Soul Calibur V Review

The Soul Calibur series is known as a positively criticized fighting game. Its focus on weapon-based combat and fighting arenas set in a 3D plane lends itself to epic bouts. The newest entry in the series, Soul Calibur V, looks to retain its status as a great fighting game. It’s safe to say Soul Calibur V does not fail to reach that high quality standard.

Soul Calibur V
Developer: Project Soul
Price: $59.99
Platforms: PlayStation 3 [reviewed], Xbox 360

Soul Calibur V is easy to grasp for new players, while veterans will feel right at home in the first match. There are many combos for each player to learn and master, leaving the veteran Soul Calibur players to commit hours upon hours into the new installment. However, new players, like me, are not left out in the cold. A tutorial mode eases players into the combat while allowing free reign to try out the harder combos. Smaller two-hit and three-hit combos are easy to land with little practice. I can’t recommend a good starting character for players because each character in the roster is designed for pickup and play for all level of players.

The game excels in the battle arena with fast paced combat set against gorgeous environments. I easily bought into the melodramatic announcer between rounds and the cheesy one-liners between characters. The overly-dramatic music is the icing on the cake for the epic bouts in Soul Calibur V. The game sets a great atmosphere and never let me down in that regard.

It’s easy to navigate the arena whether you’re playing with a tank character or a smaller agile character. As I said before, each character is comfortable to play as. Given enough time, players will find a suitable fighting style that he or she could stick with, regardless of that player’s skill.

The new “Critical Gauge” adds a new dynamic to the game.It fills up based on player actions and damage received. Once the gauge is filled up, an easily executed attack called “Critical Edge” can shake up a fight in a split second. The gauge is also useful when only half filled; “Brave Edge” and “Guard Impact” are just as easy to execute and require fewer points in the “Critical Gauge” to use.

Not all of the action is balanced, however. I found it easy to get trapped in an onslaught of attacks without any chance of countering. There’re evasive moves such as rolling after getting knocked on the ground; but even rolls prove useless against sweeping ground attacks. “Ring Out” adds to some of the unfair and cheap moments that plagued a few of my matches. Some of my bouts in SC V ended far too quickly thanks to “Ring Out”. I understand it’s meant to add an extra dynamic to each fight, but it only left me frustrated, especially when the CPU landed a single blow to send me off the ledge.

The story campaign is disappointingly short and did not leave any impact on me. I found myself quickly running through the campaign to get back into the offline and online content. For those interested however, the cut scenes are beautifully done, but don’t exactly flesh out the story to its full potential. Soul Calibur V also ditches the individual story lines for each character, instead only focusing on a few characters and their connection with the Soul Swords. In short, I do recommend playing through the story solely to rank up and unlock new characters. I recognize some players will have a stronger connection to some of the characters presented in the story; however there is not enough there in the story campaign to justify the seemingly short and abrupt end.

Offline and online is where players will spend a majority of their time. Arcade mode and quick battle allow a quick way to rank up and earn new rewards. The more dedicated Soul Calibur players can check out “Legendary Souls”. I recommend new players stay clear of “Legendary Souls” until they feel comfortable taking on extremely tough AI.

Online, players will find enough opportunities to rank against gamers around the world. SC V also offers a couple modes to build a strong community online. “Global Colosseo” offers large rooms for players to gather and either communicate or randomly match up for quick bouts. The rooms are divided into several regions, including some of the major cities in the world. SC V’s online mode I feel will grow the increasingly large Soul Calibur community thanks to “Global Colesseo”.

Players will rank up and earn points in all game modes offered in Soul Calibur V, except of course in tutorial mode. Ranking earns new titles for your player card, which is your ID in SC V, and unlocks items for creation mode. Creation mode is more robust compared to the previous installments in the series, offering you more tools for shaping your character. I spent a lot of time in the creation mode, constructing a ridiculous character honorably named, ShoomyZoomy. The amount of customization offers a lot of depth for creating serious fighting machines and less serious fighting machines like ShoomyZoomy.

The Final Word: Soul Calibur V offers a lot of depth for returning players and new players alike. Sprinkle in overly-dramatic music and dialogue filled with one-liners, and you have yourself one hell of a fighting game. Some bouts lead to a one-sided beating and the story mode is disappointing to say the least; but don’t let Soul Calibur V’s missteps turn you away. There is a lot to dive into, and very little to grow tired of. Don’t forget Enzio Auditore from Assassin’s Creed makes a guest appearance, so there’s that too.

– MonsterVine Rating: 4 – Good