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Soul Calibur IV has grabbed many column inches
over the last few months leading to its near-simultaneous worldwide
release, and not least from your own
Electronic Theatre. The hype machine reached it peak when
Character Designer Hideo Yoshie released a
statement detailing the
aim of the design behind Algol – one of the game’s new characters.
One of five, in-fact, designed by renowned anime artists, in
addition to the heavily touted addition of
Star Wars characters; which to some may seem almost as
ludicrous as the forthcoming
Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe.
However, much like Midway’s more brutal offering, every
effort has gone to ensure these characters blend well within the
Soul Calibur universe. Indeed, their tales of how they came to
be competing for the ultimate weapon may lack the coherency of
“true” Soul Calibur characters, but this doesn’t diminish
from their playability. Yoda may feel somewhat unbalanced at times,
being not only tricky to master but also tricky to beat – acting as
the equivalent of GoldenEye 007’s Oddjob or Tekken 3’s
Gon – yet is intrinsically satisfying for those who do either.
These new characters aren’t
Soul Calibur IV’s
only addition to the series, however. While an Arcade Mode of
a-typical Beat-‘Em-Up structure is included, the Story Mode is
deigned to offer the bulk of the Single-Player experience. Each
character must compete through a series of five predetermined
Stages, each with varying rule sets. A one-on-one battle may be less
common than a two-versus-three, until the final bout. Player
attributed character traits, known as Skills, are utilised in this
Mode, as in Tower of Souls, and money can be earned to buy new items
and characters in the Character Creation Mode.
Tower of Souls is basically a revamp of Tales of Souls
from Soul Calibur III, which in itself was a revamp of
Soul Calibur II’s Weapon Master Mode. Player through a series of
Floors, the player has the ability to bring teams of two-or-three
for what are basically endurance matches
 against a group of
opponents. The Tower of Souls Mode is no doubt where most players
will be spending much of their time – allowing for further weapon
unlocks, Skill Set customisation and XboxLIVE! Leaderboards.
The Character Customisation Mode is, however, where most
of the development time has clearly been spent. Allowing players to
customise any pre-built character, or develop their own based on an
existing Move Set, the options here have been significantly upgraded
from that of Soul Calibur III. Equipping characters with
clothing, armour and supplementary adornments, players earn Skill
Points with which they can use to attribute any unlocked Skills. The
variations available on the Character Models is comparable to even
the likes of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion’s Character
Creation System, and being able to customise existing characters for
battle in Tower of Souls or online Special Versus Mode will become
quite an addictive experience for most. The only disappointment here
being the lack of any Lightsaber Move Set or tweaking of such
characters.
The Fighting System has also received a few teaks, most
of which are largely superfluous. The Face Buttons control much of
the action, with the A Button Blocking, X and Y Buttons for
horizontal and vertical slashes, and B Button for kick, the layout
will be familiar to fans of the series. Critical Finishes are an
entirely new proposition, in which an instant kill can be claimed.
Each player now feature a Soul Gauge next to their standard Health
Bar, which will change from green to blue when on the offensive, and
green to red when continuously blocking without returning blows. The
offensive player can not only destroy a piece of their opponents
armour when the Soul Gauge reach red – meaning further hits to the
specific area will increase in
 damage – but also, should the timing
be right, execute a Critical Finish but pressing all four Face
Buttons simultaneously, or the Left Button. The animations for
Critical Finishes, however, are somewhat underwhelming for the most
part, and the window of opportunity for their execution so slight
that most will simply remain ignorant of them.
Soul Calibur IV sparkles with detail in both its
Arenas and Character Models. Much of the Arena list included has
been redesigned, allowing for tight-knit combat where Ring Outs
become a much more worrying factor in a game that demands you to be
reactionary and always on the offensive. The soundtrack has always
been a pleasing feature of the series, and Soul Calibur IV is
no different. However, the already available selection of
tracks from the original DreamCast Soul Calibur on
XboxLIVE! Marketplace - at a premium - will annoy many wondering
as to why such appreciated music has not been included on the disc.
Soul Calibur IV attempts to do many things, and
at most it succeeds. While it doesn’t quite match the depth of
Virtua Fighter 5 or the audacity of
Dead Or Alive 4, it
certainly squares-up as a more well-rounded package than both. With
the oncoming one-on-one Beat-‘Em-Up onslaught – including the
long-awaited
Street Fighter IV – one has to wonder exactly
how long Soul Calibur IV will remain on it’s perch; but for
now at least, it’s the highest one on the Current-Generation tree. |
