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Written by Ian Johnston
Tagline: The soul still burns, brighter than ever.
Nearly four years ago an exceptional fighting game made its way from the arcades to Sega's ill-fated Dreamcast console. That game was the original Soul Calibur. It was hailed as one of the greatest fighting games to ever grace a console; far superior to its arcade counterpart in virtually every regard. Even the notoriously fickle Japanese magazine Famitsu gave it a perfect score. Those fortunate enough to own a Dreamcast and Soul Calibur will often say to this day that it holds its own against the today's highly regarded fighting games.
The task at hand for those at Namco was, therefore, quite daunting. How do you go about making a sequel to a game that many dubbed perfect without it being a total rehash? And how do you ensure that the final product will appeal to hardcore Soul Calibur fans and newcomers to the series alike? It took them nearly four years to answer those questions, but answer them they did, in stunning fashion. Soul Calibur II is, quite simply, the finest fighting game released for a home system ever.
Visuals:
To put it bluntly, Soul Calibur II's graphics are simply gorgeous. The PS2 version doesn't look quite as nice as its Xbox and GC brethren, but the difference is just about negligible. How Namco got the PS2 to crank out graphics this good without jaggies and with next to no slowdown is really remarkable. The character models are superbly detailed and vibrant and move with a real lifelike fluidity. The stages are also quite a sight to behold, spanning such locations as Cervante's Pirate's Alcove, Nightmare's Ostrheinsburg Chapel, Talim's Imperial Capital Ayutthaya, and Ivy's South France Mansion/Library among others. Even the smallest details like the movement of hair and clothing, as well as clothing design, show great attention to detail.
Also, the use of light and shadow in the stages is a great touch. On the church stage, for example, the windows glow from the sunlight hitting them, which looks really nice. A number of other stages have sections that are partially lit by sunlight while the other portions are covered by shadows. The cumulative visual effect is fantastic. It's evident that a lot of thought, time, and effort went into making sure that every ounce of the PS2's power was utilized in order to produce the best possible graphics. It's a shame more developers don't show the same level of effort and commitment to excellence that Namco does.
Audio:
One of the hallmarks of the original Soul Calibur was its enchanting, melodic soundtrack. Thankfully, Namco saw fit to maintain the status quo, as Soul Calibur II has an incredible soundtrack, just like its predecessor. There isn't any music from well known musicians nor are there any rock, rap, techno, or industrial tracks. There's just mesmerizing classical-esque orchestrated music that's some of the most well-written music ever included in a videogame.
The soundtrack is so good that it'd be worth buying seperately. Add to that some great voice acting, which you can hear in either English or Japanese, and some superlative sound effects, and you've got a great aural experience to go along with all the eye candy.
Gameplay:
Like every other conceivable aspect of the game, the gameplay is really top-notch. You can get by as a beginner by just mashing buttons, but learning how to really play takes quite a bit of time and practice. Each character has so many different moves and combos that memerizing them all is next to impossible. Better to have almost too many moves to learn than too few. Character balance is also of critical importance in any good fighting game, and Soul Calibur II shines in that regard. There are the slow yet extremely powerful characters like Asteroth and Nightmare, the relatively strong and quick characters like Seung Mina and Maxi, and the somewhat weak yet really quick characters like Talim and Taki.
Deciding what attributes are important to you and weighing the positives and negatives of each character are important, as your best bet is to pick one character and get really good with him or her. Other factors are important to keep in mind as you play, such as knowing when to sidestep and where you are in relation to the stages boundaries. It's easy sometimes to end up near the edge of a stage and get knocked off, which is really frustrating if you were getting the best of your opponent. Learning how to guard cancel is crucial as well, as you will temporarily stun your oppenent after successfully performing a guard cancel, thereby giving yourself an opening for a throw or big combo.
It doesn't stop there, either. Unlike the first Soul Calibur, part two has some stages that feature walls. You can oftentimes pin your opponent against a wall and rack up some major damage, sometimes yielding you a victory in what would have otherwise been a defeat. There are thirteen modes in all, many of which have to be unlocked. These include Arcade, VS Battle, Time Attack, Survival, Team Battle, VS Team Battle, Practice, Extra Arcade, Extra Time Attack, Extra Survival, Extra Team Battle, Extra VS Battle, and Extra Practice. The "Extra" modes are essentially the same as the regular modes except for the fact that you can use acquired weapons.
The multitude of weapons that each character can use are acquired in the Weapon Master mode, which is like the regular Arcade mode, only with some pseudo-RPGish story elements. There are ten chapters to complete in the Weapon Master mode, which each chapter containing a number of different battles that you have to complete. These battles have to be won under different conditions. In some you have to knock your opponent off of the stage. In others you have to kill them by hitting them into a wall repeatedly. Most of the unlockable modes and characters in the game are unlocked via the Weapon Master mode, and completing all ten chapters takes quite a bit of time. Plus, after you complete the ten chapters certain missions that were inaccessible the first time through become available, giving you a lot more to do.
In all there are twenty-three playable characters. The returning characters from the first Soul Calibur are Mitsurugi, Taki, Yoshimitsu, Maxi, Xianghua, Kilik, Cervantes, Ivy, Sophitia, Astaroth, Seung Mina, Nightmare, Inferno and Voldo. The new characters are Talim, Charade, Berserker, Assasin, Raphael, Yunsung, Cassandra, Necrid, and Heihachi. Each character will take you quite a while to master, adding near limitless depth and replay value to the game.
Funfactor:
As with any fighting game, the real fun is playing against a human opponent. Soul Calibur II lets you take on a friend in several different modes, including Arcade, Extra Arcade, VS Battle, and VS Team Battle. Head-to-head online play via the PS2 Network Adapter would've been nice to have, but you won't miss it too much. The game is a blast to play solo too, so even if you don't have any friends around to play with you'll still enjoy a really satisfying fighting game experience.
As an added bonus Namco included a special bonus disc with the PS2 version that contains a slew of demos, videos, and downloadable content. There are demos of upcoming games I-Ninja and Kill Switch as well as the previously released Tekken 4 and videos of Time Crisis 3, Ace Combat 04, Pac Man World 2, Namco Museum, Xenosaga, R: Racing Evolution, and Moto GP 3. The downloadable content includes save files for Ace Combat 04, Moto GP 3, Tekken 4, and Tekken Tag Tournament.
Overview:
Soul Calibur II really is a complete package. It sports phenomenal graphics, a masterful soundtrack, great gameplay, and lots of unlockable extras. The addition of the Namco Transmission v1.03 bonus disc is just icing on the cake. The only things that could've made this game any better would be online support and a few more gameplay innovations. When a game is this good though, it's hard to complain about anything. If you like fighting games even remotely you owe it to yourself to go out and buy Soul Calibur II as soon as possible. No matter which version you choose you'll be getting one hell of a fine game. It just doesn't get much better.
| Appearance: | 3 out of 5 |
| Visuals: | 5.0 |
| Audio: | 5.0 |
| Gameplay: | 4.5 |
| Funfactor: | 5.0 |
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| Overall: | 4.875 |
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