SoulCalibur III (PS2)

Gameplay/Movesets:
I guess I was a little annoyed my favorite character Ivy had lost some of her best moves, but most of them have been improved. The Alexandra sisters are still a little similar but on the whole, the rest of them are very varied and fun to use. Not too difficult to master either if you put your mind to it. Still, not as difficult as Tekken, and more asthetically pleasing. The different weapons each character has really allows for greater diversity than in most games. The fact even the custom characters you create have their own movesets as well makes it even more fun and long lasting.

Length:
Well, compared to most fighting games, this is packed. I guess its the Chronicles of the Sword that does it. It's basically got so much stuff in it, it's got the life of some RPG's, possibly longer. I play it every spare moment and I've had it for a month, still not unlocked everything. It's the kind of game its hard to stop playing, and one you will probably be playing for years. The varying story paths for each of the characters also keeps you going and going. Serious value for money!

Graphics/Music:
The graphics are so amazingly detailed and stunning. Playing other games straight after it will really let you apprieciate SCIII's quality. The stages you fight in are all very detailed, with smashing floors and walls, mice, fire and falling pictures. Really is beautiful, the characters look pretty danm good too. Much of the music is very well suited to each area and character, it just adds to the overall feel.

Characters/Stories:
Personally, I adore the stories and personalities of all the characters in this game. Some seem a little pointless, like Cassandra who is basically a helpless sister of one of the other characters. However, she is still very enjoyable to use. The alternative story endings you can get for your characters adds a dimension other games don't have. A great deal of choice and another level of information and interest for the player. The characters do vary quite a bit, ages and nationalities, even species (well there are monsters too...) All makes for an entertaining game!

Modes:
The soul arena, with the varying tasks is fun, but there really isn't enough. It was far more fun before. HOWEVER - Chronicles of the sword kind of takes over from weapon master mode from SCII. This is the mode where you create your own characters and direct them through another seperate story from the main game. It's strategy crossed with fighting, I really enjoyed this mode more than I expected. It's really more about the battles than the strategy, which made it much less daunting. Creating the characters too is almost entertaining enough to buy the game. I know that seems a bit ott but they are SO customisable you can be tweaking your characters for ages! Then Tales of Souls. The basic story modes. With the interactive cut scenes and varying endings. It's probably my favorite game because of this alone, it really is diverse and fun to play again and again.

These are just the main features. The amount of unlockable things and purchasable things is huge. It's really entertaining for a genre thats usually considered quite 2d, this is in the next dimension entirely.

Really worth the money and outdoing all the competition a million to one. Truely a brilliant game.


The best beat-em-up game returns for a third outing!   November 21, 2005
C. O'Connor (Birmingham, UK)
21 out of 23 found this review helpful

What a game. I knew this would be great, and it is.

The game follows the two swords again, and the various warriors stories either meaning they destroy them, or end up being decieved by their powers. The swords are Soul Edge, (evil) and Soul Calibre (anti-evil.) In terms of story, it's different for every character, so i won't say any more.

Graphically, this is the most impressive game ever! Every action, and every move of the weapon looks incredible. Charcters are all original, and are all incredibly detailed. The backgrounds are almost fully interactive (yet there is still little damage to the environment) and the gaming intro is yet another masterpiece.

However, its the gameplay that sets this game apart. There are numerous modes including the "tale of Swords" mode, which follows one of 30 characters quests to either obtain or destroy the swords, each having a unique ending. This sees the return of many veteran fighters including Sophitia, Voldo, Cervantes, Raphael, and a couple of new characters, including, Setsuka. Each character has a different weapon, different moves, throws, and combo's meaning each character has a totally different feel to them. This makes the game a joy and you'll soon find yourself associating with a favourite character (mine is Kilik.) Not only this, but there are other modes.
There is mini-game mode which has games such as Colossos where you have to be a giant, money game where you collect coins for hitting an enemy, all new to Soul Calibur. Add to this the Time attack mode, survival mode, and the two player Vs mode and you've got a great game in the making.

A fantastic new addition is the inclusion of character creation. Once you've chosen gender, and job (monk, barbarian, theif etc-this determines the weapon they'll use) you can fully create and customize any character you desire. There are hundreds of different items unlockable in the various games modes and to buy in the shop with the money that you earn. The statergy game they've included sees you using a made character on a quest from a novice to the head of the army. Whilst this is good, is quite slow compared to other game modes.

Add to this the hundreds of weapons to unlock, art work, scenes, and items to customize your characters and the game has at least 60 hours of solid gameplay ready for your poor fingers.

If you like your beat em ups, then get this game.


The best game I have ever played?   December 2, 2005
11 out of 15 found this review helpful

Soul Calibur III is possibly the best game that I have ever played. If you have any interest in hitting people, this game is a must-have. The graphics are definately better than any game, the actual gameplay is fluent and completely flawless, and you will be playing it until next Christmas.
The choice of characters are incredible, as is the choice of arenas and game modes.
Most beat 'em ups are shallow and repetitive, but every character has hundreds of really cool moves to pull off. I am not exaggerating when I say hundreds. You can even create your own character and choose what weapons they have.
If I can give you one piece of advise about this game, it is buy it!


very disappointing   March 3, 2006
Mr. N. Wildman (Beds, UK)
10 out of 34 found this review helpful

Right, where to start? As a fan of the previous game, I was eager to buy this one. I think it's fair to say that I sold it within 2 days of buying it.
This game is a poor replicant of its predecessor which fails to impress. The story mode is repetitive and boring, the only redeeming feature is the strategic mode which you can use which at least taxes you slightly.
As a big fan of the tekken series, I have always agreed with the notion that you actually need some element of skill to be good at tekken whereas any button basher can mong his way through the soul calibre games. This game strengthens my opinion on this. There are a few combos which are useful to know with each character but in the main, you can win each round but just mashing the buttons.
As you can probably tell, I don't like this game. They seriously need to improve on this if there is a next soul calibre game.


A surprise hit   November 29, 2005
Tony N. Watt (Scotland, UK)
6 out of 10 found this review helpful

I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of beat 'em ups, I dispise Tekken and a lot of other beat 'em ups haven't held my attention for longer than a few minutes. The only beat 'em ups I would admit to liking are the Dead or Alive games and the Soul series. And that's where this review comes in, so bear with me a moment.
For any who remember, or were old enough to play it, Soul Calibre 3, the British spelling, is the 4th part of the a story that started back in the mid 90s with a game called Soul Blade, which later came out on the PS1 and was an excellent, fast and challenging game with a story that I fell in love with from the start, plus that exellent opening music still sends shivers of delight down my spine to this day.
A few years later, Soul Calibre 1 appeared on the long dead Dreamcast and it was instantly snapped up by Namco fans and fans of Soul Blade. Soul Calibre was a fine wee game, but it felt lacking and hollow for some reason. The second one then came out in late 2002, mid 2003 on the Gamecube, PS2 and X-Box. Each version had a bonus character like Link for the Gamecube or a Tekken character for the PS2, for the X-Box it was Shadowman. That game was alright, it still felt lacking though and after finishing it, there was little incentive to return to it.
Now we're onto the 4th part, I don't know if it will be the final part, might be. This picks up from where the previous one left off and the story has gotten a little more interesting. As well as your normal characters, you can make your own character and pit them against the mian characters in the arena mode or you can take on the new Chronicle mode that's a new story all together. In Chronicle you basically control your custom character, or characters if you made more, and you devise a basic strategy for success. You get into the normal one on one fights and if you win, good luck to you in the early stages, you'll gain experience point which will level up your character once you have enough.
I honestly find this mode to be the best mode, not that the main story mode itself isn't bad, I just love this mode a lot more and being able to use my own character of Reina Virfin, a character I've been developing for years for stories and such and as a way to store my anger and such into. There are the other main modes you expect from a beat 'em up and you can buy weapons, armour and items from the shop if you have the money for it.
I didn't know that this game was even being made and it was an impulse buy when I saw it, I love the Soul series for it's story only and getting more of that fine story was the main incentive for such a risky buy. I'm glad I got this though, I'm still trying to figure out what the wee meter on the bottom of the screen in the custom character screen is, I'm not sure if that's a weight meter or an allignment meter for good and evil characters. The manual isn't all that good and doesn't tell you very much.
I would say rent it first in case you're unsure, but it is a likeable game, the challenge is cruel and can test you to the point of screaming at the screen. The opponent AI is cheap, it cheats constantly and you really need to think fast and fight hard if you want to win. A good game from Namco at last, it's about time.