Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z

 PlayStation 3
User Score
5.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 115 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 115
  2. Mixed: 35 out of 115
  3. Negative: 43 out of 115
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  1. Aquoon
    Jan 29, 2014
    7
    Not your usual type of dbz, nowhere near budokai or tenkaichi, this game is focused on multiple fights(battle royal) with simples commands. They tried to do a different and original dbz and they really succeeded.

    Up to this date(01/29) pro and con list: CON: no offline vs*, no crossplay, bad sound track, graphics outdated, no ingame transformations, lack of modes and content. PRO:    Not your usual type of dbz, nowhere near budokai or tenkaichi, this game is focused on multiple fights(battle royal) with simples commands. They tried to do a different and original dbz and they really succeeded.

    Up to this date(01/29) pro and con list:

    CON: no offline vs*, no crossplay, bad sound track, graphics outdated, no ingame transformations, lack of modes and content.

    PRO: balance online, great learning curve, custom playlist, character classes.

    * there is no offline vs but after you beat the story mode, you can replay using anycharacter you unlocked.

    Last: Overall i really liked the game, but wouldn't recommend to non-fans of the series    … Expand
  2. TheCrisp11
    Feb 1, 2014
    7
    This is not your nostalgic, run-in-the-mill, flashy DBZ brawler everyone else is expecting. It doesn't deserve all the hate it's getting in the least, and mainly because reviewers are not taking into account that this game is supposed to be played as a Multiplayer RPG game. Grab some online friends, get your microphone, and jump into some challenging boss battles. There's plenty of fun toThis is not your nostalgic, run-in-the-mill, flashy DBZ brawler everyone else is expecting. It doesn't deserve all the hate it's getting in the least, and mainly because reviewers are not taking into account that this game is supposed to be played as a Multiplayer RPG game. Grab some online friends, get your microphone, and jump into some challenging boss battles. There's plenty of fun to be had here, and while it's no Monster Hunter or similar to DBZ Budokai 3, don't let everyone else's narrow minded opinions sway you otherwise.

    Pros:
    - Plenty of content (Don't be a cry baby cuz they left out the other bajillion obscure DBZ characters)
    - Class based action RPG elements have depth (teamwork is a must in later stages)
    - Online Co-Op is the bee's knees (seriously, be sure to grab some friends or online strangers)
    - Leveling up and getting your grind on has a purpose (Weaker fighters are finally not just useless filling)
    - Able to customize any character's color scheme (for team purpose, or just to look like the cat's pajamas)

    Cons:
    - No split-screen or offline Multiplayer (why?)
    - Simplistic fighting mechanics could still use a little extra "oomph." (one button attacks, the other is for ki)
    - DLC fighters (I just hate on disc DLC, **** that noise)
    - Even though stages look nice, they still have those annoying invisible walls. (also some character animations suck)

    Do you love DBZ and have bought every game since 2002? Give this a shot, and open up your mind a bit. So far the online community is pretty great, and online players are for the most part really helpful. For everyone else, just give it a rent, I'm sure you'll have a good time once you get in the RPG grind mode.    … Expand
  3. FinlandJinM
    Feb 6, 2014
    5
    PROS:
    -The fight. Although the fighting mechanics aren't that great for SINGLE player experience, 1 v 1 and such, the mechanics are suited more for co-operative type of gameplay. Every character gets one melee combo, one chase combo, two types of ki blasts (weak and strong), two unique moves depending on their class, and a special move usually a large beam or ball of energy. Because    PROS:
    -The fight. Although the fighting mechanics aren't that great for SINGLE player experience, 1 v 1 and such, the mechanics are suited more for co-operative type of gameplay. Every character gets one melee combo, one chase combo, two types of ki blasts (weak and strong), two unique moves depending on their class, and a special move usually a large beam or ball of energy. Because fighters don't have much to do it's up to when and to who you do it as most fights go against team of enemies giving some tactical elements to the fight. Also it looks flashy as HFEL (see what I did there?).
    -Co-op. As mentioned the fights usually take between two teams so the inclusion of Co-op Mode makes sense and is sort of fun. The "Meteor Chains" and "Synchronized Rushes" are also evidence of the focus on co-op as they combine each players' efforts into a single devastating attack.
    -Class based characters. Each character is given a type: melee type for heavy hitters up close, ki blast type for sniping others across the map doing chip damage, interference type to mess with the enemy players and support type to heal and resurrect your fallen team members. It gives a type of role to the characters giving the game an MMORPG-esque feel.

    MIXED:
    -The lack of "story". Almost everyone who bought this game can notice that the story gives us only glimpses of the canon of the DBZ universe. I can see why they did it (because later on the game you get to build your own "dream team" of characters) but those who were looking for good story mode will be disappointed.
    -Customization. Nothing deep, just put all the best cards on your card slots and you're good to go. I was really disappointed that only HALF of the obtainable cards can be equipped to the A.I. partners taking the "building of a dream team" feeling out of the game.
    -MMORPG feel. You will end up farming points for the best upgrades in the shop if you want the highest scores and trophies. But because the game has a finite end (mission wise and collectibles wise) the game becomes boring until new content patch to come... oh wait that's not actually going to happen, is it? There are even boss fights from which 4/5 are meh.
    -No in-game transformations. I can see the point of not including transformations in game but to many this might be a disappointment. If you look at Cell's different forms you get the point: most stages of transformation have different types and card slots in them.

    CONS:
    -The A.I. Oh God the A.I. If you want your A.I. partners to be any use for you, you need to grind experience for them by doing the same missions over and over again. And worse than that even when their level is maxed up their behavior isn't on par what you'd expect: them standing in air doing nothing even though ordered to attack on full force, support characters not supporting in any way, not resurrecting you in a pinch even when standing right next to you. I don't know why but the A.I. in Battle Mode feels and plays much smarter than the mission counterpart. I ended up playing 90% of the time as a supporting character because the A.I. just can't support themselves.
    -The maps: you can destroy only few selected points on the map. How's that a bad thing? When your Meteor Chain is being interrupted by something so tiny as rock it breaks the immersion and the flow of the gameplay quite significantly. This is best demonstrated in the "Destroyed City" map where it's almost impossible to do Meteor Chains successfully because of all the indestructable debris on the ground.
    -Unbalanced roster and Battle Mode. Powerful characters are fine in the mission scenarios but break the game who want to enjoy the battles with other players. The Demo's Battle Mode was fun because it was fairly balanced with 4 characters (more with other means). But when the roster is boosted up by almost 20 times, the problems in balancing the game become much clearer. The teams are consisted of only high-end unlocked characters because of their ridiculous power. And when you combine the power with a skilled player (skill of picking right cards and spamming right attacks) you get the most unfair PvP scenario I have seen in a long time. The modes aren't anything to look at either since only good mode is the Score mode (kill enemies and receive score, highest score team wins). As these overpowered characters start to pollute the rooms, Dragon Ball grab (CTF with a dragon balls) and Normal mode (Score mode with finite stocks) become few minute jerk fests. And whose idea was to include Battle Royale mode (free-for-all score mode) when the focus of the gameplay is clearly on the co-op? I could rack up ridiculous amount kills with LSSJ Broly without breaking a sweat in any mode because of how stupidly overpowered he is. And when the rest of the players figure out that themselves and pollute the rooms, the game becomes broken.

    In conclusion DBZ:BoZ is a flashy co-op based fighter with some weird design decisions. For die-hard fans only.    … Expand
  4. thepatient613
    Feb 16, 2016
    5
    Same game another title. There isn't really much to say about the latest games in the Dragon Ball franchise. It's really just rehashed storylines along with mostly similar combat systems. This one actually tried to set itself appart but it was done so lazily, it's clear this instalment was meant to be nothing more than another shameless cash in on a well known franchise.
  5. Thor32123
    Aug 30, 2014
    5
    Let me start out with saying it is not the best DBZ game I played over the years. The game isn't that bad but they removed many of the charm from pass DBZ games. I understand that they were trying to make something new but the older DBZ games like DBZ Budokai 3 was a great DBZ title. The new game mechanics removes things like counter and multiple special moves which took skills so thatLet me start out with saying it is not the best DBZ game I played over the years. The game isn't that bad but they removed many of the charm from pass DBZ games. I understand that they were trying to make something new but the older DBZ games like DBZ Budokai 3 was a great DBZ title. The new game mechanics removes things like counter and multiple special moves which took skills so that it felt rewarding to be able to use them. Another thing they took off that was a major part of pass DBZ games is Offline vs mode. When your friends come over to your house don't you guys want to face each other in a vs mode to see who is better? but now you can't. In all it's not a bad game but I liked some of the older games better even if this one has new characters, oh and when you get the god of destruction or god Goku and have the max you can put on the character then most of the beginning to middle of the game no longer puts up much of a challange.… Expand
  6. sapuramura
    May 29, 2014
    6
    Very under rated simply because it's an anime based game.
    I know what DBZ is! This game is a bad game(5), but it's a good DBZ game(7). Like any budokai type DBZ game is always a good game(7), but alway bad DBZ game(5). So it's hard to make a GOOD DBZ game so that it would be a good game for everyone. But this game surely gives the best arcade fighting game experiance, 4vs4 is amazing,    Very under rated simply because it's an anime based game.
    I know what DBZ is! This game is a bad game(5), but it's a good DBZ game(7). Like any budokai type DBZ game is always a good game(7), but alway bad DBZ game(5). So it's hard to make a GOOD DBZ game so that it would be a good game for everyone. But this game surely gives the best arcade fighting game experiance, 4vs4 is amazing, it's unique, it's special, it's under rated.    … Expand
  7. KoolBeans21
    Oct 25, 2014
    7
    Good game. Manages ti do somethings better than Ultimate Tenkaichi in my opinion, good story telling or should I say unique store telling. I hope things from here keep getting better, for this was a solid game.
  8. HyperBeastF
    Jul 9, 2015
    7
    INTRODUCTION:
    Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z is another fighting game in the long running franchise of the Dragon Ball games.
    SINGLEPLAYER: [ score 5/10 ] - The sounds are good for a DBZ game, you know: Screaming, punches, flying, etc. - The controls are weird: There is this wierd lock-on mechanic that turns off when a new wave of enemies come in. I found this bugging but I got over    INTRODUCTION:
    Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z is another fighting game in the long running franchise of the Dragon Ball games.

    SINGLEPLAYER: [ score 5/10 ]
    - The sounds are good for a DBZ game, you know: Screaming, punches, flying, etc.

    - The controls are weird: There is this wierd lock-on mechanic that turns off when a new wave of enemies come in. I found this bugging but I got over it. You hit with the triangle button, ascend with square and descend with x. I thought this was stupid and annoying. You do "special" moves with R2 and L2, and by pressing the triangle and circle at the same time you do a ultimate move. The camera is a bit buggy at some moments but nothing too serious!

    - The missions are basicly the same in every game: Beat this guy up then beat that guy up etc.

    - This game isn't supposed to be hard but due to the combat not having a counter feature (or something like that) this game can be a bit hard even for me.

    - The AI is not bad but could have been much better.

    - When you are fighting you don't look at environments. But they are fullfilling and good in this game. You can break rocks when you smash enemies into them and stuff like that.

    - The game UI contains everything you need to know: Your health, ki, teammates health and energy, enemy health and a energy meter.

    MULTIPLAYER: [ score ?/10 ]
    I have not played the mutliplayer, and I won't! I have a feeling that multiplayer would not work out so well with this game's simplistic combat. MAYBE THIS GAME WOULD BE A LITTLE BIT BETTER WITH A 2 PLAYER LOCAL VERSUS MODE!

    GRAPHIC QUALITY: [ score 6.5/10 ]
    The graphics aren't bad but they could have been much better! Still we should not look at a book by it's covers!

    SOUND QUALITY: [ score 7/10 ]
    The sounds in this game are good, not fantastic but good enough for a DBZ game. Games like this just need good enough sound effects to make the player feel powerful.

    OVERALL IMPRESSION: [ 6-7/10 ]
    This game isn't bad, I have seen worse. But the simplistic combat doesn't add any depth to it. This could have been a much better game if only it included a counter mechanic and more characters. This game has 70 characters including the DLC ones. I give it a 6 to 7 out of 10! BYE!    … Expand
  9. asgaronean
    Jul 27, 2015
    6
    This is not a bad game. But it is not a great one ether. With computer players being able to kill you with one hit and having immortal frames for way too long. I never beat the game because it got boring and cheap at the cell games.
  10. TheDuner13
    Aug 6, 2022
    5
    mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Awards & Rankings

62
#62 Best PS3 Game of 2014
14
#14 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2014
22
#22 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
54

Mixed or average reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 22 out of 32
  3. Negative: 8 out of 32
  1. SpazioGames
    Apr 13, 2014
    55
    Some good ideas are not enough to revive Dragon Ball Z. The combat system is far too simplistic and the mechanics show a lot of problems that make this game mediocre.
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  2. Games.cz
    Mar 25, 2014
    60
    A follow-up to the Dragon Ball beat them up world that will engage only those fanatical fans of the series. Otherwise, it's a dreary and straight-lined hack and slash action game that will never be more than that, even with its option to play as villains, which is attractive only at first sight.
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  3. GameSpot
    Mar 12, 2014
    40
    What ultimately sinks Battle of Z isn't the little fan nitpicks, it's just ill-conceived design as a whole. It's certainly not the worst DBZ game ever released, but if there's ever been a statement that's damning with faint praise, that would be it.
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