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Way back in 1999 Soul Calibur came out for the Dreamcast, and many considered it one of the best games of the year. Now almost 4 years later the long awaited sequel comes out and maybe if it’s lucky it might be in the top 20 of the year.
For most players, the biggest difference between Soul Calibur 1 and 2 is the look. All of the characters returning back from Soul Calibur look different, as do the stages. As in Soul Calibur the main gameplay involves the 4 buttons. There is a button for horizontal strike, vertical strike, kick and guard.
The system of fighting is almost identical to Soul Calibur. High attacks usually beat mid attacks, mid attacks usually beat low-blocking opponents, and low attacks tend to beat high-blocking opponents. The charge ups you soul system is a nice idea, but most of the time while you stand there and try to charge up the opponent will hit you, making the charge useless.
The biggest feature is probably the special-guest characters unique to each console version. All 3 special characters are usually a top choice to play with in the game. The PlayStation 2 gets Heihachi Mishima, you know that old karate guy from Tekken. The Xbox version gets Todd McFarlane’s Spawn. Spawn is pretty good, but the character everyone wants to play is of course Link from the Gamecube version. Link gets all of his great gadgets as well, like the boomerang, bow, and bombs.
There are new original characters though. First up is Raphael, a fencer, whose fighting style is very good; a great choice for a player. Next there is Talim; she is a small girl who uses twin blades as her weapon of choice. She is a decent choice to play with. The other new character is half-original, half-licensed; his name is Necrid. Todd McFarlane made this character for this game, and I thank him for it. Necrid is very fast, and can fight just as well. His weapon is a favorite of mine because it mimics other characters weapons. Necrid is a great addition to the Soul Calibur family.
The visuals aren’t the massive leap Soul Calibur was, but nonetheless the game is pretty to look at. The characters are wonderfully modeled and skillfully animated. The stages look great as well, although some of the special effects (splashing water, for instance) look a tad dated. Sound-wise, there isn’t anything out of the ordinary although it does a decent job.
There are not many differences other than special characters between the console versions, except the Xbox version. The Xbox version includes 480p and 720p HDTV support. The PS2 and Gamecube versions only include 480p. The Xbox uses Dolby Digital 5.1 for its sound while the PS2 and Gamecube versions use Dolby Pro Logic II. The sound quality in Soul Calibur 2 is pretty good; as are the songs. They make this game have a good atmosphere. But as always more tunes could be better, some of them get repetitive. Character remarks get very repetitive as well. For instance I know I have heard Spawn say “This is pissing me off” at least 100 times. Come on Namco give us some more one liners or something.
Soul Calibur 2 is a pretty good game, but it could be way better. Some of the matches are very easy, I beat the final level just by kicking him to death, never used a weapon. As you play the game you can unlock many extra features like new characters and levels. The weapon master mode offers a mediocre story and searching for the soul edge. But it does offer many levels to go though to get though the story, offering different challenges as you progress.
All in all, Soul Calibur II had to live up to insanely high expectations, since its prequel did so many things right the first time. If you never played that masterpiece, this will suit you just fine.
Want to be really good? Check out BradyGames' exceptional strategy guide. -- Sean Hannay, PGNx Media
---- Sep 1, 2003
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