In this article: Game Girls FemmeFatale, NuyoRiquena, and Navie review the newest hit in fighting games, Soul Calibur 4.
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I'm so glad that SC IV wasn't another devastatingly terrible game like Legends was. I like the addition of Yoda and Vader... I know it's a little random and it's just a big marketing scheme, but it made me want to buy it even more tbh.
Online play was fun and easy to join. The only thing that frustrated me was high leveled matches. I think the game should automatically place you in a match with a level close to yours. I had a few ranked matches against level 100-somethings when I was level 5ish, and I got destroyed, obviously.
The new moves on each character were cool new additions... and the ciritical finish! Ohhhh man... Time to bust the sissies that block more than they strike STRAIGHT in the arse! I guess these are going to make up for the absense of fatalities in Mortal Kombat vs. DC... Oh who am I kidding? NOTHING will make up for the loss of fatalities in MK vs. DC. As the for the way the critical finishes actually look, I personally think they could have looked way more bad ass.
In my opinion as far as fighting games go, one cannot do better than the Soul Calibur series... and it doesn't disappoint long term players with the latest installment, Soul Calibur 4. Returning to the battlefield are a myriad of both old and new faces, all competing for the acclaimed sword... but how does the game stack up?
Upon first putting in the game, choosing my old favorite Ivy, and beginning the crawl through the storymode I was highly impressed with the graphics, ambience, and level of detail I was presented with. Even though the game has come a long way in terms of looks from it's arcade predecessors, it had that nice nostalgic throwback to the arcade roots with the same cheesy announcer voice and familiar sounding battle scores. I was pleased to see that, once the battle begun, Ivy still had her old familiar tricks up her sleeve (the metaphorical sleeve of course, as we all know her outfit hardly contains any fabric whatsoever). Much like the older games in the series, Soul Calibur 4 has a short and poorly written storyline that you can play through with every character to unlock other game features. Unlike the others, however, comes "leveling up." Through winning you can level up your characters' style, gaining colorful armor add-ons as you progress. In addition to this, you also earn gold which can then be spent on armor and weapon upgrades to help customize your characters' stats.
While this customization is all well and good for single player campaigns, I feel it cheats a bit for online play. Sure, earning the gold to buy upgrades isn't the hardest thing to do in the world, but it feels too much like Soul Calibur is trying to incooperate RPG elements into what should be a purely fighting game. The person who learns the attacks, combos and counters will always be better than the best button masher in the best item upgrades, but I cannot shake the feeling that it's an uneeded and uncharacteristic addition to a long-standing series. This also follows with making your own characters (which is sadly unlike the custom classes in in SC3), as in actuality you're only changing the appereance of existing game characters.
Overall, Soul Calibur 4 is about as good as fighting games get. Weak plot and silly, uneeded upgrades could be considered game flaws if it were not a fighting game... and therefore all it really needs is the fighting, anything else is extra. The game is satisfying to play as both a button masher and a combo learner, and there is enough varying fighting styles between the available characters to suit almost anyone. Lucas found yet another outlet to stick his coorperate wang into with the addition of Vader, The Apprentice, and Yoda as playable characters in the game, which I feel detracts from the overall Soul Calibur experience. But all in all, a great game.
The Good: More characters than ever, all with unique moves and fighting styles. Old School Soul Calibur ambience. Fun for both button mashers and experienced fighting game veterans alike.
The Bad: Uneeded level up system and item upgrades. Its a fighting game, not an RPG! And even though I am a Star Wars fan, the Star Wars elements poorly fit in with the overall Soul Calibur experience. There is nothing worse than choosing two classic Soul Calibur characters, choosing random on the stage set, and getting the Star Wars Space ship hull with the theme tune blasting.
The Ugly: Ivy's Breast size. Clearly my all time favorite Soul Calibur character has undergone some plastic surgery. Can the need for unnatural breast size in a damn video game, complete with bounce and jiggle, be any more pathetic? I applaud the effort taken in at least giving her a meatier figure and not making her anorexic-thin along with sporting those huge knockers... but come on! No woman could stand upright feasibly with those boobs!
The Score: 9 out of 10.
The fighting game genre is coming back strong and I for one am grateful. First Street Fighter IV, then Soul Calibur IV, soon Tekken 6 and Mortal Kombat. When I first found out about SCIV, I was excited. Then I found out about the Star Wars characters and thought that it was an atrocity to add crap characters for the sake of sales. Nontheless, I wanted the game so I got the game.
I purchased the PS3 version because I still do not like fighting games on a 360 controller. As most people know, the PS3 version had the ominous Darth Vadar as an unlockable character. Darth Vadar is a cheap character - at least in story mode he is. With a few swings of his light saber, he could put down the enemy. On several occasions he fights 3 enemies in a row in order to clear a stage. I was able to clear his storyline with no repeats and virtually no special moves and absolutely no blocking, with minimal loss of life. The story behind Vadar in the game is simple and somewhat corny. He senses a disturbance in the galaxy and long story short, travels through it to discover this world. The world has a good and evil force (get it) held in the power of two swords (read: forces) that he just has to have (sound familiar). In the end, he wins taking both powers back to his world making the Empire more fearsome than ever. I am not a big fan of the storyline but playing with Darth Vadar was mildly amusing. The most frustrating part was the arcade mode when you come to battle the Jedi Apprentice. How is the apprentice so fierce that Darth Vadar can barely get in a hit? Reminded me of the aqua Kasumi Chan in DOA4, and I hated that game. However, defeating the Apprentice is the only way to unlock this sick character. And I do mean sick. His moves are amazing, as only a Jedi could be, I guess.
All in all the game is all I had hoped for and more. Tira is more fierce than ever with her hula-hooping double sword. Angol Fear is incredible and one of the strongest female characters in the game (yes, I start with the female characters first). There is something for everyone regardless of their fighting still. Cervantes and Nightmare have some cheap moves as well hosting both power and speed. One of my favorite elements was creating my own character. I created a Tira-inspired character with dark hair and green eyes (I know, surprise surprise) who has an attack style and specialty is hysterical strength. Could not have been more me if I tried! I have been having fun leveling her up and learning the special moves and counters, since blocking is not my forte. I may try the 360 version if only to play the Yoda character (but only if it is a used copy I can return within 7 days or I borrow it from a friend). All in all, definitely worth the moola if you love Soul Calibur, fighting games or watching Darth Vadar jump through the air and toss people around. It is also a relatively easy game to play if you want to transition into the genre without feeling like a complete ass. Enjoy!
