Soul Calibur IV Review
- Posted August 1st, 2008 at 06:13 EDT by Eric Blattberg
- 15,607 views
- 34 Comments
Review Score
- PSU Review Score
- 8.5
- Avg. user review score:
- 9.1
Summary
Soul Calibur IV isn’t a revolution, but it’s one hell of an evolution. Although it does little to redefine the fighting genre, it manages to further advance the franchise with improvements across the board on an already fantastic foundation.
We like
- The most balanced Soul Calibur yet
- A plethora of new characters, including the likes of Darth Vader and Hilde
- Heart-stopping graphics with a flawless framerate
We dislike
- Slightly lackluster online experience
- Lack of original single-player modes
See PSU's review on Metacritic & GameRankings
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a tale of souls and swords was eternally retold.
Namco Bandai has just released the latest installment in its critically acclaimed fighting franchise, Soul Calibur IV. Apart from getting groovy with the force, the basic formula of the series remains the same. Although it does little to redefine the fighting genre, Soul Calibur IV manages to further advance the franchise with improvements across the board on an already fantastic foundation.
Let’s begin with what’s most pertinent to a good fighting game – balance. After a rather skewed balance in Soul Calibur III, Soul Calibur studio Project Soul sought to equalize the cast of characters in IV, and they’ve done a top-notch job. From veterans like Ivy and Mitsurugi to newcomers like Hilde and Algol, none of the characters feel cheap or severely underpowered.
In order to help regulate “turtles,” people who block excessively, two new gameplay mechanics have been implemented. The first is destructible armor. With this aspect, a character’s high, middle, and low armor may be broken by powerful offensive attacks or extreme amounts of blocking by a defendant. Once a piece of armor has broken off, a character is more vulnerable in that specific area.
Secondly, one hit kills known as critical finishers have been implemented into the game. Performing a critical finisher in battle is actually fairly rare, as it’s usually easier to kill your opponent before you make them susceptible to a finisher. That process involves lowering their Soul Gauge, a jewel next to the health bar, to a blinking red state by attacking them, then guard impacting (parrying) one of their attacks or performing an attack that breaks their guard. If all of the above occur, you’re given about a half-second opportunity to hit all the face buttons at once. If you succeed, you’ll be rewarded with a stunning finishing animation during which you can mock your opponent to no end. Darth Vader’s lightsaber chuck is a strong candidate for the best of the bunch.
Speaking of Darth Vader, the figurehead of the Dark Side is indeed present in the PS3 version of Soul Calibur IV, as is his secret apprentice. Their presence in the Soul Calibur universe seems out of place – and it literally is. Vader’s story episode explains that he crossed over into an alternate universe from his own after he sensed a great power -- of which the Soul Calibur and Soul Edge swords were the source -- emanating from a portal.
Storyline aside, Vader is slightly slow and unwieldy when compared to many in the Soul Calibur cast, though his force moves compensate somewhat. Easy to execute, vast in number and highly effective, Vader’s force powers are regulated by a regenerating force gauge under his lifebar (the same applies to the apprentice). One force maneuver, a grab to force choke combination, is particularly satisfying.
Darth Vader’s apprentice is a more than worthy addition to the Soul Calibur crew. Though irritating to unlock (you must defeat him in Arcade mode with Vader), he’s an absolute blast to play. Featuring more ‘electrifying’ force moves than Vader, the nimble apprentice skillfully twists and turns as he slashes his opponent to bits.
As for the other new additions to the Soul Calibur lineup, Hilde and Algol prove quite versatile and destructive respectively. With the massive contrast between Hilde’s short sword and long spear, those who master her play style will have the best of both worlds at their fingertips. Algol, the game’s ‘boss’ character, has fragmented power of both the Soul Calibur and Soul Edge within him, thus he can perform some unique and powerful attacks. He’s strong, but by no standard unfairly so.
Technically, there are five more bonus characters that must be mentioned. Though they don’t all possess unique fighting styles, each character was designed by a different renowned anime artist. Several, like the mechanical Ashlotte, are downright strange, though a few of the others are very cool, especially the deadly Shura. Regardless of taste though, they add even more variety to the professionally designed characters of SCIV.
When I say ‘professionally designed,’ I’m inferring that the custom character creator previously seen in Soul Calibur III is ... (continued on next page)
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Comments
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Dave-The-Rave |
Dave-The-Rave- 6:27am BST - August 1st, 2008
- 3
Oh is this game out now?...meh, just another fighter
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Undying_Darkness
- 6:40am BST - August 1st, 2008
- 4
I bought it last night and i love it, the story modes not like SC2 which is kinda a let down, because the story mode in SC4 is short.
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electric juice |
ElectricJuice- 8:49am BST - August 1st, 2008
- 7
I have 3 major dissapointments with this game. First The Tower of Lost Souls mode is far, far too difficult and holds no real reward if your not into the 'create a character' option. Second is the complete lack of modes, single player or mulitplayer. Where is the traditional Time Trial, Survival Mode, Team Battle Mode, Tag Modes?? An absolute joke. Third (and this is probably just for me) where has the records page gone?!? I used to like keeping a tab on the character usage data etc. They took it out of SCIII and it has yet to return in SCIV. Bring it back!!! Apart from that, everything else is great.
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Staticneuron |
Staticneuron- 9:27am BST - August 1st, 2008
- 8
The apprentice is viscious. This game is a lot more fun than I expected it to be.
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psycho_mantis |
makaveli_71- 2:09pm BST - August 1st, 2008
- 14
is it worth buying just for the online?
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deniled
- 5:37pm BST - August 1st, 2008
- 18
I agree with this score, the tower of souls will give a single player many of challenge. Not to mention the online has been outstanding for myself, it is based on your internet speeds and connection, and who you are connected too. I really needed this fighting game to add to my library
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EFFORTLESS8 |
r_e_f_l_e_x- 11:32pm BST - August 1st, 2008
- 19
I rented it and liked it and will proly buy it. ANGLO FEAR BABY. i own with her. Although ill proly make a custom character and give it anglo Fear's fighting style.
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GunsOfLiberty |
GunsOfLiberty- 12:25pm BST - August 2nd, 2008
- 22
Got it yesterday, and I'm really enjoying it. It's great. Story mode sure is a bit short but it's straight to the point. Deserves a nice 9/10. The only thing I literally hate in this game is the super fu**ing annoying "Apprentice" from StarWars. It's way too difficult to avoid his cheap force & lightning shi*ty moves.
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DragonAsh |
Drag0nAsh7- 8:32pm BST - August 5th, 2008
- 25
SCIV is one of the few fighting games that stand out to me esp. on the PS3 because it's WEAPONS-based. "It's one h3ll of an evolution." This is a must-have for PS3 owners, unless you're too afraid to go online and get ownd by experts.
Now to wait for Tekken 6.
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EFFORTLESS8 |
r_e_f_l_e_x- 1:06am BST - August 6th, 2008
- 26
ppl keep unplugging internet or shuttin off ps3 when im bout to win. and it dont COUNT AS LOSS!!!
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CameronU2fan
- 3:06am BST - August 8th, 2008
- 27
Where is the Soul Caliber 4 demo? I hate fighting games with a million moves per character with a million different ways of stringing the moves together, most of which are impossible to pull off unless you're a hermit in a cave who plays for 90 hours a week (90% of the overzealous nerd xbox 360 population).
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GunsOfLiberty |
GunsOfLiberty- 2:11pm BST - August 11th, 2008
- 29
I've played the game for over 40hrs now and I can't perform a single Critical Finish!!!!! I managed to get a soul crush a couple of times but can't land a critical :( do you have to press the L1 button after a soul crush? because I tried but somehow somethin 's wrong....help pls!!
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lightseeker62
- 4:47pm BST - August 11th, 2008
- 30
hi there liberty
performing critical finisher is easy, you just need a little training. pick yung seung(because with him you can easily perform the critical finisher) , go to training, go to option and check if your L1 bottom is actually asisgned to be all the four bottoms(if not just change it), with yung seung press →►► and keep doing it untill the soul gem breaks, after that press L1(you just have a little time to do that, if you couldn't do it the first time just keep doing it from the start untill you can, well if you can learn it with one character, you can do it with all of them ♥
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GunsOfLiberty |
GunsOfLiberty- 10:01am BST - August 12th, 2008
- 31
oh cool I'll try it out thanx lightseeker!
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lightseeker62
- 1:29pm BST - August 12th, 2008
- 32
you're welcome
by the way i missed one important point, your opponent needs to block the attacks so play vs cpu in the training( not in edge master difficulty though!, although playing vs edge master is the bast way to find out about characters weaknesses and top moves)
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xBuTcHeRx992 |
xBuTcHeRx- 8:59pm BST - August 25th, 2008
- 33
Great game with many customization, but the online can be very unpronounsive with controls.
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Dougifresh |
Leciant_Cruz- 7:19pm GMT - February 28th, 2009
- 34
Best fighting game atm. No questions asked.
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