Namco Bandai recently released a Tekken 6 patch to fix several problems plaguing the online portion of the game. With the patch, I probably won't hear the words, "Online is f****** unplayable," a passionate sentiment sent to me over Xbox Live when Tekken 6 first released.
On launch day, Tekken 6's online matchmaking was unacceptable. A four-bar connection, graded on five-bar scale, was persistently problematic. Moves stuttered, framerate dropped, and inputs lagged. And, naturally, the community grew upset and disappointed. Namco Bandai was quick to address the concerns by developing a patch that corrects the lackluster online mode. Matches on a four- or five-bar connection feel smooth -- and definitely playable. And thanks to the improved quality, you can evade attacks by sidestepping into the background or foreground as a reaction rather than anticipation; the old netcode forced players to guess their opponents' actions. Combos requiring precision timing, which were frustratingly hard to execute in laggy conditions before the patch, are within reach (if you have the dexterity to pull them off). Once the connection drops to around one- to three-bars, you can feel the lag on each input. Matches under these conditions are serviceable, but the latency will throw off your timing.
Ranked matchmaking still needs work, though. The game frequently pairs newcomers without a decent win-to-loss ratio against opponents with high win-ratios, making the match an insurmountable challenge for anyone just jumping in. You can filter matches by rank, but even then, the game will often set you against a seasoned veteran. Instead of letting the game automatically match you against an opponent, Namco Bandai should have given players the option to choose their opponent from a list detailing the player's connection and rank.
The patch is a blessing for the Tekken community. I'd mentioned in my original Tekken 6 review that a fighter without a quality netcode would struggle to grow a healthy community of active players. Now, the Tekken community's future appears bright.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is an update to our original Tekken 6 review, which was published on October 28, 2009 with a score of B+. As noted in the original review text, the game suffered from significant online latency issues at launch. The revised review was commissioned after much discussion with the writer, who strongly felt that the recent patch warranted a reevaluation of the game. This re-review should be considered a unique case (in other words: no, we don't plan on making a habit of re-reviewing games). For any questions or concerns, please PM me directly. -- Justin Haywald, Associate Editor, Reviews.
