Alex for SFV was someone that I was pretty keen to try out, and on March 30th I finally got a chance to try him without running into server problems or other issues. At the time of writing Street Fighter V still needs some extra work done to it before the in-game shop can open for business, but Capcom was generous enough to unlock Alex for all players for a limited time. Once the shop is available this free trial will be over and players will have to use Fight Money, Zenny, or the Season Pass to obtain characters and content, but for now I was keen to have a look at Street Fighter V’s first DLC character. To begin with I went into the training mode just to see his moves. I had played a bit of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike in the past but didn’t really use Alex that much, and the moves for the iteration of Alex for SFV are familiar enough to be appreciated by SFIII fans, but the generous input interpretation of SFV means that people who haven’t used Alex for SFIII are able to get a feel for the moveset of Alex for SFV without worrying too much about execution.
Alex for SFV – special moves
The first special move that’s introduced in the command list is the classic Flash Chop, where Alex delivers a devastating backhand blow. You can combo into it from several standing normal attacks and the opponent doesn’t get pushed back too much from it, but finding normal attacks that could maintain a combo from a Flash Chop wasn’t easy. He also has the Slash Elbow, a charge move that knocks the opponent back and – when medium or heavy kicks are used – picks them up off the ground. In addition to this, Alex has an air-grab move that starts on the ground; the Air Knee Smash sees him bring his knee up into the opponents chest before bringing them down to earth.
Alex for SFV – more moves and V-System
Alex for SFV has other moves that are also quite familiar to those who have played SFIII – the Power Bomb is a standard command grab, the Power Drop is a suplex-style throw that you can combo into from certain moves, and the Air Stampede and Head Crush are both moves where Alex jumps forward and catches an opponent with a stomp (Air Stampede) or grab (Head Crush). Meanwhile, he has a V-Skill that allows for a free Hard Hit state on his next attack (essentially applying counter-hit properties to that attack.) He also has a V-Trigger that is another “powered-up” state – it opens up other opporunities and unique moves such as his devastating Sledgehammer attack, which can either be charged for a regular attack or – if Alex is hit during the charge phase – will deliver a counter-attack.
Alex for SFV – trials
Alex for SFV is best learned in the challenge mode for the moment, and later on I went into his trials, which start with some straightforward three-hit combos but quickly goes on to showcase various juggles and combos that can be done from counter hits. Even though I didn’t play a lot of Alex in SFIII I can already tell that Alex for SFV is going to be popular with fans of the original character… and it’s easy to forget that there are plenty of people who missed the SFIII series completely, so the character may gain some new fans as well.
Alex for SFV – in summary
The concerns over the troubled release of the first content update for Street Fighter V were valid, and Capcom’s lack of communication had been somewhat worrying, but they have at last been able to deliver what was promised for March. They’ll still need to maintain this momentum in order to keep fans happy, and it’s unlikely that we’ve seen the last of the connection errors and server downtime, but for now there’s a lot more Street Fighter V for everyone to enjoy.
To see Alex for SFV in action why not visit the offical Street Fighter Youtube channel or read information on Capcom Unity