When might and magic don’t always get along
Format: PS3 (version played), Xbox 360 Dev: Namco Bandai Pub: Namco Bandai / Ubisoft Out: 01/08/08 Players: 1-2, 1-2 online
When Soulcalibur made its debut on the Dreamcast in 1999 the game was an immediate success. Critics swooned over its glorious eight-way fighting system and elegant graphics. A fan base quickly grew around the game and has continued to expand with each new release. Fast forward to the present and Namco are hoping that the latest edition of their popular fighting series will make a big splash this generation.
Gameplay in Soulcalibur IV is simple and very easy for newcomers to get to grips with. You perform kicks, horizontal and vertical strikes to try and deplete your opponent’s health bar before they do the same to you. There are some new additions in form of the soul gauge and critical finishers. A green circle in the top corner represents your fighter’s soul gauge. Whilst guarding, this gauge decreases with every hit you take. Eventually it’s gone completely leaving you open to a critical finish – a powerful finishing move that ends the battle regardless of your health.
Unfortunately, these additions don’t really change fights all that much. Players who like to constantly block will now have less reason to do so, but well-versed fighters should have no trouble finding an opening anyway. Evidence for this can clearly be seen when playing online against real challengers, where critical finishes are practically never seen. You have the option to play rank or unranked matches online, so there’s no need to sign yourself up for a beating all the time. The character creation mode from Soulcalibur III also makes a return here.
Using preset fighting styles and clothing items you can create all kinds of absurd characters. There’s everything from chainmail and gauntlets to circus hats and hot pants, so it’s fit to please even an inquisitive fashion student. Once you’ve created your fledgling fighter (the sassy ‘Miss Venom’ in my case) you can then use her or him in almost all of the game modes. As you gain money and rank in the singer-player and online modes you’ll unlock more items to use on your custom characters.
When it comes to Soulcalibur IV’s single-player offering things are surprisingly quaint. First there’s story mode. Here you can pick any one of the 15 available characters and follow their short story to completion. And the stories are short. Each one will take you literally 45 minutes or less to finish all five stages. This is a shame as previous Soulcalibur games offered more engaging story modes. Beyond this there’s the standard arcade – eight successive stages – and training modes. Similar to Soulcalibur III’s Chronicles of the Sword, Soulcalibur IV features the Tower of Lost Souls. In this mode you fight 60 floors of opponents, getting progressively more difficult with each fight. The further you get the more prizes you unlock.
Story mode will almost definitely leave you wanting. All the better then that the rest of the single-player and multiplayer modes are so satisfying. Of course, there is one last (widely publicised) addition that just serves to cause total havoc with the in-game balancing. Yes, I’m talking about the inclusion of guest Star Wars characters – Darth Vader for PS3 and Master Yoda for Xbox 360.
Namco has been toying with guest appearances since throwing Heihachi Mishima, Link and Spawn (?) into the three separate versions of Soulcalibur II. This time, though, it’s purely a cash-in. Vadar is sluggish and fast characters make short work of the cyborg-Sith. Meanwhile, fighting Yoda makes for appallingly unbalanced fights. His height and speed make him a nightmare for every normal-sized character to hit. A pointless and shameful move, Namco.
Overlooking this disappointing blunder, it’s clear to see that Namco have truly brought their acclaimed fighting series up to spec for this generation. Soulcalibur IV is beautiful to look at and even better to play. A worthy addition to any fighting lover’s collections.
Aaron Lee
Tags: fighting, namco bandai, soulcalibur, ubisoft
