Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny (PSP)
Namco's weapons-based fighting franchise attacks the PSP. Is it a victory or a humbling defeat?
9/1/2009 6:54 PM | 2 Comments | Page 1 of 2
What's Hot: Excellent execution of the Kratos character; Can proudly stand next to the console versions in terms of features and presentation
What's Not: Odd narrative decisions
There's a line in
Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny that accurately describes the overall experience. In the single-player Gauntlet Mode, this text appears: "Warning: This story is based on obscure fables and does not accurately represent the Soulcalibur history!"
That's true. Usually, in Soulcalibur games, there is a Story mode that sets up the motivations driving each fighter, and an Arcade mode that puts you in match after match until you fight a boss to end the whole thing. These modes give you a sense of grounding in the characters -- of taking them on a journey. None of that appears in
Broken Destiny.
Kratos unleashes the attack dubbed Crotch From Above.
But you're still getting what you expect out of a Soulcalibur game: one of the best fighting engines around and an international cast of medieval-weapon wielders. The complex system of moves, counters, armor breaks and Critical Finishes comes to the PSP fully intact, as do online play, a plethora of weapons and very robust character creation.
Broken Destiny also keeps up Namco's reputation for pumping out some of the most dazzling efforts on the PSP, in terms of speed and graphical sizzle.
What is really different here is the game's attitude. Though persistently confusing, the Soulcalibur mythos has always been meant as an epic sweep. Arthurian motifs! Wandering Chinese warrior legends! Feudal samurai bushido! Greco-Roman adventure! If your culture's got a martial mythology, then we'll try to fit 'em in! There is an ambition that's endearing in a middle-school kind of way.
Broken Destiny is more of an experiment. Unlike in the console versions, all characters are unlocked from the start, and there is no Story Mode to speak of, not even a paper-thin plot to propel each warrior through the matches. If you're playing as Siegfried in
Broken Destiny, don't expect any new info on the German knight's quest to redeem his patricide and past sins. You're not playing as Maxi; you're borrowing Maxi's form to play with.
Master thief Dampierre has a pensive moment as he wonders what trinket he'll steal next.
Whereas the Team Soul development studio contorted itself vigorously to explain the appearance of Lord Vader and Yoda in
Soulcalibur IV, it is doing no such thing with Kratos. There's an assumption that you know about Kratos from Sony's blockbuster God of War series. In the event that you don't, he's still a surly shouter armed with twin chained blades and a wicked mad-on for the Gods of Olympus. Team Soul has done its homework, though, and made Kratos a formidable foe. Used properly, he'll unleash Icarus wings, lightning attacks and familiar combos from his own series to send opponents straight to Hades. He hasn't been nerfed at all.
If anybody gets a story spotlight in
Broken Destiny, it's the other new combatant, Dampierre, a con man/thief with a massive waxed mustache. The foppish dandy wields two daggers concealed in his sleeves and fights with a mincing style, referring to himself as Le Bello. He's a cowardly rogue in the vein of Captain Jack Sparrow; he can fight but doesn't seem to want to. He's the polar opposite of Kratos, a finely-aged cheeseball.
