There's a lot to be said for watching humans whack each other
with swords. Soul Calibur IV doesn't
exactly refine that simple formula; it just packs in more pathos and fewer
clothes. Three dozen characters fight one-on-one in lush environments, all for
glory, or a demonic sword, or… something. The anemic story mode, built from a
set of one-round bouts, is brief and eminently forgettable. But who plays Soul
Calibur for the story?
Combat is less frenetic than in some fighters. Speed reduction
allows slightly more time to think about attacks, which is a pleasant surprise.
That gives button-mashers some leeway; flailing on the attack buttons will
still unleash an amazing move as often as not. Even theatrical finishing moves
don't require arcane button combinations; players simply beat enemies until
their armor falls off, then tap one button. Yet those without serious knowledge
of advanced moves and defensive timing will cruise along until the CPU quietly
shifts into overdrive, at which point battles quickly end in failure.
Lucasfilm inexplicably invades with the balanced Darth Vader (on
the PS3), a too-small-to-hit Yoda (Xbox 360), and Vader's wildly overpowered
apprentice (both platforms), a bizarre meta-advert for the forthcoming game The
Force Unleashed. But look past such
oddities to the character editor, in which gold earned in the story mode builds
wild, unique combatants.
Beyond the game: The
console wars continue. PS3 owners might experience slightly smoother, faster
play by installing to the hard drive, and Vader is a more balanced character
than Yoda. Yet the 360 will gain hard-drive-install options this fall, Vader is
likely to arrive as downloadable content, and Xbox Live is undeniably a more
fertile ground for online play.
Worth playing for: The
deep character editor, which has already facilitated the appearance of Barack
Obama, Kill Bill's Gogo Yubari, and Batman in online matches.
Many user-created knockoffs of popular characters look like the cast of a 1976
Turkish adventure movie, which only adds to the fun.
Frustration sets in when:
The difficulty level on the Tower Of Lost Souls—the most robust solo
mode, and the source of many items for use in the character
editor—becomes far too demanding to accommodate.
Final judgment: A near
champion primed for obsessive fighters and courageous button-mashers.