being an alter ego of something else (i.e: Bakuryu: -The Mole-, Xion: -The Unborn-)And THAT is why it is seperated from the other fighting games. It is this theme that you should decide is right for you, and not the "Superiority" in the commericialized games like "Tekken 4", and "Soul Calibur". This game has more of a unrealistic, cartoonish theme. Yet it still posseses the nobility of a story to ponder. I'm pretty sure the creators of this series are obviously focusing on this original theme more than anything else to stay in the competition. So, I repeat: The THEME is what you should ponder. The modes are basically the same as any other fighting game, so realisticaly....look at the only difference that makes this game stand out, or look for another game. It's what will make or ruin this game/series for you. And I can promise you, they're probably not planning on changing it. To do so would be stupid.

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