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Soul Calibur 4: Star Wars? It Works! The Soul series has always been fairly innovative in the fighter world, but how fresh was the idea of including the Star Wars franchise into this fourth installment? Surprisingly, this formula works quite well and doesn’t deviate too much from the Soul Calibur foundation. Previous fans of the Soul series will notice the return of their favorite characters and many features, as well as a few new additions including the three characters from the Star Wars universe: Darth Vader, Yoda, and the Apprentice from Force Unleashed. There are some minor issues mainly with the revamped game modes and the online play, which could definitely steer some hardcore fans away. However, if you’re into fighting games, Star Wars, the Soul series in general, and a decent challenge, this installment will not disappoint.
Unlike other fighting games that rely on the high/low punch/kick and block mechanic, the Soul series is based on horizontal versus vertical attacks and where they actually strike the body. Aside from that, there are also grabs and special abilities specific to each character. This may sound fairly simple in theory, but things get incredibly advanced quite fast. Unfortunately, I have yet to pull off--or fully understand--this concept, but many skilled players utilize Just Frames, which are moves that must be executed within a specific frame window. Aside from Just Frames and other mysterious pwnage techniques, they revamped the critical finish system, which decreases the benefits of those who constantly guard. In short, you have a gauge next to your health (ingeniously called the ‘Soul Gauge’) that changes color from green to red when the player’s guard is attacked. If the gauge’s color is completely drained, you have the opportunity of performing a character specific critical finish. There are also some neat features that come into play in pretty much any game mode like armor that can be destroyed for increased damage, active matching battle (basically tag-team), and special/force abilities for each character.
The game modes are pretty standard for fighters consisting of Story, Arcade, Training, and Character Creation borrowed from SC3. The Story mode obviously takes you through a set of battles corresponding to a weak plot for each character, while Arcade leaves out the lame story telling and ups the difficulty slightly. Character Creation consists of an almost endless list of faces, hair styles, clothing, weapons, etc. and with DLC your customization options will never run out. Thanks to this mode, I’ve seen some absolutely hilarious cameos from characters like M. Bison to Oompa Loompas. The newest addition to SC is Tower of Lost Souls, which is an incredibly difficult mode that puts players in special battles to unlock rewards, such as costumes for Character Creation. To give you an idea of what a sheer pain in the ass Tower of Souls is, you’ll often find yourself going up against three (or more) sets of characters with very intelligent AI—you only get one character with one bar of health for the ENTIRE challenge, UGH! You’ll also find a great deal of frustration with online play, which is almost unavoidable. To play an online battle you can make use of the search feature or simply quick connect. The search is broken down by number of players, rounds, and time limit. You’ll often spend a few minutes trying to connect to a room through both methods to find that the player slots have already been filled. This is even more problematic in rooms that only allow for two players. Apart from connection problems, you’ll notice that SC players are highly skilled <-- huge understatement. I strictly play in the unranked sessions due to my fear of being totally humiliated in a matter of seconds, but you’ll still find yourself crying in a fetal position from time to time. From what I’ve heard, the ranked rooms are absolutely terrifying and surely result in thrown controllers as the SC masters hang out there.
The phenomenal graphics and sound stay true to the Soul series, while also utilizing the newer and more powerful consoles. You’ll fight in a decent variety of landscapes including jungles, cathedrals, on top of hellish pillars, and even venture into some familiar Star Wars sets. Each area not only looks amazing, but is filled with little bits of detail that can be destroyed or used to help you defeat your opponent. The music is usually intense, and if not it at least suits the stage you’re fighting in. One thing I’ve always loved about the Soul series is the ridiculous taunts characters will throw at each other, and they ensured that the voice work retained it's quality and cheese factor!
While there are limited flaws in Soul Calibur 4 from online play to the frustrating Tower of Souls mode, it's definitely a great addition to the series. The character list is absolutely awesome (including the Star Wars cameos), stages are beautiful and varied, and most of the game modes are very satisfying. Thanks to Character Creation and the new online modes, there's almost an endless amount of replay value. To sum things up, Soul Calibur 4 is the best we've seen yet from this series and remains my favorite fighter, even next to classics like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. This series has established itself as one of the most well rounded in fighting games over the years and you should be ashamed to even think of passing this one up. |
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