SoulCalibur V review
SoulCalibur arrived in 1999 on the Dreamcast and became an immediate sensation. Peerless and arcade perfect, the renamed Soul Blade certainly forged a deep enough gouge in the fighting genre to warrant a new benchmark for beat-em-ups, and made sure the Millennium ended on a high note. It’s aggressive style that rewarded attackers and made defence risky (thanks to its ‘Soul Crush’ system) ensured that fights rarely last longer than thirty seconds, let alone a full minute.
After three main sequels however, one could be forgiven when SoulCalibur 4 arrived in 2008, heavily laden in Star Wars advertisement, that the series had run out of fresh ideas. Surely no-one would complain at having Yoda jump around with a Lightsaber against none other than Darth Vader, but in hindsight it does feel gimmicky and detracts from the (excuse the pun) soul of SoulCalibur. Of course there always has been guest stars in the franchise, but usually the new fighters have a common tangent with the SoulCalibur universe, Hihachi from Tekken for instance. Even when Spawn made a cameo, he was the icing rather than the cake itself.
Fast forward almost four years and Namco have resurrected the franchise and quite literally have followed their fine form of bringing older titles to the current generation of gamers, with enough of the history behind the franchise to please its fans. However it no longer caters for the hardcore, but more towards the beginners of the franchise. SCV contains a super move that is triggered the same way regardless of character, charges when you hit and to a lesser extent when you get hit. The closest similarity is with Street Fighter IV’s Ultra move and does just as much damage, though it does seem context specific; on the end of a juggling combo for instance it will take off a lot less health.
That’s not to say of course that stalwarts of the franchise need to be dismayed however, the deep combat system may have been tweaked to allow the unfamiliar a better grasp on layering different combinations together, but there are still combinations possible that are incredibly difficult to pull off, but literally mind blowing to watch, requiring hours and hours of play to be called upon demand.
One thing that has changed is the introduction of a block button. The old school (myself included) need not fear. Relying on constantly holding backwards to automatically block such as in other franchises breeds laziness as far as Namco is concerned. Blocking via a button means that it is not instinctive but reactive, a subtle point that makes all the difference in how the game is played. It really is all about aggression, forcing your opponent back, beating them into submission in a flurry of attacks. Should you find yourself on the back foot, little else other than offense will save you. It makes sense seen in a different perspective. If someone is swinging a six foot blade at you, blocking should be reactive not automatic, and attacking to get within the blade’s swing is surely common sense, rather than just sitting there hoping for the best.
We can gloss over the single player. For the completionists amongst you there are 20 chapters to get through similar to Mortal Kombat’s – each one from a different perspective. But whereas MK and others have made the fights interesting through handicaps and/or penalties, SCV is just a simple one, two or three round fight against progressively harder foes. The difficulty does spike dramatically with the last three fights however, those prone to throwing joy pads when frustrated have been warned.
The heart and indeed soul of the game lies within the competitiveness of the multiplayer, both local and online, and Namco doesn’t disappoint in either department. When the game was first fired up, it was the Vs we went straight to and there we stayed for no less than 56 fights. Many of these were demanded instant rematches, many more were used to test bed the new characters and to get reacquainted with old. The guest star this time round is Ezio from the Assassin’s Creed franchise and he truly feels like he belongs to the roster. His hidden blades demand close combat, though his move set also integrates a crossbow for long range. The other seven new characters are either direct descendants from old, but still use the same (if not tweaked) move set and fighting style. The others such as Mitsaguri and Ivy haven’t aged a day but no excuse is given, even though seventeen years have passed since the last outing.
Old moves are mixed with new and while juggling your opponent is possible; their weight while falling suggests an accurate representation of normal gravity. Touches like these ensure the game feels fair even when on the receiving end of a juggle.
Online allows you to participate in both ranked and player matches, though the highlight is a large battle room that can host dozens of players, with text chat and voice chat to keep you jesting until it’s your turn on the round robin tournament. Those setting up their own rooms also have an option to have a normal fight or apply handicaps to put a unique spin on their challenge.
Fighting games come and go and few franchises build up a loyal enough fanbase to guarantee a hit sequel upon sequel. Street Fighter is arguably the most successful, but there are many that have carved out a niche and subsequently a cult following such as King of Fighters and Mortal Kombat. The SoulCalibur series was in danger of losing its identity and itself falling into the annals of history. SoulCalibur 5 however, reintegrates the series into the gaming conscience and does so with aggression. Newcomers and fans alike will be delighted with Namco’s revitalisation of a classic franchise.
