SoulCalibur II

"Think of it like Soul Calibur 1.5"

Perhaps the most hyped release of 2003, Soul Calibur II has finally come home from the Arcades to hit the home console systems. All the home console systems, as a matter of fact, the Playstation 2, Gamecube, and X-Box. For you X-Boxers, do Spawn and the rest of the Soul Calibur crew live up to their high expectations? Well, yes, but so did the original Soul Calibur.

Gameplay

I have to get this out of the way first…

Even though most of you know this already, Soul Calibur II is the sequel to the highly successful and praised Soul Calibur, which came out for the ill-fated Dreamcast. The Soul Calibur series started out with the arcade Soul Edge. The arcade game was followed up by Soul Blade for the PSX. Soul Edge and Soul Blade were the same game, but with different names. Soul Calibur was the next on the Dreamcast. Now, in 2003, we get the latest installment, Soul Calibur II.

So, what does the history of the game have to do with the gameplay? A lot, actually. To tell the truth, SCII plays almost identically to its predecessor, Soul Calibur. Which plays like a better version of Soul Edge. See the pattern? SCII is not original. Period. It reminds me of the early-90's when Street Fighter II was all the rage of fighting games. First there was Street Fighter II, then Street Fighter II: Championship Edition, then Street Fighter II: Turbo, then Super Street Fighter II, and finally Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Great games, all, but very, very similar. So, to use a classic gaming analogy, Soul Edge was Street Fighter II, Soul Blade; SFII: CE, Soul Calibur; SFII: Turbo, and SCII; Super Street Fighter II.

What I'm trying to get at here is NOT that SCII is a bad game, or that the gameplay is boring, it's just the SAME as the original. SCII probably should just be SC: Some Edition. But I digress, I just wanted to warn everyone straight out. Now that that's taken care of.

The Soul Calibur series is the premier weapons fighter series. SCII on the X-Box continues this tradition excellently. Featuring 20 original characters with many individual moves and combos, you can spend hours upon hours exploring the different modes of SCII. While you are familiar with many of the modes, especially the trivial ones (i.e. Time Attack, Survival, Vs.), I'll explain the two biggest modes, Arcade and Weapon Master.

Arcade mode plays through just like the game would if you were at an Arcade playing at a Soul Calibur II Arcade machine. Pick a character, fight six random opponents, fight a seventh ''destined'' opponent, kick Inferno's tail, watch ending, watch credits. Nuff' Said.

Weapon Master mode is what Namco intends for you to play through in the home version of Soul Calibur. You will travel through ten levels, each comprised of different stages, or fighting madness. Rarely will it just be ''Fight against this one opponent'', normally, there are special conditions that are attached to each stage. Some times you'll have a very short time limit, Or you're health will start low, or maybe the enemies' weapons will stun you. Also, you're normally forced to fight about 3-6 opponents at once. It's like a mini survival mode. Also, you earn money for completing stages in weapon master mode. With enough money, you can buy new weapons for your characters, new costumes, or new modes. Also, Weapon Master mode is how you'll unlock the game's hidden characters and + modes. The + modes are identical to their corresponding normal modes (i.e. Arcade, Time Attack) except that you can use the weapons that you bought in Weapon Master Mode. Even better, after you complete weapon master once, you can play through it again on the hard mode it sets up.

SCII is a very fun game to play. Especially when there's a human opponent to beat the stuffing out of. Spawn actually fits in without looking too out of place (after all, Asteroth has a similar style.)

I also have a minor irritation with Inferno regarding the new characters. Apparently, Namco didn't feel like going back are reprogramming Inferno with the new characters. Inferno won't imitate Spawn or Necrid. Not really important, but a minor irritation.

All in all, the biggest problem Soul Calibur II has is that, in a lot of ways, it's just a rehash of the original Soul Calibur. Of course, the original Soul Calibur was one of the best fighting games of all times, but still.

Another major pro/con to Soul Calibur II is how easy it is to just pick up and play. New players can pick up a controller and they probably won't just get beaten down. They'll be able to stand a fighting chance. This is great for players who are new to the series or genre. The problem is that even if you play a lot and get very good with a character or at the game, a newbie can just pick up a controller, pick a character like Nightmare (who is, in all honesty, n00b friendly) and slam you and all your expertise into the dirt. It's frustrating. Expert players should still win most of the time, but it's always possible to just get your rear kicked but some novice.

Story/Characters

The legendary sword Soul Edge has been hunted for ages, ________ has it, go get/destroy (pick one) it because ______________________(insert reason there).

Ok Namco, It was good the first time, and you progressed the story along in the second one, but this time it makes no sense. I was disappointed by the story. Basically, all they said was that they thought that Nightmare and the Soul Edge were destroyed, but they weren't. Go fix what you screwed up the first time. It could have been ok if they would've given some explanation as to HOW all this occurred.

Also, SCII suffers the same thing that plagued DOA2: Hardcore, but takes it a step further. Each character has some sort of story, but you only get it from the Seventh Arcade stage and the ending. I would have appreciated having a few more set battles for the characters. It would help develop them more appropriately. As it is, you have just a bare bones story. *sigh* Story just isn't SCII's strong point.

The Character line-up in SCII is also quite different from it's predecessor. There have been both character additions and character removals.

Cassandra, Yunsung, Raphael, Necrid, and Spawn (at least in the X-Box version) are all new to the series. Charade is also added, but, well, I'll get to him later. Siegfried (my fav :[ ) , Hwang, Rock, and the Edge Master have been completely removed, and Sophitia, Sueng Mina, Cervantes, Yoshimitsu, and Lizardman have all been made into hidden characters. However, unless they were your favorite character, you won't miss them. Why? Because they are just repetitive character models in the cases of Siegfried, Edge Master, and Rock, and Hwang has been replaced with Yunsung. Siegfried actually had his replacement in the form of himself possessed by the Soul Edge, a.k.a. Nightmare. Nightmare plays very similar to Siegfried, to the point where the playing styles should be identical, but the combos to play the character only varied by very little (such as an extra vertical slash to complete the combo). Rock's replacement is Asteroth. True, they play differently, but really, how many mega axe dudes do you need? Rock was the older character, and it made more sense for him to be missing than Asteroth. Also, the Edge Master was a little repetitive since you had Inferno in the first SC, and now you have Charade. So, out he goes. I'm not an expert Hwang player, but for what I have played of him and Yunsung, they're near identical. If anything, Yunsung seems to have more going for him than Hwang did.

On the new characters…

Yunsung is here to serve as Hwang's replacement. That's about it. They play similar. I didn't use Hwang much, so some of the finer points of his use I may have missed.

Cassandra fights in the same school as Sophitia did (and does), but those of us used to playing as Sophitia won't be able to just pick up Cassandra and use her like an expert. To me, it seems that her style is considerably different from her older sister's.

Raphael gets the honor of being one of only two characters that was utterly and completely new to the original SCII Arcade game. Some may argue that Yunsung and Cassandra are just replacements (which they are...,~_~ to a point), Raphael has a completely new and different style to him. Those who are veterans of the Soul Calibur series will want to take a look at him, he's a fresh face with a new, distinct style. Now, if only Namco could have thought up a few more to go along with him. >_<

Talim is the other brand new character to Soul Calibur II (not including the Exclusives or Necrid). I haven't used her much, but I've liked what I have played. She's quick and plays similar to Taki. She uses a lot of combos.

Necrid, Necrid, Necrid. What are we going to do with you? Todd McFarlane's contribution to the SCII lineup on all systems is an interesting one. He fights using a weapon that can morph into other weapons depending on what you want him to do. In other words, he mimics the other characters in the game's individual attacks. As if the monotony wasn't enough, they add a new character that mimics aspects and attacks of the other characters! Gettin' old, Namco.

Spawn: Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. I know this is what you really want to know. The Box's exclusive character. Well, kids, he seems a bit broken to me. It's not that he's glitchy or anything like that. Yes, all of his moves work. It's just that, well, he owns! Similar to Link in the GCN version (and even though I haven't got a chance to play as him on the PS2, I would assume Heihatchi is like this too) Spawn seems superior to many of the other characters in numerous ways. He's not invincible, and if you waste too much time on his nifty powers you'll get creamed. But come on, he's got green Necro projectiles and he can fly! Well, only a little, but still!

Charade, technically, is a new character, but, well, he sure doesn't feel like one. Charade acts like Edge Master did in the first Soul Calibur (and Inferno in both Soul Caliburs), he mimics a different characters playing style every round. Charade is there because Namco didn't want to make Inferno playable, from what I can tell. However, it appears that they use the exact same character engine, with just a different skin applies. How can I tell? Simple, once again, like Inferno, Charade won't mimic Necrid or Spawn. Kinda lazy.

Graphics

What do I have to say about graphics? Ooooo, look at the pretty colors. No, really, look! If Soul Calibur is anything, it is graphically wonderful. While the style isn't a major update since the original, the details are much better. The graphics of Soul Calibur II are very sharp and crisp, like the gameplay.

On the X-Box version, the graphics take a couple of steps farther, and so, the effects are the cleanest on the X-Box version. In case you care, the ranking from best to worst would go X-Box, GCN, PS2. That being said, I wouldn't worry about it TOO much, as the differences are only noticeable to people who look very closely, OR those with hi-end televisions of the HDTV variety. Since the X-Box supports HDTV better, you get better graphics.

Music and Sound

If this were an RPG soundtrack, I'd been sorely disappointed. However, it's NOT an RPG, it's a fighting game. Soul Calibur II's soundtrack is perfect for a fighting game. It has a good rhythm to keep up with a fighting game's mood, but it isn't distracting. Some of the songs I didn't care for, but that's just a matter of personal taste. For the most part, they were good.

Since it is a fighting game, you get the usual assortment of bone-cracking and body mashing sounds. They all sound pretty good, but this is one of those things that you only notice if it's bad or exceptionally good. It was good, but, after all, it's just a few SFX.

The Voice acting of Soul Calibur II is rather hit and miss. Some of the lines of some of the characters sound good. However, other lines have serious problems. Issues such as odd translations and awkward pauses are too frequent. Of course, you could just switch to Japanese. Then you'll just be too ignorant to know the difference!

Replay

With many different modes and several characters to choose from, Soul Calibur II should keep you busy for a while. Weapon Master Mode offers MANY items to collect, so it could take a while to clear all of that.

Summary

In reviewing this game, I was faced with a difficult dilemma, ''Should a sequel get counted off by comparison to the original?'' On one hand, you could say that you should review the game and only the game, regardless of how good/bad other games are. On the other hand, since it IS trying to follow a brand name, it should have to live up to or surpass its predecessors. In the end, I would say that limited comparison is best.

Since I decided this, I'm forced to give Soul Calibur II for the X-Box a 9. On its own, Soul Calibur II deserves a ten, however, it just doesn't have enough changes to the original. Is it a better game than the original? Most definitely. Is it as impressive? No. The original, was, fairly original. Soul Calibur II doesn't quite feel quite as much so.

Soul Calibur II is a definite must-buy. You just have to decide whether you want it for the PS2, GCN, or X-Box.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/07/03