Soulcalibur IV (Xbox 360)

The soul still burns, but where's the mythic story?
7/30/2008 7:08 PM | 1 Comments | Page 1 of 3

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.

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 grimly determined, hopping Yoda seems too small to deal with the devilish hugeness of Nightmare or even the lunking Astaroth, even when he's jumping high to whack characters upside the head. 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 cliché.

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?