Ever since Street Fighter II hit the local arcade almost twenty years ago, I’ve been hooked to fighting games. It’s not like I ever got particularly good at them or participated in any fighting game tournaments, but there was a certain appeal to learning how to use each of the characters and mastering their various special moves. It was always a mind game with my human opponent at the body odor-infested arcade.
Perhaps the single biggest defining characteristic of the Soul Calibur series of fighting games is the inclusion of weapons. This is in sharp contrast to the bare-fisted battles in Soul Calibur’s Namco stablemate, Tekken. As such, I felt that I had a pretty good idea of what to expect when I picked up Soul Calibur IV for the Xbox 360. I was going to experiece some weapons-based combat and I was going to like it. By and large, I’d say that I was right.
Clashing Weapons and the Power of Soul
If you’ve ever played any of the Soul Calibur games in the past, then you’ll feel right at home with Soul Calibur IV. It’s a one-on-one battle involving a wide myriad of swords, staffs, blades, and other assorted weaponry.
In stark contrast to the first Soul Calibur, the graphics in Soul Calibur IV are absolutely amazing. This not only includes the character models with their individual strands of hair and cloaks flowing in the wind, but also the richly detailed backgrounds that evoke that sense of dark (and light) soul. I’d still say that Virtua Fighter 5 wins in the visuals department, but SCIV is awfully close.
Soul Calibur IV is a 3D fighting game, so you are offered 8-way movement. The controls are largely left unchanged from previous incarnations in the series, so you’ve got a button for horizontal attack, vertical attack, kick, and guard. For the most part, novices can have a fun time with button-mashing, but that won’t get them far against the more advanced players. There is a lot of depth to the fighting mechanic, and it’s not just about reflexes. A lot of it has to do with timing and selecting just the right moves. Soul Calibur IV can be as simple or as complicated as you’d like.
Single Player Fighting Modes
Although it is certainly more enjoyable to hit up the Versus mode with a buddy, Soul Calibur IV offers a few different options for when you find yourself alone as well. There are three single player modes in all, as well as the training mode.
With Story Mode, you walk through the brief tale of your chosen character. I thought that this was the primary single player mode, but each story is only comprised of about five matches. That’s hardly a story and I was really disappointed in this respect. Yes, some fights are multi-character (as each character dies, he/she is replaced by another), but it’s still way too short.
Arcade Mode simulates the arcade experience with a few more fights, capped by a boss battle. Where the real single player value lies, however, is in the Tower of Lost Souls. You choose to either ascend or descend the tower a couple of floors at a time, selecting new fighters each time. Certain conditions are manipulated to provide new challenges and the team-based focus is refreshing.
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Classic Combatants Are Back
If you’re looking for a wide variety of characters, you’ve come to right place. Only about half of the 30 selectable fighters are available from the start, so you’ll need to either unlock them or earn gold to buy them in the Character Creation section of the game. Among the familiar faces are the spritely Talim, the pirate Cervantes, the monstrous Astaroth, and the outlandish Yoshimitsu.
Oh, and let’s not forget about the ever-menacing Nightmare, who looks more bad ass than ever. I don’t care if he’s slow and cumbersome; Nightmare is epic!
Joining them are a couple of new characters. Algol is a new boss character wielding the Soul Calibur and Soul Edge. Hilde is the daughter of the king of Wolfkrane, a fictional kingdom being attacked by Nightmare’s forces. She uses a sword and a spear.
Introducing the Power of the Force
In Soul Calibur III, we saw exclusive characters offered to the versions sold on the Nintendo GameCube (Link from Zelda), Sony PlayStation 2 (Heihachi from Tekken), and Microsoft Xbox (Spawn). Namco has taken a similar approach with Soul Calibur IV, but the special characters come from the same universe. The one with the Force, midichlorians, and the Skywalker clan.
Included as a bonus character in the Xbox 360 version of this game is Yoda. The PlayStation 3 version gets Darth Vader. Both versions gain access to Darth Vader’s secret apprentice, as revealed in The Force Unleashed. For now, there is no way to pit Yoda against Darth Vader, though this may become a possibility with downloadable content (DLC).
This was a very strange decision on the part of Namco and I feel that it is more of a gimmick than anything else. While the Apprentice (Donald Trump would fire him in a heartbeat) battles in a similar fashion as the rest of the Soul crew, Yoda is less than half the average height. As a result, any high and most mid-level attacks miss him altogether. It’s funny playing as him, but incredibly frustrating playing against the Jedi master. He’s very cheap.
Creating Your Own Warriors
A big part of gaming these days involves customization and personalization. While you can certainly customize the existing characters with new clothes and weapons (both of which affect their ratings and abilities), it could be more fun to make a new character from scratch. The character creation tool is powerful, but be prepared to spend some time with it.
You’d be surprised what you can do with the character creation tool. I was playing online (more on that in a moment) when I came across someone who made a giant cat. This kitty is deadly!
Essentially, the cat suit and head serve as armor. As the battle progressed, I was able to decapitate the cat and reveal an otherwise normal-looking girl. The busting of armor is quite satisfying and can lead to some rather sultry screenshots. Other players I encountered online mimicked Papa Smurf, Silver Samurai, and the protagonist from Assassin’s Creed.
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Taking the Battle Online
For the first time in the franchise, Soul Calibur is available with online play. No longer do you have to whip out a roll of quarters and head out to your local arcade for some competitive weapon-clashing action with strangers. This is the good news. The other good news is that I rarely suffered any major lag and there was always someone around for a match. Their experience varied significantly, but you could see your opponent’s level and win-loss record before entering the arena.
The bad news is that it doesn’t really replicate the arcade experience. There are ranked and unranked matches, but you are not given the opportunity to request a rematch after getting your butt handed to you. Instead, you simply go searching for another match again. There is no sense of continuity or community, even if you can do your trashtalking over Xbox Live. I would have liked an online mode that included team play, rematch requests, and perhaps a “lobby” area to simulate the arcade experience.
Closing Thoughts
Namco didn’t do much to change its already winning formula. Sure, they tossed in the Soul Gauge to deter excessive blocking and they created the Critical Finish for incredibly rare finishing moves, but the core gameplay is much the same. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
You’ll love the variety of characters and the stunning visuals, as well as the intense ability to customize your characters in a number of different ways. The weapon-based combat is incredibly thrilling, especially since you can now take the battle online. Even though the online integration isn’t as good as it could be, I can still recommend Soul Calibur IV to all the fighting game junkies out there.
I hope it’ll satiate my fighting game hunger until Street Fighter IV hits consoles next year.
Pros
- Fantastic character creation tool
- Challenging weapon-based combat is back
- Finally online multiplayer for Soul fighting games
- Breathtaking visuals and interactive environments
- Nice assortment of characters
Cons
- Weak online multiplayer
- Fighting against Yoda is unbalanced
- Critical Finish is gimmicky and unnecessary
- Story Mode is very short and unsatisfying
Overall Rating: 8.0 / 10.0
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