Written By Shaun McCracken
On the last week of August 2003, Nintendo got a double shot of some of the best
games of the year to appear on the Gamecube. Of course, we know one was Soul Calibur II
and the other being F-Zero GX (which scored an excellent 95 on this site). Two
totally different games, but share a link of being some of the best games of the year.
I guess you can find another link between the two, the fact that we had to wait a
few years for a long-awaited follow-up.
Those who do not know what this game is about or know about it's orgins, Soul
Calibur II is the sequel to the arcade and critically acclaimed Dreamcast home version,
which in turn, were sequels to a mildly accepted arcade and PS1 port of Soul Blade.
The wait for the SCII sequel was a long 4 years since the Dreamcast release. We first
got a taste of the game back in 2001 in it's arcade forms, then later shown as
a GCN build. Later, the PS2 and X-Box versions were built, and in 2003, the game
finally hit home, first in Japan back in April, then in August in the US. Was it
worth the wait? That depends on who you ask. I personally think it was, but quite
a few critics, while accepting the game pretty well, have been comparing it highly
to Sega's Virtua Fighter Evolution. Finally, a rivalry that involves games, not
the system.
Enough of the history. Let's get into what this game is about. Basically, it
almost seems like a photocopy of the plotline of the first SCII, but with a different
final boss. Participants in the game go on a quest for the blade known as the Soul
Calibur. Everyone has a different reason and agenda for wanting the blade. Some
want to destroy the blade, others would like to use the blade to destroy their
enemies.
The game is set up with a vast amount of gameplay options. You have the arcade mode,
which plays just like it's titled. You defeat your opponents one by one for seven stages,
and then fight the final boss for the eighth and final stage. You have a time trial
mode, which is pretty similar to the arcade mode, but you get no continues and
you're playing for a time record, rather than fufilling a storyline of your
chosen charatcer. There's the fairly addictive Survival mode, which has you going
against as many opponents as you can on just one life. There's a VS Battle mode
for you to go against one of your friends (or foes) on a one on one battle. Sort
of hidden in the madness lies the Team Battle mode, which is actually pretty fun,
and adds a slight dimention to the gameplay. You can choose up to three players
to join your team, and fight through 5 stages. Basically, it's almost similar
to the time trial, but I think you get to continue. It's pretty reminicent of the
gameplay of Capcom Vs. SNK 2, but you are not as powerful if you decide to take less
people in your team. Team Battle is also available in a two-player mode. Every
one of the said gameplay modes (also including a practice mode) is also available
as an "Extra" mode, which basicaly lets you use weapons you have won or bought in
the Weapon Master mode.
Speaking of which, we have the Weapon Master mode, which is pretty much the same
mode offered in the first Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast (it may have been under
a different name). The Weapon Master mode is a wonderful addition to the game.
If you've ever played Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance's "Konquest" mode, then this
will seem a bit familiar. Except here, the stages go beyond learning your moves
and abillities, and actually offers challenges within a storyline. You can play as
any character you have unlocked, and you are also able to change the character at
any point before you start a stage. The Weapon Master mode takes you through different
towns and challenges of varying difficulties, with a storyline in between. I won't
go into storyline details for the sake of not spoiling it for you. I will say
that there is a lot of reading involved, and there are no cinematics that direct the
action. Seems a bit lazy on Namco's part, but there's also the fact that it probably
wouldn't fit on a GCN disc. Depending on how quickly you move through this mode,
or how well you do, the amount of time it takes to complete this mode will vary.
I'm still going through it, but I've been all over in the game, so my focus was
not totally directed on the Weapons Master mode. A great addition to the game,
and one that should be explored to unlock and buy various items that can be used
in other parts of the game, such as weapons or galleries.
Soul Calibur II was indeed a long-awaited and much hyped about game. But when
you really look at it, it is just a fighting game. How deep can a game like this
be? Well, it's much deeper than a lot of fighters on the market, such as Bloody
Roar Primal Fury or Dead Or Alive 3. But then there are somethings done in other
games that seem more appealing or interesting than what is offered here. For example,
Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance, while not a terribly deep game, offers three different
fighting styles for each of the fighters that can be changed instantly during
combat. While this may seem deeper than SCII's one-style fighting engine, it's also
more complicated. I appreciate SCII's more approachable fighting engine, despite
the fact that you're limited to weapon attacks, throws and kicks (but there are
a lot of them). Then there's Virtua Fighter 4 (and the newer Evolution), which
a lot of people seem to like a little bit more than SCII. The fighting system is
different, as well as the overall gameplay. I haven't gotten into VF4 yet (mainly because
I bought a busted-ass copy, and missed out on getting refunded for a broken product),
but when I do, I can be able to discuss which is better. I think I may have lost
focus somewhere. I was trying to explain if the game has enough depth for a fighting
game. I think it does. You have a large variety of gameplay modes (more than MKDA),
a pretty smooth and easily accessible fighting system, a great Weapons Master mode,
and some unlockable content (but not nearly as much as the content in MKDA, which
had a sh*t load). And depending if you're playing against other people, this game
may stick around in your system longer. I will admit, I have been playing F-Zero GX
twice as much as this, but I managed to get in almost 10 hours so far. I'm still
not done with it, and I think when I have seen and done everything, the gameplay
time will be around 20 hours. Not too bad for a fighting game.
Ok, so we get that out of the way. Before I go on to the graphics, I want to
talk about the controls. A lot of critics from different gaming publications have
bitched about the GCN controller. "It's not well suited for this game", "The D-Pad
is too small", "The PS2 controller is better". You must really suck at gaming if you
can not tolerate this controller. These people have probably been using the Gamecube
longer and more often than I have (although I've had mine for over a year, so I've
had time with it as well), so I would suspect they could find their way around
this game just fine. But from the way they complain, they sound like they are just
too inept to use a controller such as this. In fact, the only publication that
didn't slam the GCN's controller as much was Gamepro, which is one (publication) I never really
cared for. In fact, they made a valid point by citing that the X-Box may be harder
to control, because it has two different controllers. People are so used to the
controller S now, that they may forget that some people actually still own the huge
and cumbersome controller that originally debuted with the system. Nintendo never
changed their controller halfway through the GCN's lifecycle, and has remained the
same. So, why bitch? Ok, here's the point I'm trying to make: Personally,
I have no problem with the GCN controller. The stick works just as well as a D-Pad
for me (I would prefer to use the analog stick), and the button layout seems pretty
fair. In fact, every move you need to make is available on the face buttons (except for
the soul charge, which can be done by using Z). I found the layout fairly intuitive,
and never really struggled with the controls. So why is it I, who is not really
a professional gamer and run a site I don't even get paid for, manage to find my
way around this game without complaining about the controls?
Well, now that my semi-rant is done, let's get into the visuals. When I played the
demo of this game, I was kind of mixed about the graphics. The library stage and
the palace stage that was offered looked great, as well as the characters, but the
green underground stage didn't look as nearly as good as I would expect. Well, most
of the game's stages look spectacular in the final version, in comparison to the
"green stage". The detail and textures are done very well, the characters look great,
the lighting looks great, the framerate is fluid and runs at 60 FPS and the
character animations are done right. So far, this is the best looking fighter
on the system, and looks more realistic thatn the action figure like characters
done for Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance (I think we can thank RenderWare for that).
And seeing how this was a multi-console game, it's suprising to see that no quality
was sacrificed here. If Namco continues the trend, R: Racing Evolution will kick
ass.
The sound is equally great. The music is excellent, the sound effects are
fantastic. You now have a choice in voice-overs for the characters. You can
keep them in the English format, or have them speak Japanese (which was the only
option you had in the first SC). While it's great to have English, it's nice
to know that you can play the game the way it was originally done it it's Japanese form
(minus Japanese in subtitles, they're all English here). I should say, that the English
voices are not that perfect. Some phrases have akward pauses or are just said
in an akward fashion. It's not terrible, but it seems a little jilted. Some come
off well, other's dont.
Well, the question is to get Soul Calibur II or not. Well, if you're starving for
a fighting game (especially on this system), then this will do you very well. If
you're expecting a radically different sequel, with brand new changes, it may
disappiont you. It's overall design is pretty similar to the Dreamcast SC. If you're
looking for a good game, you can't do wrong with this one. If you own a Gamecube,
and want this game, I encourage you to get this version (if you own other consoles).
The game plays just fine, I doubt it's that much better on the X-Box, and since
it's not online for any system, there's not much reason to bother with the PS2
version. Plus, we get Link, the X-Box and PS2 people don't. Does it seem like
GC favoritism? Well, not really. I remember that the game started out on the GCN,
so really it was the first console version to be developed and shown (prove me wrong
if you can), so really this should be the better version. Also, isn't it time for
the GCN to have it's moment in the sun?
Images and artwork are from "The Art Of Soul Calibur II" published by Brady
Games as a part of the preorder campaign. All characters and likenesses provided
in this review is the sole content of Namco Hometech. Soul Calibur II, Maxi, Cassandra,
Kilik, Taki, Xianhua and Yunsung characters are trademarks of Namco. Images are
used for informational and entertainment purposes, and are in no way used for
profit.
|
Soul Calibur II
