Over the past few years, a myriad of fighting games have stormed onto the scene. They all had their own little niche, but none were ever as good as Soul Calibur for the ill-fated Dreamcast. A pity that the best fighting game ever landed on a system whose lifespan was less than a full year. Ever since, games like Tekken and Virtua fighter have tried, and while they were fun at first, they grew tedious and boring within a week. Dead or Alive 3 was nothing but an over-hyped T&A button mash, and Mortal Kombat was quite possibly the most disappointing of of them all, if only because it was so overhyped by the developers and fans. But Soul Calibur 2 has stormed onto the scene, and has essentially re-ignited the dying flame of the fighting game genre.
The graphics in the XBox version are outstanding, every bit as good, if not better than the original Soul Calibur. All the characters look realistic and life-like, though some have anime-inspired overly exaggerated facial features, and most of the women have unrealistically exaggerated anatomical features. The characters move and breathe and flex so vividly that its hard to beleive you're playing a video game and not watching a movie.
The gameplay is as good as ever. Some reviewers seem to think that the effort necessary to unlock extra fighters and gameplay modes makes this game bad...clearly these people have no idea what makes a good game and shouldn't be wasting other people's time with their nonsense ranting. There are tons of features to unlock in the game, which makes for TREMENDOUS replay value. Weapon Master Mode, a method of gameplay dating back to the first game, Soul Blade for the Playstation, has you take any character you choose through missions with certain criteria that must be met in order for you to advance. Winning these missions earns money and experience. From here, you can buy up to 10 extra weapons per character, including an ultimate weapon and a joke weapon, and you can also purchase new costumes, demonstrations, and gameplay modes. This mode will also allow you to unlock other fighters as you go along.
The story in the game is decent, but is not as detailed as the previous game. Character stories are short and lack detail, and endings are utterly pointless in most cases, barely even coinciding with the story of the character. Beating the game with a character opens up a gallery mode that allows you to view the fighter, their arena, their story and their voice acting.
Some modes that open up include variations of Time Attack, and Survival. Overall, the vast amount of gameplay modes will keep you playing for weeks, possibly months on end. The challenge of mastering a character alone takes weeks, since the moves and characters themselves are so complex.
Great features aside, there are some problems. For starters, some of the characters in this installment are very unlikable. Todd McFarlane characters Necrid and system-exclusive Spawn are so out of place that its almost embarassing to see them in the game. Necrid looks like he belongs in a game that takes place about a billion years in the future on another planet, and Spawn...he just doesn't fit in. Spawn brings cheap moves into the game, such as flying and fireballs. Those are best left to games like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighters, not a game like Soul Calibur. As much as I love Spawn, and despite the fact that I bought the X-Box version in favor of him over the other 2 character, he really does not belong in this game at all. Three U.S. exclusive characters are also included, but none are particularly interesting. Lizardman returns, and two series veterans(as well as personal favorites of mine), Hwang and Rock, have been replaced by generic, boring characters Assassin and Berzerker.
The music in this game is terrible. Compared to the first game, the music just feels uninspired and boring. I often shut the music off and put on my Soul Calibur 1 soundtrack cd instead. Alot of the arenas, although detailed, lack style. None of the arenas in this game can even compare to some of the ones in the previous game, such as the Venice arena, the Colloseum arena, and many others. The only thing that sets these arenas apart is a new feature in the game: some arenas have walls and many are uniquely structured, making for a challenge. Making use of Wall combos is a fun new strategy and is a whole new aspect to learn.
Some characters, such as newcomer Talim, are very frustrating characters. Talim is one of a few characters who are VERY unbalanced compared to others...she has an infinite combo string that, once connected, cannot be broken and will gaurantee a loss. Most other new characters are interesting however, though again have been rehashed from earlier characters.
Overall Soul Calibur 2 is a fantastic game. Where most fighting games get so boring they aren't even worth playing after a week, Soul Calibur 2 will keep you interested for a long, long time. It could have benefit from the ability to use the scenario situations from Weapon Master Mode in the 2 player games, but its ok, since the gmae is fun enough by itself. The sheer amount of unlockables and variety of one player modes will keep you entertained for weeks, and the fun of 2 player battles never ceases. I highly recommend this to any fighting game fan, since it is better than any of the games currently out there, and will be the best fighter for a long time to come.
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While Soul Caliber II is great on all platforms, the special character and controller layout really make the XBox version the best of the bunch.
"Soul Caliber II", for the Gamecube, Xbox, and Playstation 2, is a weapon-based fighting game. It is the sequel to Soul Caliber for the Sega Dreamcast. It has beautiful graphics, a comprehensive storyline, and some great moves.
The basic story of the game is that there is this evil sword, called Soul Edge. Many want the sword for its great power. It is said to be, in fact, the most powerful sword in the world. However, most people don't know that it is evil, and so many pursue it. The current wielder of it is a mysterious black-armored knight named Nightmare. He was once a bandit, leader of a group called Der Schwarzwind (The Black Wind). He found Soul Edge, but gradually it took over his body. In the last game, Soul Edge was shattered by its opposite, the spirit sword Soul Caliber. However, the broken fragments of the sword have shown up in many places. Some seek to destroy the pieces to prevent the sword from regaining its evil power. Some want it to use to destroy their enemies. Some want it for the power it brings. However, everybody wants it, and most have no quarrel with destroying everyone in their way to get it.
There is a huge selection of characters, with six secret characters adding to the lineup. They vary from a Japanese swordsman to a village mystic to a female ninja demon hunter to a diabolical golem to an undead tomb guardian. There are also a great variety of stages, including a windmill in a mountainous village, an abandoned yet well-preserved Japanese castle, and a lakeside garden. Most of these places have at least one place where a fighter can be knocked out of the ring (except for the cage matches), so knocking someone out or tossing them out is a vital strategy for winning.
The modes of play that you can do include arcade mode, in which you fight several random enemies and one character-based enemy in order to accomplish your character's goal, Weapon Master Mode, in which you can earn gold to buy extra weapons, costumes, and artwork, to various time attack modes and "see how long you can survive" modes. Besides the normal modes, you can also get "Extra" modes, which allow you to use the weapons you buy in Weapon Master mode. The weapons can give that little boost needed for victory. Most weapons have a pro and a con, like a staff that has good offense and recovers health, but has poor defense. The higher the cost of the weapon, the better it is. Some weapons have no flaws, like the katana Masamune, which has good offense and defense, with no downside.
The in-combat gameplay is good. There are a number of actions, like Guard Impacts (which reverse or trip an enemy's attack), to prevent button mashing. This game is responsible for the most fulfilling fighting round in any fighting game I've ever played. My character was Mitsurugi, the Japanese swordsman, and my opponent was Raphael, the fencer. In most games, the victor would basically be whoever bashed most first. However, in this game, I actually had to think about it. There was thrusting, parrying, slashing, and basically everything that makes a game seem realistic and not just a "bash, mash, smash" game. The other moves that can be done range from ninja teleportation to awesome throws.
The main reason to buy certain console versions of this game is the "guest character" on each one: Link for the Gamecube, Spawn for the Xbox, and Tekken's Heihachi (who uses, well, gloves as his weapon). Also in the game is a character not seen in the video arcade games: Necrid, a special character designed by Spawn's owner, Todd McFarlane (which is why Spawn is the Xbox's guest character and why McFarlane toys manufactures the action figures).
As for being "kid-friendly", there is no blood, as hits make strange glowing/electrical red spots (but not cuts or slashes). There is some minor swearing (from characters that don't take losing well) and there is some "female character bounciness" and skimpy costumes, though each character has at least two costumes, and the alternate costumes on the skimpy characters are usually less bouncy and revealing.
This is a very good, fun, and attention-holding fighting game, with only a few clipping errors (objects accidentally going through other objects). It gets a 10/10.
Best Deals for Soul Calibur II - Xbox (Platinum)
Soul Calibur II, is an excellent fighting game. The attack moves are great and the combo attack system is awesome. Similar to [edited], the character designs are beautiful and have fluid animation. The sound effects are excellent and they used clasical music which fits well into the game. There is a major emphasize on the weapons, like swords, daggers, nunchukkus or staff. They added nice little touches in the animations, you'll see characters playing with their weapons before and during the fights. Like the character with the Nunchukus, with moves that would make, Bruce Lee, proud if he were alive today. Other characters swing their swords or daggers like pros in their hands. You'll also notice that all the weapons have nice looking light streaks when they are swung. My Favorite Character has a sword that morphs into a chain on command. It's truly a pleasure to her whipping at rivals with the chain, then slashing with the sword. Great sound effect of swords clashing. To top it off the game has excellent controls, different game modes, finishing move replay and lots of characters with unique fighting styles. You can win the fight and still continue beating on your rival for a few seconds. You can also knock people out of the arenas!
Pros:
+beautiful character designs
+fluid animation
+excellent combo attacks
+responsive controls
+different game modes
+good music and sound fx
+lots of characters
+different weapons
+good voice acting
+ring out
+torture your opponents
+alternative costumes
+different game modes
Cons:
-no blood
-stupid story
-uninteresting backgrounds
Soul Calibur is as good as [edited] for the
XBOX. The main difference in gameplay is that in DOA 3
is all hand-to hand combat, while in Soul Calibur II is
mostly melee weapons combat. It depends what you prefer
in your fighting game.
Honest reviews on Soul Calibur II - Xbox (Platinum)
I was a huge fan of the origional Soul Calibur for Dreamcast, and that love passed on to Soul Calibur 2. I first played it at the arcade, and was blown away. Graphics, gameplayeverything was top-notch. To give you an idea of what I mean by "huge fan", I beat the duration of Soul Calibur 2's Arcade mode in my very first attempt, using no Continues (character: Nightmare). What this means is that fans of the series can expect all the old gameplay elements to returnno worries about how your favorite character having undergone too much change. Everything that was good in the first game has only been enhanced in the sequel, and everything that is new lives up to the rest.
Those who are new to the series can also benefit from this continuity. Soul Calibur singlehandedly pumped life back into the arcade industry when it was released, and the home port managed to improve on that perfection. Having played Soul Calibur 2 in arcades and playing some of the home version (on both GC and Xbox) I can say that this tradition continues. The console-specific characters, much talked about, do include Spawn(Xbox), Link(GameCube), and Heihachi(PS2). To my knowledge, these characters are perfectly "fleshed-out" and well-balanced with the rest of the characters.
Anyone who enjoys fighting games at all needs this masterpiece in their collection. The Soul Calibur games may truly be the greatest fighting games of all timeespecially for fans of arcade-style action.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Soul Calibur II - Xbox (Platinum)
The original Soul Calibur was the best game made for the Dreamcast, and since that platform's demise, fans have waited four years for a follow up. It was well worth the wait. The game is premiering on all three major game systems at once, and although each version is essentially the same, each game has one distinct quality: They feature different lead characters. For the Playstation, it's Heihachi. For the Gamecube, it's Link. For the XBox, it's Spawn. They're joined by many of the classic characters from the original game, plus some great new ones. The biggest question, however, is this: What prevents this from just being another run-of-the-mill fighting game, another Kakuto Chojin or another Mortal Kombat clone? One needn't worry.
Although similar in style to other combat games, this one rises above them with extraordinary gameplay, first-rate graphics (esp. on the Cube and XBox) and surprisingly easy controls and fighting techniques. The attacks are pretty straightforward: kick, horizontal weapon, and vertical weapon. But there are some good combination moves available, as well. Like all other combat games, this requires button/control combinations and some well-timed maneuvering. Unfortunately, the XBox's Controller S is not well-suited for these moves; the buttons aren't aligned very well for some of the trickier attacks. (My thumbs still ache from playing Kakuto Chojin on the Controller S; of the 3 systems, only the PS2's basic controller was the most user-friendly. A possible solution: Try the Mad Catz MicroCon controller for the XBox). However, the XBox has other advantages that may offset the sometimes difficult controller. The XBox's excellent graphics engine (by far the best of the three systems) make this game a sumptuous visual treat; the player is surrounded by beautifully detailed scenery and environments. Gameplay on the XBox--thanks to its superior hardware--is smooth and load times are not a problem. There's really just one problem with the game: no story, plot or goals. Basically, you just fight. If you don't mind a straightforward fighting game, then this is your cup of tea. Truthfully, it's not that much different from the first version. But if it ain't broke... For those who never played the original, here's a chance to enjoy one of the best combat games ever devised. For those who loved (and miss) the original, it's just like experiencing this fabulous title all over again.
