ic-games Review - Soul Calibur 2 - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

ic-games Review - Soul Calibur 2 - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii ic-games Review - Home - Review, Preview and Interview for PC, Xbox,Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

Soul Calibur 2

Information
Reviewer: Travis Hindley
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco
Reviewed: Others
Genre: Fighting
UK Release: 26th Sep 2003
Article Date: 04th Sep 2003
Difficulty: Medium
Retail Price:
Price Comparison:
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Score Breakdown

Experience:
Game Play:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 85%

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Pros

Tons of Replayability

"Party" Game

Easy to learn, difficult to master

Cons

Arenas need more work

Screenshots

14 of 20

Over the relatively short expanse of time since “gaming” has come to be, consoles have come and gone, each leaving their own special mark on enthusiasts everywhere. Depending on the taste that each gamer has developed, certain games and consoles will stick out as particularly enthralling. And often times, there are certain games that gain a certain bond with the console that it was delivered. Many remember the Sega Genesis for Altered Beast. Many will never forget the countless hours devoted to any of the 3 Super Mario Brothers on the original Nintendo. Perhaps in a few years someone else will reminisce just like this about Halo for the Xbox. But for one particular console, there was one game that was on everybody’s “Must-Have” list. Even though the Dreamcast might have been considered a failure in the eyes of some, no one can forget a little title called “Soul Calibur”.

The most popular game from a dead console has finally returned with a sequel. The original could be the best fighting game ever made in the eyes of some, and the sequel is very true to the first one. Unfortunately, this is almost a fault in some instances. The big question is whether or not the latest release from Namco can stand up against some of the competition.

As far as gameplay is concerned, it is much like the previous version. There are many different modes available to choose from. Moreover, there are additional items and features that are unlockable by playing through the Weapon Master mode. This basically adds an experience feature to this fighting game that allows for the player to unlock other features. The controls are fairly simple. Similar to Dead or Alive 3, button-mashing can get you quite far, and this game is no exception. There are 3 basic attacks: the kick, the horizontal attack, and the vertical attack. There is also a button for blocking that is actually quite useful. The controls really do not take very long to master, and varying combinations will come with ease. In addition, the various weapons that each character wields make every match up fun and unique. The great thing about this aspect of the game is that the controls are easy to slip into, but it also allows for a good deal of skill and technique that might outlast other games.

As far as characters go, there are three surprises in the different versions of the game that you might get. Link from the Legend of Zelda makes an appearance in the Gamecube version of Soul Calibur 2. He gets to use all of his famous weapons from the series: bow and arrow, bombs, and the boomerang. While these features are integrated well, many might feel that it is unfair as none of the other characters have projectiles of this sort. For the Xbox, Todd McFarlane’s Spawn is making his mark as one of the most powerful and certainly one of the quickest characters. He wields a double-sided axe that certainly does a good bit of damage. The modeling for his character in particular was done extremely well. Especially when you first start off, you might find yourself playing as Spawn a good deal, but you might find that he doesn’t really fit in with the other characters or in any of the arenas. Lastly, for the PS2 version of the game, Heihachi Mishima of Tekken fame joins the list of characters and provides a wide list of fierce moves to the cast.

Graphics are important in any game, and I would say especially so in fighting games because there is not as much of a plot that can help cover for less than par graphics. Thankfully, this is not the case. The graphics are fairly good, although I have a few complaints in this department. First of all, while some might disagree, I feel that the character models, while certainly creative, are not done as well as Dead or Alive 3. I also realize that DOA3 had insanely good graphics, but it was also released a good bit ago. The creativity is there, but I feel that a little extra effort could have been put forward. My second gripe is with the arenas and fighting areas. If anyone on the Namco team designing this game got a budget restraint, it was the guy that designed the arenas. There is nothing even remotely exciting about them, and they are all mostly forgettable. It mostly just feels like Namco was cutting some corners, and this was the area that was cut the hardest. This might appear as over-critical, but the graphics really were fairly well done. There was just nothing stellar about them.

Sound is an important aspect of any game, and Soul Calibur 2 is no exception. The best aspect was the 5.1 surround support. It came out sounding very clean and very nice. Attacks and movement all have very crisp sounds to them that do not wear on the ears. As far as voice acting goes, someone might need to rewrite the script. And it was true to the original, but the voice lines of the descriptions of each of the fighting areas gets a little hokey. It’s almost so over-dramatic that it is difficult to tell if they were intentionally trying to be funny. However, when all is said and done, the sounds came out very nicely.

The overall experience that anyone has with this game will surely be positive. There is a level of replayability that even exceeds most fighting games of this style. Disregarding the various weapons entirely, the combinations alone add a wide variety of flavor that will keep anyone playing for hours. Furthermore, as is typical with the fighting genre, they make great “party” games. Playing an impromptu circuit where winner stays, winner goes, or any other manner of passing around the controller will provide any number of people plenty of opportunities to get there chance and some sword-slicing, axe-dicing fun.

This game is not perfect. But I am not sure anyone really asks for perfect games. But if you are looking for a great game that will provide a fun atmosphere by yourself or in the company of others, Soul Calibur 2 is your game. Dead or Alive 3 finally has decent competition from more than just the weak Tao Feng. If your console collection needs a little spice, then Soul Calibur is the game you need to liven up your party.

This review was based on all three console versions (Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube)

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