One of the first things we noticed about the game is that the gameplay has been changed a little as well and, in our opinion it's for the better. The game adds in a new critical attack option. The critical attack option can be used to break through the guard of a defensive player. If you do manage to land attacks on players while they're blocking, their defence will weaken, leaving them more vulnerable to your attacks. If you do happen to weaken their defence significantly their health bar will flash red and landing an attack after this happens will make your opponent fall backwards, during this time you can perform a critical hit.
Yoda will be in the Xbox 360 version.
For the first time in the series the game will also include online play. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to try out the online play as it isn't ready just yet, but the prospect of playing SoulCalibur IV online certainly has us counting the days until the end of July. The new additions don't stop there either, there will be a range of new characters included in the game as well, fans of the original titles will be happy to know that now iconic characters such as Voldo are in the game.
Now based on our hands on time with SoulCalibur IV it seems that the game is going to be a must buy for any fighting game fan, but a decision still has to be made with each version of the game getting exclusive content. Both versions of the game will include the secret apprentice from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, the PlayStation 3 version of the game will include Darth Vader as a selectable character and the Xbox 360 version will include Yoda. As we went hands on with the PlayStation 3 version we were only able to go hands on with Darth Vader, who fits into the game well. Aside from the exclusive characters both versions of the game should be nearly identical, so it should all come down to personal preference.
The game looks absolutely beautiful.
There has been much speculation about the mandatory install option for SoulCalibur IV. The preview build we played was nearly finished, but we were not prompted at all to complete a mandatory install and the save file was only a few MBs, so it seems that the hard drive install issue has been blown out of proportion.
Overall we came away rather impressed with SoulCalibur IV. The game looks like it will do enough new things to keep veteran fans happy, but that same classic SoulCalibur gameplay has been retained. With an in-depth single-player mode, brand new characters, overhauled gameplay and online play SoulCalibur IV looks like a game that every fighting game fan should be keeping an eye out for.
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