SoulCalibur III

"A Lot Of Changes Since The Last Game; Some Good But Others Terrible"

The leap from Soul Blade to Soul Calibur was a big one as both graphics and gameplay improved immensely. Namco look to have done the same with the transition to SCIII as they shoved in a load of new modes, probably in an attempt to attract new players to the series/genre. Some of these changes are welcome, such as the addition of a lot of new modes, and a basic character creation mode, however, some of the things they've done are really confusing. For one, the AI, and two unbalanced characters, why this happened is beyond me, since it was fine in the last game.

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Storyline (5/10)
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Basically the same storyline as every other game in the series except in this one, there's a lot of different modes, that each have their own tiny version of the storyline, however, the main plot is pretty much the same as the previous game. It's basically a fight between evil and good, with each using the power of Soul Edge/Calibur to achieve their own goals. The game does introduce some new characters, and oddly both Nightmare and Siegfried at the same time, which is explained by saying this Nightmare is a different person that got possessed by Soul Edge. The storyline is rather bland, and really doesn't narrate very well, as can be seen in any cutscene as there really is no hatred to be felt at all despite it being a fight to the death. This is still where the series needs some attention as they keep introducing people with no real connection to the story other than “they are good” and “they are evil”.

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Gameplay (7/10)
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There are a variety of modes to choose from, the main story mode taking place in the “Tales Of Souls” mode. This essentially involves going around a world map, fighting in battles, in pretty much the same way as Soul Calibur II did. There is more variety in the goals in this one, but it is disappointing that they didn't really do much to further the mode. There is then the “Chronicles Of The Sword” which can be thought of as a Campaign mode, where you are given a map and have to strategically move your character around. Unfortunately, the pace of this mode is painfully slow, but to counteract this, it can also be played with two players, which can help alleviate some of the boredom. It starts of extremely easy, but soon cranks up the AI difficulty, personally I think a bit too quickly, and by difficulty, read ‘cheapness'. There is also the “Soul Arena” which is basically the arcade mode and also features some of the variations on simply pummelling each other to death. Finally, there is “World Competition” which is basically a tournament, a nice idea, but flawed in the way that to get any decent amount of gold from it you need to win a stupidly high number of matches in a row, and by losing once you have to start from the beginning.

They have strived to offer something above the normal fighting game standard, by offering a number of different modes to suit different tastes. For the most part these modes are rather good, and certainly offer a refreshing break from what has in recent times become rather tedious and mindless beating up of opponents. However, a problem has arisen in the characters themselves, as they are now offering so many that they have concentrated on making a set few strong and the rest are just there for novelty. This means while you can choose your favourite character, if they're not one of the “main” ones, then when you go up against them, you're probably going to lose. They also took out some of the combos from the last game, which is frustrating when you choose a character that you mastered in the previous title only to find they play completely differently in this one. While it sounds like a minor point, it completely ruins the usefulness of some characters, such as Taki who no longer has most of her jumping skills, leaving you with a character whose strength is below average and no longer has her agility to rely on. The new characters were needed, but not only do they not look very good, their movesets are pretty poor as well, ultimately meaning that there's no point using them. However, this doesn't apply if you're playing against them with the AI, as out of nowhere they start pulling off chains of combos that don't seem possible when you play as them and their speed and power increase to stupidly high levels.

This brings me on to the problem with the AI, whilst easy enough to get started with, there is no middleground to be had and they suddenly get stupidly difficult to beat, as they start repeating the same move or combo over and over. This makes the task of accumulating the stupidly high amounts of gold you need to purchase the new weapons more of a chore than it should be. Whilst there are also unlockables, they just don't feel like much of a reward for having to put up with the AI.

As far as fighting games go, it's solid enough; it has a variety of arenas to fight in and a good selection of characters, and the new modes offer some change from the traditional arcade modes. However, whilst good that they added these, there are some huge problems that they should have fixed first, being the unbalanced characters and the horrible AI. However, the VS mode does provide some relief, provided you and your opponent are on a similar level as the game makes no effort to help inexperienced players other than the handicap.

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Graphics (7/10)
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The character models are detailed, but look less detailed than the previous game. They look to have a higher polygon count, but the textures used seem to make the characters look more cartoony than the previous game. Nonetheless, for the most part they look pretty good, although they still haven't managed to come up with any decent alternate outfits, and I have no idea what they're doing to Voldo. The environments look good for the most part, but most are rehashed from the last game. There is also the character creation, but unfortunately, the parts you're offered look rubbish and really don't fit together very well, meaning that it's extremely difficult to create a character that looks anywhere near decent.

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Sounds (6/10)
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The background tunes are good enough, but far too many are taken from the previous games in the series. The new ones don't really fit in with the old ones either, and aren't too memorable. The sound effects are as good as always, but sometimes overdone as you get people screaming with practically every hit as well as the sound of contact, such as swords clashing. The voice acting ranges from awful to very good, and thankfully it's good for the most part, but the ones that are bad are to the extent of being laughable. The announcer is alright, but can get annoying due to the sheer amount that you hear him.

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Lifespan (7/10)
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There's all the different modes to finish, as well as gathering enough gold to purchase the items in the shop, which gives the game quite a long lifespan, that is; if you have the patience to do that. It can get very repetitive, especially with what amounts to extremely cheap AI, but after getting bored with one mode there is enough choice to find something else to do. There's a decent selection of characters, but many are simply pants in comparison to the small group of “main” characters and thus aren't worth bothering trying to master. As with all fighting games, longevity really comes down to whether you can find someone else to get into it and play it with you as the multiplayer mode is pretty solid.

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Summary (7/10)
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The game builds on the previous title, which is always a good thing, and offers lots of new modes to try out. This in itself offers some variety to those who tire of mindlessly slaughtering opponents all the time. With the addition of these modes and all the unlockables, it certainly gives the game a pretty long lifespan. However, what really ruins the game is how it favours certain characters, and this is a pretty major problem. You can make a game with over 50 characters but if only three are worth using then there's no point in the others and in this situation there might as well only be five characters in the game. Worth buying if you have a friend who plays the game as well, and maybe even if you don't but like beat ‘em ups as there's enough here to keep you occupied, but the AI really will ruin your experience of this game. Also, only if you can get it preowned!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/30/07