My personal thoughts on SoulCalibur IV, when it came out a few years ago, was about on the verge of “above average”. Did it have its problems? Yes. Were the inclusions of Darth Vader, Starkiller and Yoda smart ones for the series? Not entirely, but they had their moments of novelty. As a whole, the game was a decent addition to the series, but didn’t really excel it to the point that it was an improvement in the series, unlike, say, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike or Mortal Kombat II. So now I come across the question again with SoulCalibur V, Project Soul’s latest sequel, now available for Xbox 360. Does this game offer anything leaps and bounds over the last game, or is it the same old “soul still burns” runaround? Well, there are problems that hold it back from being a legendary sequel, but I’ll admit, there are signs of progression here, especially if you’re a competitive fighter who lives to show off his or her stuff online.
Case in point – online has a much bigger focus here than it did in SoulCalibur IV, probably because of the changing landscape of Xbox Live. More users are on now, and looking for more competition than ever before. I have a feeling that Namco Bandai understands this, as it’s the best part of this sequel. Not only can you hook up with fellow players in the lobby, but you can actually customize it with up to 50 different folks, and even label your most heated rivals, should you be looking for a battle more your personal speed. What’s more, when you’re not fighting, you can see others going at it and even chat with folks, discussing strategies or talking about how “sick” someone is performing. Best of all, the online action runs very smoothly, without any lag. I hope the programmers behind the Mortal Kombat Kollection are paying attention. It’s a good thing the online multiplayer is so damn good, because the single player portion of SoulCalibur V is kind of a mess.
That isn’t to say it’s unplayable, but the interest level is a bit dwindled in comparison. Case in point – the story mode. You recall the awesome challenge-filled story mode from the original Dreamcast game? Well, here, it’s replaced with a lame-brained story slapped together by CyberConnect 2, focused on Sophitia’s two siblings – Patroklos and Pyrrha, as they try to fight off some “malfestation” or what have you. While this mode does introduce some interesting new characters, most notably the Z.W.E.I. (nothing to do with Panzer Dragoon, sorry),as a whole it drags, with not much structure to it, nor any rewards for sticking it out, aside from a much more challenging Legendary Souls mode, which is okay at best. If you’re not in the mood for a story, you can also try your hand at Training, perfecting your moves before you head into battle, and, of course, Quick Battle and a six-round Arcade mode, standard for this series. Here’s what doesn’t make sense.
This featured review concludes on the next page, please click Page 2 below to read more of our final impressions of the fighting game SoulCalibur V.
