Anyone who has played either of the previous Soul Calibur games will know right away what to expect here. On the surface you'll be glad to know not a lot has changed. All the familiar characters from Soul Calibur 2 have most of their moves from the first game still intact, thought some are different to perform this time around. For example, I’ve noticed a couple of stances for Mitsurugi and Ivy are different, while others have been given new moves in place of their old ones to improve general balance. In a nod to what SEGA did with some of their ‘similar’ Virtua Fighter characters, Nightmare now plays distinctly different to Siegfried, more so than ever before, as do Kilik/Seung Mina and Astaroth/Rock, all featuring many different moves based around their similar weaponry instead of being subtle clones of the other ‘more important’ characters.
Soul Calibur III introduces 3 new main characters. Zasalamel, a scythe-wielding warrior who desires the Soul Edge intending to use it to end his eternal life, is a great addition. He feels like a more athletic Astaroth with his scythe offering power at range. Setsuka is a sinister geisha with a Zatoichi-style blade hidden away inside her umbrella handle. Her style is very powerful and precise and reminds me a lot of Akira from Virtua Fighter in the way she moves and attacks in sharp, concise bursts, tearing you apart in seconds. Finally, there’s Tira, who visually looks somewhat out of place in the Soul Calibur universe with her costume somewhat reminiscent of ‘Poison Ivy’ from Batman. Her razor-bladed hula hoop is an interesting weapon, but her fighting style isn’t quite as free flowing as maybe it could have been.
New comer Zasalamel takes on veteran Mitsurugi.
The actual fighting remains true to the style of the past games with each flat arena having edges for 'ring outs'. Whether these edges are all the way around or just on certain sides depends on what stage you’re on so movement must be a lot more tactical, especially now some walls are destructible. In terms of size they're about the same as in Soul Calibur 2 which is definitely a good thing in my eyes. The fighting itself is as beginner friendly as always, but there are mountains of strategies and techniques to learn on the way. The controls are simple with blocking handled with a single button, while other buttons deal with horizontal and vertical slashes along with kicks too. The usual array of throws, unblockable attacks and counters are all at your fingertips with various strings of button and dpad combinations. The game actually offers a rather extensive training mode which is split into various categories meaning that finding what you want to learn is simple. From simplicity of throws to the more advanced practices like guard impacts, Soul Calibur III explains them clearly and teaches you them with hands on demonstrations.
The one thing that Soul Calibur has always offered is an extensive selection of game modes and options and Namco sure didn’t disappoint this time either. The main mode is the ‘Tales of Souls’, and is your main source of winning gold to spend at the shops to buy new weapons, clothes, artwork, etc. Here we have what is basically your standard ‘Arcade’ mode intertwined with story, mission-based fights and interactive cutscenes. You’ll fight around 10-12 fights in all as you guide your character through his/her story, battling opponents and taking part in the odd themed mission. These missions usually involve fighting an enemy with a certain characteristic so that they can only be hurt in a certain way. The ‘Soul Arena’ contains many more of these modes that are set out in a score attack format with bronze, silver and gold settings for each of the missions. These missions have you collecting coins dropped by an injured foe, fighting on a spinning platform with no walls and all other kinds of specifics. The ‘Soul Arena’ also features a standard ‘Quick Play’ mode which is a no frills arcade-style series of one-on-one matches.
A well publicized part of Soul Calibur III is the new ‘create-a-character’ mode; an options that arguably long overdue in the genre. As far as options and customizability goes it’s hard to fault. There’s endless combinations of costumes, hair styles and accessories you could create so you could quite easily make dozens of very different looking fighters if you wanted. Unfortunately, there’s something not quite right about it. For starters, they quite don’t match up graphically with the existing characters, a fear I had since first hearing of this creation mode. The faces lack details by comparison and often you will find certain clothes look messy on certain character shapes. In terms of how they play, most of the styles are somewhat uncomfortable. With most of their attacks feeling like a like mixture of pre-existing characters and moves, they give you anywhere near the same desire to learn them as the existing characters. They also feel unbalanced at times, especially those with projectile attacks, making 2 player contests disjointed.
Maxi’s stage from Soul Calibur makes a return.
As well as for general fighting, created characters are also needed for the new ‘Chronicles of the Sword’, which to be honest, is as equally awkward as the create mode. Here you have a real-time strategy game mixed with one-on-one fighting with a few RPG elements thrown in there too. Here, your mission goals tend to involves either capturing or defending strongholds to control portions of the world map. When units of opposing teams meet you are sent into battle using the standard fighting engine with your created characters. While it’s not the disaster that some of Tekken’s extra modes have been in the past, it never really evolves to anything more than making sure you attack in great numbers and is ultimately uninspiring to play as a result. And let’s be honest, people buy Soul Calibur for its fighting, so it’s a shame that they even bothered wasting development time on this.
Especially when you consider some of the niggling fault and omissions this game has. For starters, the computer AI is inconsistent. After Virtua Fighter 4:Evolution, the standard for AI in fighting games was set to a new level. The AI had a lot of human traits, it was ruthless, it had believable reflexes and it even shared some bad habits only a human would have. In Soul Calibur III, the AI is either disappointingly slow or Jedi-like in its reactions and decision making. Just playing through the ‘Tales of Souls’ mode and most of your fights won’t prove much of a problem. But come up against the likes of Setsuka, Zasalamel or Mitsurugi for example and you can be pressing the start button to retry again and again for ages until you manage to beat them. Commendably, the final boss isn’t the usual cheesy cheapness you expect from a Namco fighter, but the inconsistent AI throughout the game will frustrate enough to make up for it. The fact that you cannot set a difficulty level for this mode means you could be suffering for a long time. Of course, once you become experienced at the game the mode becomes too much on the easy side.
Graphically, Soul Calibur III squeezes as much as it can from the PS2. The Dead or Alive game still hold the crown of the best looking fighter, but Namco’s game stands tall above Virtua Fight 4: Evolution and is probably more consistently beautiful than [i]Tekken 5. The characters while similar to those in Soul Calibur 2, have even more detail and texture with clothes actually looking like they are on the character rather than spray painted textures on the skin. The arenas are a treat too with varying ground textures like grass, cobble stones and wooden boards matching the incredibly varied selection of backgrounds perfectly. There’s clock towers, burning mansions, pirate ships and even some old favourites from the original Soul Calibur re-envisioned here. The animation is just as superb as always with smooth, believable swings and slashes with the entire multitude of weaponry featured throughout the game. There's a few clipping issues with some of the less conventional weapons that you unlock/pick up in the shops, but it’s really nothing to worry about. Menu's are all clear and very well presented and, as expected, all of the unlockable art work is of a constant high standard. The weapon design especially must also be applauded. On a personal level I must say that some of the new costumes aren’t as appealing as in the past games, but that’s subjective to individual taste anyway. There’s a few framerate splutters here and there, but for the most part the game is as smooth as silk. It also has 16:9 and progressive scan support for those who are capable.
Setsuka - always prepared, whatever the weather.
The soundtrack is as impressive as it has ever been. Packed full with memorable, epic tunes, Namco rarely fails when it comes to music. There’s even some classic tunes remixed that’ll warm the hearts of Soul Calibur veterans. Kudos again to Namco for making good use of surround sound in a fighting game. The sound effects are brilliant with every weapon having a slightly different sound, which, when you consider there are well over 100 weapons on offer, is a huge feat. The Surround Sound support works surprisingly well too. A great example is in the volcano cave level, character/weapon noises will echo further in the rear speakers. It really does add to the whole attachment of player to the fight. Voice work is present throughout the game, though thankfully there’s the option for both English and Japanese settings so you don’t have to suffer the awful American soundbytes throughout the game.
Other than the problems I mentioned earlier, there are a few other niggles that spoil the game somewhat. Team Battle, something that’s been in the series from the start, hasn’t been included which is a shame, especially given the size of the roster on offer here. There’s also no records page now either, so finding out your total time played, usage and success rate with each character isn’t possible anymore. Oh, and the lack of online support is a disappointment, especially considering how well Dead or Alive Ultimate and Mortal Kombat: Deception have offered it recently. Taking the time in carefully making your own character would have been given a whole new precedence had you been able to take on the world with them.
But, from the moment the opening FMV starts you can see that Soul Calibur III is going to be a top quality game. With its extensive array of modes available to the player, along with its ambitious create-a-fighter mode, Soul Calibur III is arguably what many believed Soul Calibur 2 should have been. It’s not without its faults, the create mode lacks polish, the ‘RTS’ mode is a waste of time for the majority of people and the AI lacks consistency, but there’s no denying Soul Calibur III is a fine game. Even by not including created characters you’re looking at over 20 fighters to learn, so there’s plenty here for fighting game fans to sink their teeth into. Fighting games always excel in multiplayer, and Soul Calibur III is no different, but as far as single player fighting games go, you’ll find few that can offer the amount of quality and depth of Soul Calibur III.
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