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Reviewed: Soul Calibur IV |
Soul Calibur IV Reviewed By Avid X
I finally have gotten my hands on the 4th installment of Soul Calibur, as anticipated it is more then a small barrel of tricks. At first glance the game is reminiscent of its predecessors, the art is true to its roots, rich in detail and color. Classic characters return with updated moves and abilities. The initial gameplay is easy for novice players to pick up and enjoy because many of the moves feel fluid with the button controls and movement of the analog sticks. It’s this natural fluidity that makes the game that much more appealing to me, I enjoy playing without knowing every single button combo by heart. Even with an easier learning curve there is still a large amount of depth in the gameplay to keep veteran fighters training for the even tougher world wide online arena.
Now usually you would not hear this out of my mouth, but Soul Calibur IV truly shines when it comes to custom character creation. You can customize nearly every single piece of your body, clothing, armor and weapon. Have you ever dreamed of being a cat faced Ronald McDonald, Homer Simpson or a beefed up Subzero. These are not just things I am making up, I have personally fought all of these custom characters in online ranked matches. As a bonus treat to the slew of default and custom characters you can play with, you also have the ability to use Yoda and Darth Vader’s apprentice. These characters are not only a selling point for hardcore geeks but they are also incredibly fun to play.
Finally, a fighter that works online. There are a few fighters already on the Xbox 360 that allow online play, some of them work better then others. Soul Calibur IV is amazing online. Hands-down great experience for advanced and novice users. It is easy to find matches against players who are ranked at your level, loading time is tolerable and lag did not seem to be existent on my standard cable internet connection.
One thing I noticed about Soul Calibur IV online is that you won’t hear too many trash talkers, most seem to be fairly well focused on fighting then verbally taunting like you will find in some other Xbox LIVE titles. After every match you can easily send feedback right through the game by pressing X. No need to pop up your guide and choose the player in the players list. Only on one occasion did I file a complaint and that was for a user who seemed to have disconnected his modem. There is really nothing developers can do to prevent this sort of thing. You will not receive your win and he will not receive his loss in a ranked match.
This could be fighter of the year, it is definitely the best fighter currently on the Xbox 360. Pick up this title or give it a rent, you will definitely not be disappointed. If you have someone to play against or Xbox LIVE you may consider this a title worth hanging onto for the next couple of years to satisfy your fighting needs.
Score: 9.7/10
-Avid X, 360style.net
Official Xbox.com Soul Calibur IV Page
Official Soul Calibur Website
Metacritic average user score: 8.8/10
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