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If you are too lazy to read why not check out the first one of our video reviews below.

Soul Calibur has never been the most graceful of fighters in the genre. The weapons based beat ‘em-up his often put down as being for being a button mashers paradise.  I can’t defend the series either. Characters seem to do fantastical moves if you randomly smash the buttons. That said, Soul Calibur is more accessible than any other mainstream fighting game on the market at the moment. In fact I’d go as far to say that it’s one of the best beat ‘em-ups to play with friends, but I’ll go into this further later.

The one on one, weapon based fighting game has you pummeling seven shades out of your opponent with an arsenal of different weapons. If you have played Soul Calibur before you’ll be in familiar territory. The game’s mechanics haven’t changed a whole lot, although it does feel significantly faster. The one major new addition is the super combo system. The first, Critical Edge, will completely drain your super bar and your enemies health, while the Brave Edge does a weaker move only taking half of it. It is a nice addition to the game and helps to keep matches tight, giving the game that much-needed ‘wow’ factor.

Soul Calibur V is well-balanced too. Despite characters like Seigfried wielding a sword bigger than me (I’m 5.5ft) smaller, nible choices such as Viola or Tira can still beat the living daylights out of him.

Old veteran fighters such as Ivy, Cevantes and Astaroth return alongside new set of characters, although most of them are rehashes of old ones. Natsu is a Taki knock-off, Leixia is identical to Xianhuah and Xiba is a young version of Kilik. They are meant to be the offspring of the game’s former heroes but it’s still lazy from Project Soul. With this being the case you’d think I’d be annoyed, but there are so many characters in the game, each with their own move set and weapons that it didn’t bother me too much. There are some fresh additions such the brilliant Viola and Z.W.E.I who both are unlike any other Soul Calibur fighter in the list.

The most interesting addition is Ezio Auditore from the Assassin’s Creed series. They probably couldn’t have picked a better character for the game (bar Link again). The Italian fits in perfectly with the 29 other characters as he dispatches enemies with his onslaught of hidden gadgets and blades.

If that isn’t enough you can even create your own character. There’s a whole load of customisation and variation in how your creation looks and plays. This is one of the game’s best points and it’s only a matter of time until we see the community make some great additions to the game.

Unfortunately Soul Calibur V has distinct lack of modes; Arcade, Versus (online and off), Story and a character creation mode is pretty much all you get. It’s one of the game’s biggest let downs and it seems to be a common trend in beat ‘em-ups this generation. What happened to team attack, survival or the brilliant weapon master mode from Soul Calibur III?

The story mode makes up for some of Soul Calibur V’s miscomings. You play with Patroklos, son of Sophitia. You occasionally get to use other characters but because of the set path, you rarely get to use anyone else which is disappointing.

If you aren’t into Soul Calibur’s story you probably wont be drawn in by this one. The basic premise is still the same as characters search for the infamous ‘Soul Calibur’ weapons for their own reasons. The plot was never going to be great here and the comic book cutscenes after fights started to annoy me after a while. It’s a nice diversion from the various versus modes but nothing amazing.

Playing against real people is where Soul Calibur V comes to life.  Pretty much anyone can pick up the pad, hit a few buttons and have a good game. My friends have never been the best at beat ‘em-ups and usually we end up switching games after a short time because nobody wants to play against me. With Soul Calibur V the ‘winner stays on’ rule doesn’t overstay its welcome. If you really are good enough you can still get a solid winning streak, but you’ll always have to be on your guard.

The online modes are sparse but robust. A special mention goes to the ‘Global Colleseo’, the lobby allows up to 50 different people at one time. Simply tap A (or X on PS3) and signify you’re ready and you’ll be in a match within seconds. Matchmaking seems to be pretty smooth at the moment with lag rarely being an issue during fights.

What I’ve realised with Soul Calibur V is that it’s just a fun fighting game. I don’t have to learn loads of advanced button inputs to do flashy moves or how to cancel out of one special into another. This is what makes the game special. Anyone can pick it up and it’ll be a blast even against better players.

Overall Soul Calibur V is a strong entry to the series. The addition of new players and the new super combos have helped to create beat ‘em-up that may not be on the same level as the likes of Street Fighter or Blazblue, but is still well worth trying out.

 

 

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