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Take your time son...
By Siamese
It’s taken me a while to get around to playing Soul Calibur III. I’ve played every game in the series, and have watched with interest at how the series has unfolded. Soul Blade/Edge on the PS was the definitive weapons fighter of its era, beating the likes of the Battle Arena Toshinden series hands down. The leap from Soul Edge to Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast was huge, and wrapped stunning visuals around a far more refined combat experience. Soul Calibur II was less of a revelation. Although it remained a great game, it didn’t make the bounds of progress that I’d hoped for, and if I’m being brutally honest, I’d say it was more of a cheap hussy of an update rather than an all new game.
Yet here’s the strangest thing. Soul Calibur III has done exactly the same thing that Soul Calibur II did. Once again, we’ve been given a few new characters to play with, some new modes, and a handful of new arenas to fight in. And you know what? Soul Calibur III plays like the true sequel that its predecessor never was. It’s all about how the game play feels, you see. A few subtle changes here and there have made all the difference, and finally put the soul back into Soul Calibur.
It turns out that three really is the magic number.
The combat has been tightened up considerably - it’s a little slower than before, with less scope given to button mashing, and it feels a lot less arcadey overall. How each character plays and moves with regards to their weapon has been improved in many ways; you can almost feel the weight of the heavier weapons as they are lugged by those who wield them, and likewise the comparative lightness and nimbleness of the smaller ones. When swinging at your opponents, you can feel the impact much more vividly, and the difference in contact between weak and strong attacks is far more profound. Even the feel of blocking is vastly improved, as sparks fly, metal chimes, and characters recoil under the force as blows are traded back and forth. There’s also less of the running around in circles like eejits thanks to tweaks to the run system - a blessed relief after the occasional barn dances from before.
There’s also a nice pick-n-mix of features to help immerse you in the game, including storylines and multiple endings for each character, tons of unlockables, character creation, mini-games that are not only fun, but also designed to sneakily improve your overall skills, and bucketloads of items to buy from the shamelessly heavily bosomed shopkeepers. All this helps keep things nice and fresh, and there’s always something new waiting around the corner for you. Best of all, Soul Calibur II is perfectly designed to cater for all levels of attention span. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for a quickie or a sweaty all night session - you’ll be satisfied either way.
O'Bannion and his friends waited outside the Namco studios after being cut from the final release.
Soul Calibur III has re-established my faith in the series. It’s just ace. Shame they never made it available on all formats though - online play via Xbox Live would have been kecks messingly good. I’ve got my fingers crossed that we’ll see it in Soul Calibur IV.
Take that.
The online play that is. Not the scatological bit. You pervs.
September 2006
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