Soul Calibur IV
Reviewed by : [URL="http://www.pakgamers.com/forums/members/conscript.html"]Conscript[/URL]
Edited by: radd
Original Date: August 13, 2008
I have been playing fighting games like Dead or Alive, Street Fighter, Tekken and Virtua Fighter for years but Soul Calibur 4 is my first try at the Soul Calibur series.
The game has a learning curve of 15-20 minutes. The controls are really easy to get used to. And the moves are easy to memorize and execute.
The story mode, where the majority of your time will be spent, has only five levels. There is a unique story and ending cutscene for every character but rather disappointingly the leadup to the end level boss fight is similar for all characters.
The game also boasts equipment effects. If you block for too long the armor/equipment (upper, middle or lower body) breaks and the body part is more exposed to damage. Block for too long, and you enter a state called Soul Crush where you are vulnerable to a special Critical Finish move which ends the fight then and there. This results in making the fights more aggressive and discourages players from blocking excessively.
Arcade mode is disappointing to say the least. You battle enemies for eight levels without equipment and weapon effects and its quite bland and after going though it once you won't want to come back.
Then there’s the new mode called Tower of Souls in which you battle hordes of enemies and gather equipment. You can either ascend or descend the tower. There are 60 floors when you're ascending the tower and 40 when your descending it. This mode also lets you choose a tag team of one to three characters that you can switch between in a fight. The inactive characters slowly regenerate health and this mode throws a bit of strategy in the mix.
It's in the Character Creation mode where the game really shines. By playing through the Story and Tower of Souls mode you unlock weapons and equipment to use in character creation. Various characters created in Soul Calibur 4 from various different franchises have been popping up on the internet. The highlights include Batman, Joker and characters from the Street Fighter series. Its easy to use and with a little bit of creativity great results can be achieved.
As for the “guest appearance” of the Jedi Master, Yoda, He's unlocked from the very beginning and rather fun to play with but not against because of his 2'2" height and invulnerability to all upper attacks. He cannot be grabbed for grapple moves EVER. This makes fighting against him a real challenge. You might consider throwing your controller at the screen after a few tries. Another special guest in the game is The Apprentice from the new Star Wars game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. You unlock him by playing through the Arcade mode as Yoda. He's also rather out of place in the game with his Sith powers. Both characters are fun to play with but they don't really fit in.
The voice acting in the game is mediocre. In the age of excellent voice acting (hint=Mass Effect) in games, Soul Calibur 4 disappoints. The background music could also have been better.
One department where the game does shine is graphics. The characters and the environments are beautifully detailed. A lot of work has gone into them and the destruction of environment is awesome. The character animations are superb and the frame rate is solid with bearable load times.
Soul Calibur 4 has a lot of replay value. First you'll be kept busy completing the story mode with all the characters. Then there's Tower of Souls to complete which has lots of floors to clear and lots of equipment to be looted and lastly there's the multiplayer mode over LIVE. And if you still want more you can play with your custom created character.
Soul Calibur 4 is an excellent game with a lot of replay value. The graphics are eye watering and the characters are original and fun to play with. All in all a must buy for Arcade Fighting fans.
Rating:
Yellow Light
Reviewed by : [URL="http://www.pakgamers.com/forums/members/conscript.html"]Conscript[/URL]
Edited by: radd
Original Date: August 13, 2008
I have been playing fighting games like Dead or Alive, Street Fighter, Tekken and Virtua Fighter for years but Soul Calibur 4 is my first try at the Soul Calibur series.
The game has a learning curve of 15-20 minutes. The controls are really easy to get used to. And the moves are easy to memorize and execute.
The story mode, where the majority of your time will be spent, has only five levels. There is a unique story and ending cutscene for every character but rather disappointingly the leadup to the end level boss fight is similar for all characters.
The game also boasts equipment effects. If you block for too long the armor/equipment (upper, middle or lower body) breaks and the body part is more exposed to damage. Block for too long, and you enter a state called Soul Crush where you are vulnerable to a special Critical Finish move which ends the fight then and there. This results in making the fights more aggressive and discourages players from blocking excessively.
Arcade mode is disappointing to say the least. You battle enemies for eight levels without equipment and weapon effects and its quite bland and after going though it once you won't want to come back.
Then there’s the new mode called Tower of Souls in which you battle hordes of enemies and gather equipment. You can either ascend or descend the tower. There are 60 floors when you're ascending the tower and 40 when your descending it. This mode also lets you choose a tag team of one to three characters that you can switch between in a fight. The inactive characters slowly regenerate health and this mode throws a bit of strategy in the mix.
It's in the Character Creation mode where the game really shines. By playing through the Story and Tower of Souls mode you unlock weapons and equipment to use in character creation. Various characters created in Soul Calibur 4 from various different franchises have been popping up on the internet. The highlights include Batman, Joker and characters from the Street Fighter series. Its easy to use and with a little bit of creativity great results can be achieved.
As for the “guest appearance” of the Jedi Master, Yoda, He's unlocked from the very beginning and rather fun to play with but not against because of his 2'2" height and invulnerability to all upper attacks. He cannot be grabbed for grapple moves EVER. This makes fighting against him a real challenge. You might consider throwing your controller at the screen after a few tries. Another special guest in the game is The Apprentice from the new Star Wars game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. You unlock him by playing through the Arcade mode as Yoda. He's also rather out of place in the game with his Sith powers. Both characters are fun to play with but they don't really fit in.
The voice acting in the game is mediocre. In the age of excellent voice acting (hint=Mass Effect) in games, Soul Calibur 4 disappoints. The background music could also have been better.
One department where the game does shine is graphics. The characters and the environments are beautifully detailed. A lot of work has gone into them and the destruction of environment is awesome. The character animations are superb and the frame rate is solid with bearable load times.
Soul Calibur 4 has a lot of replay value. First you'll be kept busy completing the story mode with all the characters. Then there's Tower of Souls to complete which has lots of floors to clear and lots of equipment to be looted and lastly there's the multiplayer mode over LIVE. And if you still want more you can play with your custom created character.
Soul Calibur 4 is an excellent game with a lot of replay value. The graphics are eye watering and the characters are original and fun to play with. All in all a must buy for Arcade Fighting fans.
Rating:
Yellow Light
