SoulCalibur IV for Xbox 360 Reviews by Gamers

In my opinion this game is one of the best games i have ever played on the 360! Story mode is re playable with more characters to unlock, and money to earn which is very important. My favorite feature is the character design, you can customize your own character from armor, to hair styles/color, voice, and special ability's. Online is very challenging and there is always a player to go against. This game also has great achievements to earn. YODA is sick! I give this game 5 out of 5. I would highly recommend this game to any type of gamer!

I really don't understand peoples reasoning when it comes to a sequel. I see a lot of crying about how a lot of chars play the same, how the previous soul caliburs had certain features this one does not and so on.

Okay lets address these issues. I've never played a fighter that didn't have a few similarities between characters, look at street fighter. Ryu and Ken are the same with different hair color, didn't stop it from being the best fighter ever in a lot of books.
Now in case no one noticed this is soul calibur 4, not 3.5 or 2.5, be expected to lose and gain new features it comes with sequels, and i feel they nailed this one pretty close to perfect.

This game has awesome fighting, just plain thrown out there butt kicking that you wont want to put down. My beef with the game is the story is like some mediocre company attempted to tell the story of an uninteresting tale and market it as a sequel we been waiting for. I also really miss the team modes in versus. XBL can lag a bit, not to where its unplayable but enough to where your timing is off (and you soul calibur veterans know timing is everything in this fighter)

All and all i cant seem to put this game down, so while you sit there and read all these reviews think to yourself "do i like awesome graphics with sexy women? do i like game play that will keep me playing for hours on hours? do i like owning my friends next to me or on xbl?" if yes to any of this pick this game up my friend, you'll thank me.

Finally a game worthy of following soul calibur 2. The graphical update is fantastic. The addition of the soul crush, destructible armor, and new characters bring a welcome enhancement to battle without breaking the balance of gameplay, and several new game modes add replay value to an otherwise 'party game'. Where SC3 tried to add the RPG element to extend the life of the game (and failed) SC4 adds new attributes to the character creator by giving you the fighting game you want with an economy-driven meta game. At it's heart it's still a wonderfully deep fighting game, with a single player campaign topping making a delicious treat for new-comer button mashers and old school veteran combo artists alike. The online arena with matchmaking and "friends only" options add pieces of flair to a uniform donned for fun that you can purchase without worrying if it's worth it.

If you were burned by SC3, It's time to let your wounds heal and "take sword in hand once more".

I was highly anticipating this game before it came out, but now I was a bit disappointed.

I spent about 60 hours on Soul Calibur 2 on PS2 back in early 2000's and mastered most of Cassandra's moves. But SC4 seems to modified a lot of the combos by getting rid of some serious moves such as the easy fast AAB, brutal ->->A+B, ->->B and some quick Kick combs. There is definitely a bit of learning curve to get used to the move list. And I feel that they are not as effective as the old ones.

I tried Yoda, his tiny figure doesn't do much justice and he doesn't move as fast as Taki. I don't think the developer has made Yoda as well rounded as what he's supposed to be.

Another complaint I have is the online mode. It was my first day trying out and I couldn't get into any of the matches. I got this message saying "session full" all the time. When I assembled my own session, nobody came.

Overall, it is still one of the best fighting games out there. The most attractive features are: 1) side way step and side way rolling so you don't always have to block and gives you attacking advantage once you dodge. 2) fighting with different weapons is just awesome experience!

Oh, for those who like RPG style game, this fighting game allows you to customize your character. And you get achievements on top of that. Not bad.

On last thing, you can still get pretty far by butt mashing on this game. Some moves are pretty easy to pull off. But if you are dealing with experienced fighters and don't block or don't know your moves well, you will be dead in the water....FAST!

This was a game i could play all day i loved it

If you are not a fan of the Soul Calibur series already, SC4 doesn't do much to bring you in. If you ARE a fan already, it IS worth the rent.

Graphics are well done; the levels are beautiful and varied, characters are colorful, and weapons and armor can be changed. Lots of unlockable stuff becomes available as you play. All in all its a great game to look at.

But when it comes to gameplay it falls short. The game does nothing to help a player figure out combos; for a fighting game vet this isn't much of a problem but a more casual gamer finds it lacking. It is easy enough to button-mash your way through Story Mode, but that gets old after 3 or 4 times through. Arcade and Tower of Souls mode are little different (more challenging) but it seems like your opponents are fairly easy until getting to a boss, then it turns very difficult. Without some kind of direction for executing complex combos it turns frustrating.

I have not played SC4 on Live but reports of using quick single moves over and over are probably accurate. More evidence for the need of a more comprehensive combo system.

The armor and weapons system adds depth but this becomes little more than a novelty to the less-than-dedicated gamer because, again, lack of a clear in-game explanation of how it works. Really the coolest part about the armor is smashing it off your opponent. Fighting with Yoda is awesome (for awhile).

If ARE are a SoulCalibur fan already, it is worth the rental. If you are NOT a fan already, SC4 doesn't try to bring you in and you really aren't missing much.

I honestly have no complaints about the story mode, my complaints lie with a select few characters and a few of the game modes.

Multiplayer (Special): If you do get this game and are interested in the multiplayer, I would suggest playing standard. This mode consists of people pumping their HP and defense to such an extreme that there is no fun or challenge in playing the game mode, it comes down to who has more equipment and better ring out combos.

Multiplayer (Standard): While this game mode felt more 'true' to the genre, does anyone honestly play any characters besides Kilik, Maxi, Cervantes, Taki, or Mitsurugi? And to further that question, do any of these people have a more intimate knowledge of their characters than 3 combos to cycle again and again? It becomes mind-numbingly annoying to join a multiplayer match only to find that 'Xx Coolguy xX' chooses Kilik (after you've faced 10 in a row) only to open the round with the same horizontal sweep, lead up to the same vertical stab, switch to the first horizontal sweep.. see where I'm going?

Characters: The imbalance here is legendary, you enjoy playing Siegfried or Nightmare? Well.. if the opponant chooses Yoda you may as well forget you have horizontal attacks. In fact, you may as well forget you have 90% of your attacks, because only a select few will actually hit him. On a related note, why is it that Cassandra can outdamage a 3-hit air juggle by Nightmare with a simple standing combo? Aside from damage imbalances, there are probably around 70 characters to choose from, but only 15-20 unique fighting styles. Yes, they literally just copy/pasted the move list from original characters onto new 'skins.'

Tower of Lost Souls (Ascend): When the only strategy hint you can find on the internet for the final boss is 'let him ring himself out,' there's REALLY something wrong with this picture.

Infuriatingly frustrating at times, but somehow fun.

Ive heard pretty good things about SoulCalibur games and this one is no other. My favorite thing about it might be Yoda but thats not the best thing about this game. Xbox Live is pretty cool. But sometimes there are guys that are overly good at this game and im not that great. But its fun with friends. It has some fun game modes like going up 20 flights of stairs and killing everybody. I couldnt test this game very good because my xbox just died on me so im sorry. But i would really suggest this game as a rental and you should buy it if you really like it because its a very well thought out good game. Try it. And good luck with your xbox.

Yes it is. The game is the smoothest 3D fighter i have played since the Second SC. Nothing thats not suppose to be in the game is in the game. Its very fun to play online and off.

The controls in this game are simply the best you can get on the xbox 360. The game is not fast paced like DOA 4 but when you actually chain together your combos you will have a fast paced match. This game is difficult and will give you a challenge bott online and off. It takes practice to be good unless you played Soul Calibur II on the original xboxthen you will remember all of your characters moves and combinations. The Unlockables in this game are great and they have new features that will keep you playing for hours on end.

Beautiful graphics, some of the best on a fighter. The look really flows with the feel of the game. The games grapchis limit how fast you can actually go, no not like that but it feels really really good when your playing the game. No bugs or glitches and the voice overs are indeed amazing.

Havent tried the online yet im suspended from live lol, but if you want a fun fighting game that will have you playing for a long time. Cant go wrong with Soul Calibur IV.

Note.... This game does take alot of skill to actually call yourslef "Good" so dont be getting bitchy if you lose alot or you cant just seem to get it down. There are alot of characters in this game even yoda, yes yoda is in this game along with Darth Vader. So dont cry andhave fun.

I actually bought this game hoping that it would be awesome. IT SUCKS! The character creation system sucks, the story mode for each character is only 5 STAGES!!! it took me 5 minutes to beat! I'm stickin to soul caliber 2... Hate this one!

THIS GAME SUCKES MK VS DC IS WAY BETTER

You would think that after three fairly successful runs at the fighting games genre that Namco would finally be able to bring a decent fighting game to the Nextgen systems. Sadly I fear that SC1 on the ARCADE is still the best in the series. I found this game to lack fluidity, excitement and challenge. This is one of the easiest fighting games to complete in the history of fighting games. Even on the hardest difficulty setting a simple series of repeat button mashing can beat the CPU with any of the characters. I felt the controls were choppy and lacking, especially with the A = X, G = A, K = B sillyness that I was forced to interpret. The "story" mode of the game entails nothing more than an intro paragraph about each character followed by a series of endurance matches reminicient of the classic MK3 matches. The endings are simple cookie cutter cut scenes with little to no meaning or context.

The customization aspect seems like a neat addition to the genre but it is not worth the sacrifice that the gameplay took. The graphics are beautiful and truly are noteworthy but again, at what cost? The list of achievements are all attainable with enough playing but seriously... who is going to play this any longer than 2 hours? (which is all I needed to get nearly half the achievements)

This game seemed like it gained a lot of hype from the media and got good reviews from many reputable reviewers but to me it could have been so much more.

Rare bring back Killer Instinct!

This game has very, very smooth fighting. It's the best fighting game I've played, but then again I haven't played many at all. Online is fun, and single player has enough things to do to keep you occupied for hours. Single player can be challenging, mainly arcade mode/tower mode. However it is still enjoyble.

Soul Caliber has absolutely amazing graphics. They are extremely smooth, detailed, and go with the game great. It's not like those games where the cutscenes are amazing and the game is eh.

Online is a bit repetative. You don't automatically go into another fight, you have to find one again from the menu. Annoying.

One thing I like is the customization. You can create your own character and completely customize it which is very fun. From physique to voice tone, to the type of weapons/armor/attack style. Lots of armor to choose from and many skills. It will keep you occupied for a long time.

The thing I liked but also didn't like about this game were the controls. While they are easy, X, Y, B, Left Trigger and Bumpers you have no idea what the combos are. They don't even tell you. So you have to find out how to do them yourself. Also the Soul Gauge stuff confuses me and the game does not describe how it works well at all, so as a new player to the series I am still very confused. All I know is that if it's green and flashing I press a trigger. That's all the game really taught me. So for some people who have not played it before it might be very hard to learn combos/how to have fluent fights and use specials.

I have one major gripe with this game, and I have it with most fighting games. Sometimes when you play online and Single player the other people will keep getting hits on you, which stops you from even being able to swing your weapon. It happens so much on live it isn't funny and there is no way to get out of it. Small agile characters do this a lot to bigger bulky characters.

Overall it's a good game but VERY FRUSTRATING at times.

It took 12 minutes to beat the story mode and about 15 minutes to complete Arcade mode, very short game.
The tower part is challenging.
Thank goodness I have Gamefly, I would have been upset if I had purchased this game.

This game is awful. It's a pitiful fighter in a pretty big breasted wrapper. Clunky interface, a shallow adventure mode, and short gameplay time ruin what could have been an excellent successor to SC:III. The character creator has taken a step backwards, assigning point values to costume pieces, requiring you to sacrifice aesthetics for functionality. Menus are designed poorly, requiring several unneeded button presses to navigate them.

Yoda: "The force is not strong in this."

Soul Calibur IV is almost a great game, and it had a lot of potential. The franchise is one of the most beloved in gaming history, but the fourth installment disappoints on many levels, at least for the 360 iteration.

First of all, the X-Box gamepad just wasn't designed with this game in mind, and the developers did little to get around that fact. The d-pad and the analog controls are tricky at best, forcing players to use some sort of mix between them. This makes inputting complex combos extremely difficult, and next to impossible.

Secondly, the tutorial and training mode are very clunky, and harkens back to the PS1 days. Project Soul even uses a common PS1 font for their technical messages. While some people will embrace this as a throwback to the golden days of fighting games, I found it really annoying, and it made learning new moves with characters I wasn't familiar with extremely difficult, to the point where I just gave up trying to use some characters.

Character customization is very deep, but the game doesn't give a good explanation of how it works. Costume pieces also have weighted stats, so if you want a more aggressive or defensive oriented character, depending on your available gear, he or she may end up looking like a totally mismatched freak.

The load times are also pretty abusive. Don't expect to pick your character and immediately jump into some fighting, as with Dead or Alive 4 or most other fighting games. Instead, expect a long wait, so you can work on your humming.

To compensate for the load times, the game loads multiple characters to fight against all at once, but that doesn't alleviate the time you'll spend sitting on your hands, bored, if you fail a challenge or can't handle taking three characters on back to back without a fresh health bar.

In the end, Soul Calibur IV is a deeply flawed gem. It is gorgeous, and the characters and setting is delightfully familiar, but there are just too many flaws to warrant a purchase here.

"One trick pony you say?" Yes, I say. "What do you mean?" Well, I feel that all fighting games are one trick ponies (Except for Tekken 3 where they had Tekken Force). Because that's all they are and nothing more. But this "one trick pony" does have options--boy does it.

Tekken 3 Force was a big-time bonus for any fighting genre game. It was very clever and fun to implement a different change of pace to a genre that doesn't really seem to change much in gameplay: punch, kick, and block; mash buttons, hold breath, and get frustrated with the person who mashes buttons better.

Fighting games need to add more and Soul Caliber IV tries to do it but barely. What's cool about SCIV is that you can customize your very own characters or customize the pre-existing characters. Which is very cool and adds a lot of options for a game that only offers fighting but, I'm still left with the feeling that I want more.

These types of games are for those people that always have friends over--It's a quick fix. The game is as fun as the last fighting game you played and beat in under an hour after that you just keep repeating until you get more characters. There is the "Tower of Lost Souls" which you can climb up or down with various tasks to do to unlock more armor but, it gets really hard when you get up to the 50 levels or higher. So even your button masher friends can't use their evil tactics to beat this game.

Ah, now it brings me to the unfun factor in this game (did I just create a new word? Unfun?). The ability to beat your opponents with the ever-so-cheesy button mashing. This is really annoying when you play against people that have played it a bunch but they just so badly want to win so they resort to spamming the X button to gain a win. Very annoying.

Anyway, the game is fun but certainly not for the hardcore fans. The graphics are top-notch and the music kind of gets annoying especially when you hear the stars wars tune for the thousandth time.

This was one of the most aggravatingly bad games I have EVER played. Allow me to elaborate, SoulCalibur IV has amazing graphics and stages, but the Combo system has almost completely disappeared because of the slow reaction time in the gameplay. Also on this subject, when playing online, it tends(even on the fastest connections) to lag and therefore becoming even slower on reactions...
So in the end I (personally) would advice renting the older Soul Calibur II (which was Freaking awesome)so overall it might be worth renting if your not a Die Hard fan of the series...

I've been waiting for Soul Calibur IV for about 5 months now and I'd like to say that 1st the graphics are really good... I'm going to have to stop there... Any storyline the game has lasts for about 10 minutes which how long it should take for each storyline to be completed... Secondly this game is so boring... For the 1st hour or so you get into it but after you fight with just about everyone this game gets amazingly old and really boring... Looks like I'll just have to wait for Tekken or Street Fighter now....

Like the rest of the series, Soul Calibur IV looks and plays wonderful. Unfortunately, there was not enough depth to keep me interested. The character creator was one of the better ones that I have seen in a fighting game, but then you take that character into the game and it's just more of the same.

There are other modes that offered some challenges, but, most opponents can be defeated with the throw mechanic. No real strategy involved.

The "story" mode does not offer much story past the "you killed my master" school of thought. Sure there are other motivations for them to fight, but in reality, who cares?

If you are a hardcore fighter, this is the game for you. Not for me.

This game is lacking a lot compared to other fighters. With no form of counter system in place at all. The game goes from skill based, fast paced fighter, to whoever has the fastest character wins. If you play as a slower character, to win you have to either be incredibly lucky or the other guy is terrible. The weapons and characters are also incredibly unbalanced. The weapons either reach super far and they hit you before you can reach them, or they don't reach far enough and you have to be right next to someone to hit them. There is no in-between. Then the characters are either super fast or super slow. Once again, no in-between. Now to the multiplayer. WHAT A JOKE... You either bump into somebody who is a complete freak with one character and that is the only person they use, or you bump into complete noobs that only do one attack that you cannot get threw. Also the matchmaking system is broken. I, as a level 1 constantly got paired up with level 20s and up. If you can get in a room that is. When you click "Quick Match", 99 out of 100 times it will tell you "This match is already full". Well why did the computer try to put me into a full room. This is a question that nobody will ever know the answer to. The graphics are very good. Stunning at times. Maybe they should have put some more work into game play and balancing and less on the pretty colors. Anyway, this game is worth a rent. Only a buy if your into the slow paced fighters like Tekken and Mortal Kombat. Me, I like super fast paced fighters like DOA and Street Fighter.

~SolvingJunk (XBL Gamertag)

Japanese developers have fallen behind the times.
A testament to this fact, is Soul Caliber 4.
It's the same game you played three times before.
Better graphics, some throw away game modes, and a character maker with options that prove utterly useless.

The main arcade mode is plagued with the same cheap AI that came in games before it. You can level up your fighting styles, and give your characters new abilities. But these are only useful in the game's other modes. So all the work you put into building your character up, all of the in game money you earned and spend is for nothing!

In the end you are left with something that lacks any innovation what-so-ever. Not even the inclusion of Star Wars characters can save this garbage.

The graphix were awesome. But the game play was something to be desired. It really makes me wish I was playin part 2 instead.

The game is a lot of fun with my son. He is 7 and able to pick up basics pretty well. Game depth beyond that is pretty limited. He is bored with it already save playing with me. And some of the toons are a little adult for his age. Not that I mind however.