Soulcalibur IV (PS3)
If you wanna fight with me, you'd best be doing it in a game from the Soulcalibur series. The franchise has been my favorite, fighting or otherwise, since I first played it during my days at Sony Online Entertainment almost a decade ago. Even when the honchos at Sony didn't want me and my team to play the Dreamcast game simply because it wasn't a PlayStation offering, I made them believers by sitting their MBA-schooled butts down and showing them the sheer depth of play and story. I wouldn't be unhappy if they chiseled "The Soul Still Burns," on my gravestone.
alt="Character in armor"/>Carnival of Souls: One stage features merry-go-round horses.
The purist in me is a little annoyed by this iteration's addition of guest Star Wars characters Yoda (Xbox 360) and Darth Vader (PS3), especially because they're the first characters that pop up on the list of playable personalities. These interloping invitees play as intricately as the main characters, although the angry, lurking Vader, pushing characters with the force of a bouncer in a nightclub line, hits hard with his red, glowing light saber. He's not that fast, but he's formidable and nasty. When I play the Star Wars characters, I can't help but wonder if the next game will include Disney's Wall*E or Miley Cyrus. I wonder how many extra games the marketing geniuses at Namco think they'll sell by adding Lucas' iconic creations, yet I can't deny that Star Wars fans will be close to rapture. Still, persnickety Soulcalibur purists like me have their doubts, especially since Yoda does seem to wield too much power.
I was willing to forgive the Star Wars-related transgressions when I discovered Algol, the Hero King, as the final boss of Kilik's tale. This astounding, gray-haired monarch is the most powerful Soulcalibur character ever conceived: a brooding, morally-conflicted creation that fits perfectly within the franchise's mythos. Not only does this fearsome dude have access to two cursed blades, Soul Calibur and Soul Edge, but he also floats above the ground like some wraith from a Stephen King novel with honeycomb wings that cut like swords.
I'll never forget the moment when I saw the Hero King's heavy throne hovering momentarily in the sky, just before its massive tonnage fell upon the bo-staff-wielding orphan, Kilik. Upon seeing this, I think I repeated the words, 'Oh, snap!' to the point of clich?.
alt="Raphael fighting Cervantes" >Cervantes the Pirate gets his phantom ass kicked by Raphael.
The main complaint about the lurid, graphically-lush Eden that was Soulcalibur III (in addition to a poorly thought out real-time strategy mode) was the lack of online play. My guess is that the relative lack of story in SCIV is partially due to the fact that so much blood, sweat and tears was spent perfecting the online functionality. Sure, there is the occasional dropped frame when playing online, and some glitches where a weapon will hit a foe and cause no damage, but these problems are fairly rare. I can't wait to see how fellow Crispy-ites wield their weapons against me as my soul swallower Nightmare sallies forth. I'm especially looking forward to seeing the creations of those who've taken the time to make their own warrior in Character Creation mode. You game?
Sure, with each version of Soulcalibur, the graphics have become more and more elegant. But with SCIV, the intricate detail in the character art and animation is truly frightening. Nightmare, the series' most iconic antagonist, is just plain scary, with his glowing, soul-sucking torso and a heart that now looks more like a yearning maw protected by giant, jagged edged teeth. The graphical detail is just as impressive for all of the returning characters.
The opening cut scene, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired. I preferred SCIII's colorful, mysterious walk through the forest, which cut to the vicious battle with a legion of armored foes. SCIV's opening cut scene is a chiaroscuro-colored battle atop the castle that transitions into Yoda hopping around or Darth Vader hulking around. I was left wanting more awesome drama, to be sure.
alt="Raphael still fighting Cervantes"/>Cervantes screwed up: He should have cracked Raphael's armor and performed a Critical Finish.
The stages of battle have moving parts now: everything from marching knights to hungry, fork-wielding gnomes . In one stage, wooden carousel horses go 'round oddly in the background. The wide expanses of the stages are especially majestic and moody on an HDTV. They're so full of mysterious fantasy, you may want to leave the fight and explore the world beyond.
It makes more sense to put Darth Vader in the PS3 version than it does to have Yoda in the 360 version. Vader is probably the Nightmare of the Star Wars series, anyway, and his goal, (again, told badly in the game), is to move through a dimensional portal looking for the source of power within the Soul Calibur and Soul Edge blades. His Critical Finish? Imagine Emeril pouring meat into a Cuisinart and you'll get the idea.
There have been rumors that Namco will bring Yoda into the PS3 version and Vader into the 360 via downloadable content. That idea makes sense as pitting the two against each other in Versus mode is a game that even a nit-picker like me can warm up to. The question is, how much will it cost? $10 more is already too much for a game that will set you back $60, especially in these troubled times.
alt="Voldo and Ivy fighting"/>Weirdest couple since Angie and Billy Bob: Voldo moves in on Ivy.
As far as controls, I'd give the PS3 a small edge. Hours-long gameplay is easier on the hands with the lighter, first generation Sixaxis controller and the animations and backgrounds feel slightly more detailed, more colorful yet richly darker.
Regarding graphics, the PS3 is the way to go. With everything from richer details of chain mail to lighting effects to smoke, the graphics on the PS3 seems about 15 to 20 percent more detailed. Weirdly, though, load times are longer on the PS3.
Finally, don't be fooled by talk on the Web saying that that pre-loading of game information takes a half hour or 15 minutes for the PS3 version. It's a 12 MB addition that takes under five minutes to download and install.
alt="Voldo and Ivy continue fighting"/>Ivy's boobs are bigger than ever. But are they weapons
The ensuing skirmishes themselves are worth the wait, though, especially because you can now focus on breaking armor or weakening the upper, middle or lower parts of your foes. Once you enfeeble your opponents and wear down their health, you can move into what's one of the most sadistically thrilling elements of the game, the Critical Finish. Press all four face buttons on the controller and you're transported to a fighting platform where you make your opponent suffer some melodramatic pain and embarrassment. These special finishers are so satisfying, yet so hard to pull off. It's a bit easier to perform a Critical Finish in Single Player mode than when playing with a pal. One more note on the fighting: Blocking too much tends to work against you, turning your power meter red and allowing some nasty attacks on the part of your opponent.
alt="Voldo and Ivy continue fighting"/>Ivy's boobs are bigger than ever. But are they weapons
As an old-school gamer, I was disappointed by the fact that the text-based portion of the story has been appreciably cut back in SCIV, as have the number of levels you have to climb to take your character through his or her story. Again, I know it sounds old school, but I just wish there was a mode with some interactive fiction that had a lot of precise, compelling words and illustrative animation or screenshots. How much could such a mode cost in production? A couple of hundred thousand bucks at most and we'd all get to know everything we needed about the Soulcalibur universe.
Ultimately, the online aspect of SCIV is what makes it a step forward in the series. But there's still something missing in the story. Remember the mode in SCII where you could move from country to country, winning gold to spend in the shop? This mode included sometimes arcane, sometimes revealing paragraphs of story throughout. Having a compelling fighting system with hundreds of moves is significant, especially when Internet play is part of the mix, but it could have been enhanced by the rich SC mythos surrounding a demonic blade that preys upon the very essence of humans. This seems to be the only part missing in a game that, in all other respects, is the finest new-generation fighting game ever made.
