Jonathan Tay
(PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 [REVIEWED])
Transcending history, and the world, a tale of souls and swords, eterna…
Actually, I’ll cut the crap. Read on to find out about the latest entry in Namco’s venerable Soul series – Soulcalibur V!
You’ll be hit with a day one patch the second you boot this one up – talk about a bad way to make a first impression!
Anyways, once you get to the Astral Home (a needlessly silly way to say “Main Menu”), your cursor will default to the story mode – this seems like a good a starting point as any. Soulcalibur V takes place 17 years after Soulcalibur IV, and a few familiar faces are notably absent. Have no fear, however – their fighting styles are more or less emulated by new replacements. The most notable new characters are Patroklos and Pyrrha, the respective son and daughter of series veteran, Sophitia Alexandra.
The story rests on the same basis as all the prior games in the Soul series: two swords, Soul Calibur and Soul Edge, are constantly at war with one another, à la a married couple. Both swords demand incredible souls from those who wield them. Previously, the struggle had been typified by the battle between Siegfried, who used Soul Calibur, and Nightmare, who used Soul Edge (don’t worry, those two are still in the roster). This time, however, the swords fall to different owners: Soul Calibur to Patroklos and Soul Edge to Pyrrha. The game follows their respective journeys, with more than a slight bias towards Patroklos.
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| They call this one a vampire… |
As to the quality of the story itself? Well…this is a fighting game we’re talking about. If you’re expecting a drama on the scale of War and Peace, you’re in for a disappointment. While the premise is interesting, the characters are hastily developed and the events border on the almost arbitrary. If, however, you’re looking for the best story in the Soul series, and yes, perhaps fighting games in general, you may have found it. For better or worse, the different continuities that have previously arisen due to each character having a story have been axed. What remains is a single, focused campaign, which I can definitely get behind.
An important thing to note is how the story is conveyed. Cutscenes come in two forms: hand-drawn pictures with voiceovers and sequences that have been fully rendered by the in-game engine. The former is just fine, even if the voices are a little cheesy. The latter, on the other hand, shows the game’s graphics at full work. Hey, I made a segue! Yes, Soulcalibur V looks better than its predecessor. It isn’t a big leap, however, but that’s okay. The game looks damn fine and provides a constant, silky-smooth framerate. What more can we ask?
Okay, you can ask about sound. You might have heard that this game has some top talent from both East and West, including Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana) and Inon Zur (Dragon Age II), among others. You can kind of hear it reflected in the games’ signature sweeping orchestral score. The tracks are certainly good – and certainly not memorable. That’s not really a slight against the composers – they’ve certainly done a bang-up job – but when you’re engaged in a life or death struggle, not even the most epic of scores will capture your attention.
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| …and this one a werewolf. What is this trend in modern pop culture? |
And oh, will you be engaged in a lot of life or death struggles. Soulcalibur V is a definite step-up from IV, gameplay-wise. The most notable change is the increased sense of speed and pace…the game almost reaches the glory days of Soulcalibur II, but shies away from that level of speed so as to not deter newcomers. Another big change is the removal of the Critical Finish and Soul Gauge systems from IV, replaced instead with the Critical Gauge. The Critical Gauge is basically a meter for special attacks, like in most other fighting games. Its primary uses are for Brave Edge and Critical Edge techniques – those are “special attacks” and “super attacks”, respectively. Don’t worry – these fit perfectly within the context of the game, as
combo-making and timing become even more
important with their welcome addition.
You’ll also be using the Critical Gauge to execute Guard Impacts, which are defensive moves that repel the attacks of opponents. Guard Impacts will now stop an attack from any height, while Parries have been removed completely. Hardcore players, chill out. A new form of blocking known as Just Guards have been introduced, which basically involve pressing the block button at the very instant an opponent lands an attack. Doing so will give you a slight frame advantage, allowing you to retaliate more quickly. If you mistime it, no problem – you’ll just end up with a regular block.
Other minor changes include the ability to quickly sidestep by double tapping up or down, the removal of the armour indicator (it’s still breakable), and an increased balance among characters (I say that now, but I’m sure the fighting game community will find a way to break in eventually). Overall, the fighting system in the game is more flexible and inviting for beginners, while at the same time providing veterans with an increased amount of options and depth. Oh, and a controller will do just fine for executing whatever combos you might need to perform. Everything feels smooth and responsive – there’s no need to blow an exorbitant amount of money on a fight pad.
Now onto modes, for what is a fighting game without a mysterious multitude of modes? The two main ones you’ll frequent are the offline and online. Offline, the game offers the standard gauntlet that is Arcade mode; a Quick Battle mode that lets you fight random computers to gain titles (a minor new gimmick); VS battle, which can pit you against an AI or a friend; and Training mode, which is self-explanatory.
The online of Soulcalibur V is, in a word, great. Large strides have been taken to make the game feel more connected. You can now customize a player card with your data on it and add rivals to track and compare their progress with you. You can save replays of your matches and upload them for all to see – by that same token, you can download the replays of others. It’s great to learn from better players.
Mode-wise, there are three important ones to know. Ranked matches function just like in IV – fight dudes, build up your score, level up. Not much has changed, in that regard. Thankfully, I believe that you can no longer view a player’s win/loss stats until the actual fight begins, preventing people from chickening out before a fight has even started. Player match is more casual – you can set up rooms with up to six people, with whom you can chat with and organize matches. Global Colosseo is by far the most intriguing addition – it’s basically just a huge lobby where you can chill, talk, and arrange battles, and even set up tournaments. It works by picking a large area on the world map, then picking cities within that area. The cities are basically the lobbies. It’s really cool.
Matchmaking has been vastly improved, simply by the addition of more search criteria. You can search matches/rooms based on area, record (Ranked), play style (Player), language (Player), voice chat (Player), preferred side (Ranked), and – thank God! – connection status! That last one, if used wisely, ensures that your matches will be lag-free. Unfortunately, I’ve run into problems with the actual making of matches – I’ve had several instances where I’ve simply been unable to find sessions. Whether this is a problem with the games’ online infrastructure or the fact that it has just released is yet to be seen – but my money’s on the latter.
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| Imagine this, but with a really good framerate. |
Last, but not least, is the Character Creation mode. The customization that the game appears to offer could very well be a draw to certain people. In this mode, you’ll build the body of a character while using the fighting style of an established character as a base. And when I say “build the body of a character”, I mean it. You can customize their gender, height, face, hair, voice…the usual, at least by Western RPG standards. Equipment-wise, the game is actually surprisingly limited. I don’t know if that’s because I haven’t unlocked enough or because there simply isn’t enough. Of course, DLC seems a given for this. Granted, the game does allow you to build some truly crazy shit and make some really interesting combinations, but don’t expect Saints Row: The Third levels of customization. Oh, and you can also customize the look of established characters, if you’re so inclined.
Anyways, I think that I’ve said all that I’ve wanted to say on Soulcalibur V. It can be described as Soulcalibur IV, but with a ton of improvements and new additions that make it a well-deserved entry into the series. It slightly reinvents and greatly refines. There are a few niggling problems here and there, but they’re ultimately irrelevant in the face of the superlative gameplay and online experience.
Oh, and Ivy wears a bit more clothing now. Hurrah!
GameSparked 