Instead, I get coupons for $1 off any value combo at Church's Chicken and $10 off a purchase of $50 or more at Journeys. The annoying part is that another page or two in the manual could have helped alleviate these frustrations. Already I've come to appreciate the new Critical Finish mechanic, which leaves an opponent vulnerable to a one-hit kill if they block too much. Ideally, more time and experimentation will illuminate these questions. Is there a way to customize a character's beginning with their regular outfit as opposed to random gear? And is equipment destruction supposed to be strategic? Because right now, it seems rather random. What does it mean when a character gains a Style Level? How did I manage to level up, anyways? Do I get experience just for winning? What effects, if any, does that have beyond unlocking new skills? Then again, the flood of players could also have the opposite effect, clogging the tubes and slowing performance for all. The scarcity of a good connection could change tomorrow once Soul Calibur IV is officially released, as there will be more players, and hopefully, a wider selection of stronger connections available. The best you can do is hit Custom Match to provide a list of available matches, but you could be backing in and out for a while before you find a decent connection. Problem is, there's no way to filter the connections of those you're paired against. I even had a few matches that were so fast and responsive, it felt like my opponent was in the room. When I went up against an opponent with a connection rated 4 or 5-something that happened about half of the time-I rarely encountered lag. There's no way to counter or react accordingly, just the vague hope that seconds after you press a button, the actual move will hit its mark.įortunately, that lag doesn't affect all matches, only some. At those points, it's no longer Soul Calibur it's a pretty version of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Lag has been a major issue for online fighting games, and of the many Soul Calibur IV battles I fought over Xbox Live today, roughly half were marred by a marked delay between the button press and the eventual execution of the actual action.Īs Soul Calibur IV is a fast-paced, reflex-heavy fighting game, that latency destroys the experience. Is it worth taking a hit on defense to make your attacks poisonous? The actual customization requires a great deal of number crunching as you try to balance between beefing up a character's defensive and offensive traits while nabbing equipment that gives you enough points to have some fancy traits. The customization system provides a lot of possibility-you can even make a unique character and choose which fighter's style he or she will use-but it's not well explained. For example, one hint suggested I "unleash attacks that strike and seize." The command list isn't clear on which attacks do that, suggesting a trial-and-error approach instead of a defined goal that would help me learn and master a small portion of a character's vast moveset.Īs new equipment is unlocked, players can customize pretty much everything about their fighter, from 11 separate wardrobe elements to hair color to weapons and skills. However, the game is rather vague about the conditions. And now that characters can be equipped with various skills, such as recovering health after a successful hit or a tendency to avoid being knocked off-stage, the numerous matches have more variety than ever.Įvery encounter sports a few hidden items, which can be unlocked via certain criteria. Much like the previous Soul Calibur games, Soul Calibur IV sports a lengthy single-player campaign that runs players through a number of match types and variations. And despite pouring over all provided documentation, I still don't know how to unlock new parts. Character creation and customization isn't explained well, leading to much confusion. The online play has been problematic and prone to match-destroying lag. However, there's still a twinge of disappointment, a notion that the sequel isn't everything I'd hoped for. The more I've put into the game, the more that feeling of disappointment has lessened, replaced the familiar sensation of wanting, no, needing, to play more. It seemed the sequel had lost the simple pick up and play mentality that defined its predecessors. In the first few moments I was assaulted with talk of destroying equipment and armor, word of activating character skills, some type of one-hit kill Critical Finish thing.Īs someone that sunk countless hours into Soul Calibur II but never touched Soul Calibur III, this was confusing, disappointing, and slightly worrisome. When I first popped Soul Calibur IV into my Xbox 360, I was a bit overwhelmed.
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