GameSpy Review of SoulCalibur IV

Namco-Bandai's fighting game series is an established fan favorite, and Soulcalibur IV is no exception. Instead of narrowing down the focus to one perspective, we're combining the efforts of two brawling editors, Sterling McGarvey and Miguel Lopez, to critique the scope and depth of the sequel. Here's their take on how hotly its soul burns.





Just How High Caliber Is It?





Sterling: Fighting games are iterative in nature. It's easy to take a look at the likes of Virtua Fighter 5 and Super Smash Bros. Brawl and argue that although both are amazing sequels, they offer little besides flashier visuals, extra characters, a few new moves, and online multiplayer. In the case of Soulcalibur IV, I simply ask: what's wrong with that? After nearly a week of back and forth rounds in the office and at home, Soulcalibur IV resurrects the sort of deep-seated resentment and blood-boiling rage that only a well-crafted fighting game can elicit. That's precisely what makes it a fine sequel.





The fourth chapter in the series has new bells and whistles that go above and beyond a few bullet points on the back of the box. Guard Breaks act as a "no turtling" device to ensure that defensive players must do more than simply squat and block. There's visual representation here, too. As a fighter's armor breaks, he or she will be vulnerable to attack for a split-second. That opens up the next big addition to SC4, the Critical Finish. Although button-mashers might not get much out of it, Critical Finishes allow one-hit defeats immediately after shattering armor.










As for other things Soulcalibur, the single-player modes, hardly the series' strongest suit, are a little better this go-round. That's mainly because they're fairly stripped-down and devoid of the overly elaborate devices that served to bloat past incarnations. Story mode is remarkably short; some might gripe at the five-round experience, but it cuts to the chase and give us what we want: the fast track to some gorgeous cinematics. Arcade mode is a bit longer, with a few more rounds tossed in for good measure, but it's the simplistic Tower of Lost Souls that, despite its minimalist approach, works better than the clunky pseudo-RTS of Soulcalibur III's Chronicles of the Sword. It's a bit tougher, too. If you want to treasure hunt, you'll have to meet certain victory parameters, which are often easier said than done.





A lot's been said about the addition of "Star Wars" characters into the Soulcalibur universe, with plenty of ire about console-exclusive characters. It's all unnecessary, both Darth Vader and Yoda are fairly dislikable. While Yoda's vertical limitations give him a variety of advantages, Vader controls with the speed of an Astaroth or Nightmare without the heavy strength of their weapons. He's a tank, and I don't mean his ability to take a hit. Yoda's pretty much a cheap-fest, and I dread the notion of hours spent online parrying low attacks. Vader's Apprentice, on the other hand, is arguably the worst of them all, since he's got big damage and lightning-fast moves. Ironically, he's also quite fun to play. I usually find myself going back to the myriad canon characters. Like riding a bike, you never really forget how to control them, and newcomer Hilde's a great addition.







Strangers in Your Home





Miguel: Until recently, being earnestly into fighting games required some social effort. If participating in a thriving arcade scene was out of the question (very likely, if you live in North America), your only recourse was the home console fight club, which typically involved opening your home to willing participants or else visiting theirs, and often required that you observe the odd house rules and assorted social contracts that tend to spring up around close-knit gaming circles. As a result, fighters evolved around the close proximity shared by both participants; whereas RTS contenders try and hone their game by Youtubing star players' after-action videos clinically captured from client's-eye-view, would-be fighting game champs can't help but see the physical bodies that their tournament idols inhabit superimposed on the shaky-cam footage.





This is the biggest distinction between fighting games and other competitive genres, and it's in its potential to broaden this insular competitive scene that Soulcalibur IV holds the most promise.





It isn't the first online fighter (and Virtua Fighter 5 is by no means a slouch), but by my estimation it's the one with the most juice, perhaps ironically because of the elements I like least about it. I scoff at the inclusion of the balance-compromising "Star Wars" characters -- they're basically like cereal box prizes amidst, um, high-end, limited edition action figures? -- but for every Mitsurugi I've fought online today, there have been six Apprentices and eight Yodas. I can only imagine this trend will continue once people start to unlock the characters designed by the anime artists. I give it 12 hours.












Yet Soul Calibur IV's extracurricular failings simply can't put a damper on my enjoyment, however hard they try. The system's the best it's ever been, despite some initially-alarming additions (the cheapy-sounding Critical Finishes don't occur with anything close to game-breaking frequency), and the "real" characters feel like thoughtful additions to the roster (though I can't quite figure out if boss character Algol is boss-powerful outside of the single-player modes -- I'm sure someone online will help me figure this out soon enough).









I agree with Sterling that fighting games are iterative, but I think that in the case of Soulcalibur IV, that might be a little dismissive. Just like the game's longtime players, I suspect that Soulcalibur's designers are invested in the mechanics and conventions that have come to define it. Blizzard has publicly stated its hesitance to change up StarCraft's fundamentals in the upcoming sequel. While the argument that Soulcalibur has done for the 3D fighters what StarCraft did for the RTS is probably a tenuous one, I think it's a valid parallel to draw. Soulcalibur has never been broken, and while there is certainly room for some novel approaches in the fighting genre, I would argue that no game has of yet come close in terms of subtlety and inventiveness.











Of Ethernets and Class Warfare





Sterling: Funny that Miguel brings up the sorts of social conventions that have defined fighting game culture for the majority of this decade. It's why I'm happy to see Soulcalibur IV's online multiplayer allow the series to flesh itself out in ways that the PS2's hardware likely couldn't have handled in Soulcalibur III. The developers appear to have set up SC4 with the concept of "the virtual couch" in mind. You can host up to four players in an online session, which can be dull and boring if you're playing with total strangers (five minutes in spectator mode is excruciating), but with three other friends it's brilliant stuff. I wish there was a faster option for two player-only matches, but unfortunately, there's no quick filter system in place, so you'll have to customize your searches.





Although our Xbox Live experience was comparatively lag-free and lacking in issues, PlayStation Network has some problems as of release day. A small percentage of games had some lag, our game froze after being booted from a round, and the network booted us another time. It's nothing game-breaking, but it'd be a disservice not to point out these issues. Otherwise, the experience has been consistently fun, and in spite of the self esteem-crushing nature of most online games, SC4's mass-market appeal gives it more diverse (read: defeat-able) competition than the likes of, say, a hardcore brawler like Virtua Fighter 5. That's more of a positive than a negative.





Miguel: I've encountered a small bit of lag on the Xbox 360, but nothing as frequent as what I witnessed happening on the PS3 version when loitering around Sterling's desk. In any case, it's hard to tell how stable the online game will be over the long term -- the performance this early into day one probably doesn't constitute critical mass. Let's just hope the game remains in the eminently playable form it's in now.










I have to say that I'm actually pretty satisfied with the online multiplayer UI. I suppose it could stand to work a bit more fluidly, but when I actively search for two-player games (and thus avoid the "online couch" effect), I find that I'm only really one superfluous button press away from a quick rematch. Filter options would be welcome, though -- specifically, I'd like some that prevent competitors from picking the "Star Wars" or anime characters. It would be nice if something like that were on the update horizon.





Speaking of superfluous, I'm not yet sold on the Special Versus mode; I guess I like my Soulcalibur unadulterated with character-advancement and RPG conventions. I'm not against the idea inherently -- I just think that the potential for game-breaking character builds needs to be mitigated by a hawkish post-release attitude toward balance and expansion on the part of the publisher, and I have no reason to believe that Namco Bandai will adopt this approach.









I have, however, gotten a lot of mileage out of creating custom characters around my favorite fighters' movesets, and bringing them online in the Standard Versus mode. Of course, they're as ridiculous as I can make them -- my Yoshimitsu stand-in is an elderly man with a face like Dick Cheney, wearing a wizard's hat, loincloth, the same armored sports bra rocked by Voldo, and not much else.





Sterling: To be honest, as of review time, everyone I'm seeing online is in Player Matches. Looks like no one's ready to dip a toe in the Ranked pool, and Special Versus is a ghost town. I'm in total agreement that Special Versus is an open invitation for lop-sided victories and overpowered characters. I'm tempted to see how my tricked-out "White Knight Maxi" would fare against the best and brightest out there, though. I wouldn't have minded some tournament support alongside leaderboards, but I suppose that's a lot to ask from the team's first online effort.










Miguel: If I were Namco, I'd be thinking about the future of the fighting game tournament. Right now, it's largely the domain of pro gaming leagues at the broad end, and local promoters on the narrow. A thriving competitive community around a fantastic game like Soulcalibur IV could go a long way toward jumpstarting this sort of scene online. It's no secret that Capcom is taking community-building seriously these days, as Street Fighter IV's home release approaches. Fostering strong, meaningful online tournaments goes hand in hand with this sort of effort.





Personally, provided Namco Bandai is equally mindful of this stuff, I believe that Soulcalibur IV has got just as much of a shot.

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