Published 16th of October 2003

The most anticipated fighting title of 2003 is finally here. The sequel to one of the greatest fighting games of all time has a lot to live up to, and it delivers in style.

Platform: Nintendo Gamecube, Sony Playstation 2, Microsoft XBox Developer: Namco Publisher: Namco Released: August 2003

SCREENSHOTS What do these ratings mean?

Namco have long been considered the masters of creating 3D fighting games, as indicated by the excellent Tekken series and more prominently, the “Soul” series. Starting with Soul Edge and Soul Blade, in 1999 they created Soul Calibur and blew everyone away. The arcade version (and the only port to a home console on the Dreamcast) was simply an amazing game and about as perfect as a fighting game could get. Namco did everything right, every element of Soul Calibur just indicated excellence in every way. It’s been four years since that time, and Namco have finally created a new addition to the “Soul” series (which incidentally is the first ‘real’ sequel)…Soul Calibur II. With the huge success of the original…Namco would have been stupid to change the formula…so they haven’t. Why fix something that’s not broken? And just as an added bonus, the console versions all feature special additions not available in the arcade. So has it been worth the four year wait? Indeed.

As you all know by now, Namco have made each version of Soul Calibur II equally enticing. The main difference in each of the three console versions is the bonus characters contained within. On the Gamecube, Link from the Legend of Zelda series is featured. On the Xbox, Todd McFarlane’s Spawn is the bonus character. On the PS2, Heihachi from the Tekken series is the special guest. Each of these bonus characters actually seem to fit quite well into the Soul Calibur universe (even Heihachi who doesn’t have a ‘weapon’ but fights with his fists, using his wrist guards as weapons) and are welcome additions to the game, along with the bunch of other regular Soul Calibur characters Namco have added to the home versions that were not in the arcade original. Amongst the console exclusive characters are Necrid, also a creation by Todd McFarlane, and Lizardman, an old school favourite from the original game. The story to Soul Calibur II takes place, appropriately, four years after the events of the original, and amazingly the returning characters from the first Soul Calibur actually do look about four years older. Namco have somehow managed to create an aging process for the characters which just indicates how much attention to detail has been put into the game.

So let’s have a run-down of the controls. On each console the controls are pretty much identical. The four main face buttons are what you’ll be using, with one being your guard button, and three your attack buttons…a horizontal weapon strike, a vertical weapon strike and a kick. Pressing a direction (on either the analogue stick or digital pad – your choice) along with these buttons produces different moves, hitting two buttons at once normally produces another moveset (although this depends on the character) and pressing all three attack buttons together executes your character’s soul charge. The other buttons are actually redundant, with the main triggers being extra guard buttons and a shortcut button that provides the function of soul charging (so you don’t need to press all three attack buttons as once). That’s basically it…anyone can tell from that that the controls are not very complicated, and that’s one of the game’s strengths. Namco have somehow managed to make the game easy to pick up and play, but still provide an incredible amount of depth in the fighting engine. The number of moves in the game is simply amazing with each character possessing their own movesets - although some characters borrow some moves from others they are all still unique in their own way. Mastering the basic controls as you would expect is pretty easy...but mastering the more complicated moves and knowing the scissors/paper/rock (vertical strike beats horizontal strike, horizontal strike beats 8-way run, 8-way run beats vertical strike) system of the game is something else. Surprisingly, each controller feels very good when playing Soul Calibur II, even the Gamecube controller which has been criticised in the past for not being good for fighting games. All three controllers on each of the consoles actually work very well. They are also very responsive as you need them to be in a fighting game so Namco have made sure they got that bit right as well.

So we’ve determined that the gameplay is simplistic at a basic level and complicated at an advanced level, and if you ever played the original Soul Calibur this should be of no surprise to you. The overall game mechanics have changed very little, if at all, from the original game. Of course the characters have been given new moves but overall the game plays pretty much exactly the same as the original. This is a blessing and also a curse and ultimately the only real shortfall the game has. Soul Calibur fans will feel right at home and be able to get into the game straight away, and newbies should be able to pick up the control and start playing without too much of a problem. But the overall gameplay has been seen before. The perfect balance is still there…every character has an equal chance of being able to beat any other. Some characters seem to have a distinct advantage over others at first, but practice enough and you’ll see that gap ceases to exist after a while. While this delicate balance blew us away in the original Soul Calibur, it doesn’t quite have the same effect seeing it the second time around…kind of like seeing Jurassic Park and being impressed by the dinosaurs then seeing the sequel and wondering what all the fuss was about. Don’t get me wrong, the mechanics of the original were perfect so there’s no reason why it doesn’t work equally as good in the sequel, but it has been seen before, and isn’t as mind blowing as it was four years ago. Having said that, if you’ve never played the original (shame on you) then you’ll be very impressed at Soul Calibur II.

If you’re new to the Soul Calibur series, allow me to educate you on how the game works. It’s not a typical fighter, but a weapons based fighter. Each character has a unique weapon, and this obviously makes up for most of that character’s attacks and special moves…some characters also have some alternate stances which give them a different moveset for a limited amount of time. As a result of it being weapons based, that’s how you need to play. To be an effective player at Soul Calibur II, you need to know the aforementioned scissors/paper/rock balance and know how to use your weapon effectively. You’ll need to know how to guard and parry attacks and counter attacks just like you would in a real swordfight. There’s a good element of ground tactics as well…if you get knocked to the ground, you don’t want to just lie there as your opponent can pummel you with ground attacks (sometimes referred to as Ozikeme) so you need to devise a plan to avoid or counter these, either by rolling in the opposite direction to your opponent’s attacks, getting up and immediately guard/parrying or getting to your feet swinging your weapon to catch them off guard. There’s the ever threatening presence of the side of the stage as well, which you can be knocked off of. This has also been implemented well (as it was in the original) so it doesn’t become a cheesy way to win like it is in some games. If you realise you are in danger of being knocked off, it can be avoided and even reversed. Knowing when to use your soul charge (which makes your attacks more powerful and some of your attacks unblockable for a short period of time) and knowing how to use it is also a vital lesson you need to learn. Knowing what is the best attack/counter measure to use in a given situation is the key and this forms the basic difference between just mashing buttons and knowing what you are doing. It’s the truth that button mashers won’t get very far against an experienced Soul Calibur II player. So while the game does have that very good pick up and play feel to it, it’s also beneficial to spend some time practising so you know what the best strategies are. It’s a system that worked perfectly in the original game, and works extremely well in the sequel.

Graphically, the game really pushes the limits of all the systems in runs on. Visually, if you had the Xbox and Gamecube versions running side by side you won’t see any difference between the two at all, until you pump up the resolution on the Xbox to 720dpi (the only version that supports that resolution). Obviously the Playstation 2’s graphics don’t look as nice and clear as those on the Gamecube and Xbox, but they get the job done and certainly are excellent for the platform. Every version also supports the 16:9 widescreen format as well as the standard 4:3 format, and believe me, when playing on a widescreen TV, the 16:9 ratio makes a huge difference. Regardless of the system the game is running on, the game looks fantastic and flows very smoothly, running at a perfect 60fps framerate without any slowdown at all. The character models are all incredibly detailed, from their facial expressions to their hair and clothes it all looks very realistic. As noted earlier, the returning characters actually look four years older than they did in the original which is a real testament to the game’s artists. The weapons are also rendered beautifully and look quite authentic. The arenas are very impressive…spanning a long way and being quite large as a whole, giving you plenty of room to fight in. It’s interesting to note that you won’t notice a lot of the background nuances unless you sit back and watch someone else play. There’s a lot there to look at that you can’t really take the time to see if you’re concentrating on the on-screen action. As good as the graphics engine is, you may notice someone’s weapon sticking through the floor or a wall occasionally, but this isn’t a huge problem and in fact is hardly relevant overall, but still worth mentioning. There’s no problems at all with the camera and there’s nothing to complain about in the collision detection either, it’s all spot on.

The game also excels in the sound department. All the grunts and groans are there as you would expect them to be, and the game possesses a perfect music track that fits the game…well…perfectly. Speaking of the audio, I remember being quite disappointed in 1999 when I put the original into my Dreamcast and discovered that they hadn’t translated the Japanese speech into English, but instead had just added English subtitles. Some people may have preferred to have the original Japanese but this was supposed to be an English game, not a Japanese import, and it was basically my only real qualm I had with the original game. I’m happy to say though in the NTSC and PAL versions of Soul Calibur II, all the Japanese speech has been accurately translated into English and the voice actors do a fantastic job. You still have the option of having English subtitles if you really wanted them but I was very pleased to discover that the characters actually spoke in English (well, those that actually speak real words, anyway).

Namco haven’t left anything out when it comes to replay value either. Of course you have your classic Arcade and Vs mode and your typical survival, time attack and practice modes, but they have added in a lot of other stuff as well. Added to the original mode is a single player team battle mode and a vs team battle mode where you can choose teams of up to eight characters and fight it out to see who emerges victorious, against either the CPU or a human opponent. The main single player experience in the game is the Weapon Master mode where you’ll work your way through the story of Soul Calibur II and have the opportunity to unlock extra characters, arenas, costumes, weapons, galleries and playmodes. As you play through Weapon Master mode, you’ll open up the extra modes which are the original modes with a twist of being able to use the different weapons you have unlocked for each character. The game also has a “Museum” mode where you can view art galleries, battle theatres, exhibition theatres, character profiles and weapon galleries…once you have unlocked it all. There’s also plenty of options available to allow you to customise the game how you like.

There isn’t really too much to complain about in Soul Calibur II. It’s definitely worth the hype that’s been put into it predating it’s release, and Soul Calibur fans wouldn’t expect anything less than what Namco have provided. The game meets all expectations and the only real complaint I have is the fact that the game mechanics have not changed since the original. It would have been nice to see some new things added into the fighting engine, but I guess if Namco played around with things like that they’d be very much playing with fire. The original was perfect…you can’t improve on perfect, and it shows in the sequel. It’s still an extremely impressive game though and a definite must-own for whatever console you choose to play.

How the game scores (out of 10)

Graphics: 9.5

The graphics are pretty much flawless with everything rendered beautifully, looking fantastic on any of the systems. Playing on the 16:9 widescreen ratio is clearly beneficial and you can really see a lot more of the action, all up close and personal.

Sound: 9

Everything is there as you would expect it to be, and all the Japanese has been translated into English. Big thumbs up from me on that one Namco. The weapon sounds as they clash together are particularly authentic.

Gameplay: 9

The gameplay is great and will keep you enthralled for a long time. Easy to get in to, hard to master, and the fighting engine offers an incredible amount of depth not seen before in a fighting game except for the original Soul Calibur. The fighting engine isn’t a huge leap from that of the original’s, and in fact has hardly changed at all. Take that as a positive or negative aspect…depending on which way you look at it.

Lastability: 8.5

Namco have added in everything they could think of to keep you playing by the looks of it. Everything from your standard modes to the extra modes and weapons and the fantastic multiplayer modes is all excellently presented. You’ll be playing this for a long time.

Overall (not an average): 9

Soul Calibur II is, in a word, superb. As far as fighting games go these days, you can’t get much better than this. It’s a worthy sequel to the game many consider to be the greatest fighting game of all time. Following in the shadow of such a predecessor is always difficult but Namco have managed to pull it off, and managed to make it look good while they are at it. It demands a permanent spot in your game library.

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