Soul Calibur 2  Review for Xbox

Sunday, October 24, 2004

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Title: Soul Calibur 2 .............................................. System: Xbox .............................................. Genre: Fighting .............................................. Publisher: Namco .............................................. Developer: Namco .............................................. Release: August 2003 .............................................. Online: No .............................................. ESRB: Rating Pending .............................................. The sequel to, arguably, the best fighting game has arrived. Is it better, worse, or just as good? I’m happy to say that it’s better. It has improved upon every aspect of the first which, in it self, was the sequel to the Playstation’s Soul Blade. With only a handful of fighting games available on the Xbox, and an even less amount of them worth playing, the Xbox has made it tough for fans of the genre. Up until now. Soul Calibur II is widely considered one of the best fighting games ever made, and right fully so. GamePlay Gameplay is great with this fighter. The controls are easy to pick up on yet hard to master. It’s the classic set up that every developer is after. Unlike other fighting games, SCII’s characters remain fairly balanced as you progress and get better at the game. Some are easier to improve with, like Nightmare or Kilik or Xianghua, others take more time and practice, like Ivy or Cervantes or Yoshimitsu. Weapon Master mode is the main part of the single player experience. It works well as a way to unlock characters and other items. Another thing it works well to do is to teach you the core moves of your chosen character. They have a training mode, but WMM does more teaching of what moves will do what for you then the training mode will ever hope to do. Versus is where the fun is at though. Nothing beats having a friend over and showing them all the skills you’ve acquired since the last time you played. And you will continue to improve, no matter how long you’ve been playing. Another added bonus is the addition of Todd McFarland’s Spawn character as an Xbox exclusive. Though he doesn't over power anyone, he can stand his ground. Graphics Graphics, though not on par with anything by Team Ninja, are amazing. They remain crisp and clean throughout. In my time with game, I haven’t seen any slowdown when playing on the Xbox. Of course, because of the Xbox’s capabilities, the graphics are superior to either other version. Sound Sound is also very good in SCII. The sound when weapons clash is spot on. The American voice acting, though nothing exceptional, is nothing to be ashamed of. The music also fits the time/era that Namco was going for. It’s an all-around great sound package. Overall This is by far the best fighting game on Xbox. It has the depth for hardcore Fighting fans, the easy accessibility for the people new to the genre and characters that will appeal to virtually everyone. If you could only get one fighting game, make it this one. There is no way you will be disappointed.   The Core Score Overall 9.6 Fun 10 Gameplay 9 Graphics 9.5 Audio 9 Replay 10   How we score games