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First Impressions: Soul Calibur IV – Xbox 360
Two Combatants Locked in an Eternal Duel
by Coop
The warrior chooses the blade, and the blade begs for a hero’s guidance as two soul bound enemies lock blades and fight for the salvation of their worlds…
I’ve been looking forward to Soul Calibur IV for some time now. After my love/hate relationship with Dead or Alive 4 I really wanted a good fighter on the Xbox 360, and my love for Soul Calibur II (and love for Star Wars) had me prepared to be blown away by a revival of the franchise. After an hour or so of play I can say that I am underwelmed, but not entirely disappointed by the final product. While it definitely stands up visually to any fighter on the console, the combat, at least at this point, doesn’t really do anything that the prequels had done.
The characters are cool so far, with the most powerful being the strangest addition – Yoda. As expected, Yoda seems broken and has certain abilities that I cannot believe they thought would actually be balanced. For instance, it appears that he cannot be grabbed, effectively eliminating an entire aspect of the game because he is short. Other characters play pretty much like their last-generation counterparts, which is slightly disappointing.
I am obviously going to reserve final judgment until after I’ve played more of it – and don’t get me wrong, I am still definitely enjoying the title – but so far I’m not feeling like they have brought the series to the “next-generation.” Graphics? Sure. Character creation? Awesome. Doing something impossible that the PlayStation 2 couldn’t handle? Not really. The current generation of gaming gives developers the tools to do things that they couldn’t before, and I would imagine that a fighting game developer could do more with it than Namco-Bandai did with this game.
Anyone else pick this up? Which version, and what do you think?
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Comments
To be fair, a fighting game remains a fighting game no matter from which generation it's from, there isn't much to be added to the franchise that much without pissing off the current fandom it could have. It's either piss-off fans, or piss-off newcomers ;)
I mean DoA4 didn't do anything different from DoA3 aside relying solely on counters to get anywhere ;)
Also, the whole equipment affecting Def/Att/HP seemed interesting enough too, all characters also level ups while you play, boosting their stats "permanently" through all the games.
I haven't played the game itself yet though, I just bought it but still at work ;)
I dig the character creation, that's for sure. Looks like it has potential.
I got it. 360. Good game.
My favorite fighting series hands down (Well, its up there with Bloody Roar, and Garou: Mark of Wolves).
It's fast, but it doesn't take much practice to get used to it. Combos link beautifully and there's no greater feeling that juggling your opponent with a super fast character.
meh. my heart still belongs to tekken (especially tekken 3).
Looks great, I hope Talim plays more like her Soul Calibur II version. You know, I'm a little surprised they haven't brought any characters from Weaponlord to any of the Soul Calibur games. They seem like a good fit. Actually, I want a new Weaponlord game.
I really wonder why no companies have made a fighting game that has a freaking physics engine in anywhere other than breasts...