|
The
next instalment in the Soul Calibur franchise comes as a
PlayStation2 exclusive. With over 25 characters, three of which
were playable on the  Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) Demo on
different modes, from the old favourites such as Mitsurugi, recent
additions such as Talim and Kilik and 3 new characters including
Tira, a girl with a big circular weapon.
From the off there are three different two player modes,
although we could only play the basic two player battle.
There are also three different one player modes, similar to
the weapon master mode we are familiar with, but I’m guessing
there will be many more to choose from as unlockables, similar to
earlier installations of the series.
The
Tale of Souls (similar to the Weapon Master mode) looks like you
have added freedom to take the action in a less linear path from
what we are accustomed to. It looks like there will be some
detective work involved to as it gives you the option to search for
new information as well as act on information to the whereabouts of
the sword.
Apparently
there will, for the first time, be a character editor which allows
you to make your own fighters personalizing their look, sex and
weapon - which would be a very interesting feature. It is unclear
how exactly this will work and if it’s just the appearance of the
character you can change or if you can edit their special moves, of
which there are many.
It
is also a possibility that it will feature online play although
nothing has been confirmed yet by Namco. I believe it will be this
possible online play and the character editor that will be the main
selling points of this game, as it doesn’t really offer much else
different from its predecessor. Graphically its not that much of a
step up from Soul Calibur II although things look a little
polished and shows what the PlayStation2 can do given a bit of a
push, after the initial disgust, it doesn’t seem to be too much
of a disappointment that the title isn’t being released on Xbox
and GameCube. A current rumour doing the rounds, which no-one at
Namco’s booth would neither confirm nor deny, is the appearance
of Devil May Cry’s Dante as a hidden playable character
– interesting and possibly far more rewarding than the unorthodox
appearance of Heihachi in the PlayStation2 rendition of Soul
Calibur II.
|
