Where's the soul?
The story this time around....wait, has the story really changed from the past entries? No, no it hasn't. All the warriors in the world (well, at least ones deemed worthy of being a main character) are searching for Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, so they can gain infinite power...and all that jazz. The story in 4 really seemed to be lacking compared to narratives put together in the previous games. There is this big...Lu Bu reject from Dynasty Warriors, who has been frozen in time for thousands of years and he reawakens and stuff.....yeah, not really that great of a "villain".
The story mode itself is surprisingly short and over before it even feels like it starts. Each story starts out with a horrendously long wall of text that only true Soul Calibur junkies would bother to read. But wait, it gets better, after going through a grand total of 5 battles, you fight the Lu Bu wannabe and you get a short pre-rendered cut scene and then a short sentence pertaining to what may or may not happen after the cut scene is over. Then the credits roll....that is seriously it for all of the story modes. It really feels like Namco just rushed this "story mode" into the game to say it has one. The single player story modes have gone downhill since SC2 and it's awesome Weapon Master mode. This just felt like a shortened Arcade game with no real reward in the end, but some gold and mayby and unlock or two.
Which leads to my next point, in that the unlocks are really easy to get this time around, as far as the characters go anyway. You can go through a couple "stories" and get enough gold to purchase all the remaining Soul Calibur cast. Which is nice to prevent grinding and meeting certain objectives to unlock a character you want to desperately play as, but it also takes out some of the fun in unlocking new characters to use. Unlocking items, weapons, and such are still the same as in 3. As in they feel as though they are random and just come at any given time. Unlocking new items and such for your created characters is nice though and there are plenty of items to be had.
Now for one of the big hooplas surrounding SCIV, the guest characters introduced in this version. The Star Wars characters of Darth Vader, Yoda, and The Apprentice (from Force Unleashed) don't really feel like they belong in the Soul Calibur universe of swords, spears, and other more "primitive" weaponry, compared to what the Jedi/Sith wield anyway. They are satisfying to use and it is fun to see Darth Vader chock or slam the crap out of Maxi with his Force powers. But really.....these characters just feel out of place and put in there for the sake of having them. To try and get people to forget the sub-par story mode or something. The other guest characters made by famous anime artists in Japan feel a bit more at home, but really don't add too much to the already impressive Soul Calibur roster.
The core gameplay hasn't really changed too much from Soul Calibur 3 or 2. There are all the crazy moves you can pull off with Voldo or Yoshimitsu. There are all the critical block, grappling, and counterattack moves. Basically, if you've played a Soul Calibur game before, you'll know what to do when you pick up your controller. However, there are a few changes that may or may not make old fans feel kinda awkward. The Critical Finishes are one hit kills that can only occur when an opponent is in a state of "Soul Crush". This doesn't happen too often, so it isn't too big of a deal, but it doesn't really seem to fit with how a majority of the Soul Calibur battles play out. You can also break your opponents armor now, which in turn has effects depending on their armor. It is nice and rewarding to see your sword actually cause more physical damage to your opponents. Armor breaking, again, isn't too big of a change, but it is a nice one. Though I don't really see how Ivy can lose anymore clothing... Then, for the Jedi's and Sith, there is a Force Gauge, which goes down everytime a Jedi or Sith uses a Force power. If it goes all the way down, they will be stunned temporarily and will be open to attack.
Creating your own fighter was one of the big aspects of Soul Calibur 3 and it returns in Soul Calibur 4, but more in depth. The main difference in 4, is that each piece of armor has statistics to it that adds to either your attack, defense, or soul power. So it kinda feels like your in an MMO outfitting your avatar to deal out the best amount of damage. Though, the stats on the armor and their "cool" factor don't match up sometimes.... You can also mess with the cast of Soul Calibur and mess with their armor and stats. So in reality, you can make your very own Mitsurugi or Talim!
Online is pretty much like playing with somebody that is right next you....just they're not. The rankings and statistics from your games are nice to see and seeing how you compare with other players from around the world adds a nice bit of competative edge. Though, it felt like the single player modes were kinda cut short to make way for the multiplayer. There is Tower of Souls which also puts your stats and rank up so everybody can see it, but that mode just doesn't really replace a good single player Soul Calibur experience.
The graphics are pretty......like almost every next gen game is now. The character models are nicely rendered (no pun intended there for the breast physics) and the stages are also a sight to behold. Though there are still those instances where it looks like your safe....then you fall off the edge of a stage almost magically....
Overall, Soul Calibur 4 feels like a step backward for the series. Online is nice, but everything else in the game just seems to not be as well put together as in previous entries. The fighting is still solid, but if you're looking to just play this game by yourself, then get either Soul Calibur 2 or 3. They have a much more satisfying single player experience. But, you'll probably want the multiplayer, so Soul Calibur 4 is most likely a sure buy for any fan of the series.