Soul Calibur 2

Transcending history and the world a tale of swords and souls forever retold.
Chosen by history a man becomes a warrior, engraved in history a man becomes a
hero. Thus is the story of Soul Calibur 2. Suffering and violence
has swept through 16th century Europe into an age of heroes and villains. Driven
by the legend people from every corner of the world are gathering to claim the
evil sword, Soul Edge. Some seek it for power and some seek it for freedom and
salvation. In the center are the finest of warriors, but who will be able to stop
the Nightmare that burns through the land?

Finally the Halo of fighting games is here. At almost two years in the making
the E3 2003 Best Fighting Game has finally come west. With over 20 characters
to choose from with faces new and old with a special character exclusive to
each console, a plethora of unlockable items, 7 initial game modes to choose
from and over 200 different weapons to buy in the new single-player mission
mode Weapons Master Mode, there is more than enough here to keep you mesmerized.
[from here on Soul Calibur 2 will be referred to as “SC 2”]

When I first laid my hands on Soul Calibur for the DC it was the first game
that I bought along with the console. As soon as I got home I popped it in and
was shocked at how beautiful this game was. It had to be the best game I had
ever seen. I played that game for hours on end as I do with SC 2. From that
moment on I was hooked, Soul Calibur was officially my favorite fighting game.

SC 2 doesn’t stray too far from that either, the unique style of weapons
fighting has drawn me back in, there is nothing like seeing a sword that can
instantly turn to a whip versus a set of knunchukas. It’s like nothing
that has ever been done before. Plenty of different types of fighting styles
means there is a character for everyone, button-mashers and skilled fighters
are both welcome to this game. SC 2’s eight initial game modes are Arcade,
VS battle, Time Attack, Survival, Team Battle, VS Team Battle, and Weapons Master
Mode.

Arcade is just like in the arcade, you select a character
and journey him on his quest to find the evil seed Soul Edge. VS Battle
is the money making multi-player mode where you and a friend pick a character
each and battle it out. Time Attack is another single player mode where you
fight to get the best time. Survival, also a single player
mode allows you to fight up to 50 combatants in a single match round; your goal
is to defeat as many opponents as possible. Team Battle and
VS Team Battle pits you and/or a friend’s team of fighters
against each other, in a Marvel vs. Capcom sorta way. Finally Weapons
Master Mode, the god of all single player fighting game modes. Completing
different missions on different maps of the world helps you go up in rank and
earn gold, the more gold you have the more weapons and extras you can purchase.
But be careful of what you buy because you just might win it as a reward. For
example some of the missions in WMM (weapons master mode)
have you fighting against 4 opponents with limited health, whoever lands 20
hits first completes the mission, or head into overtime, were your health is
drained while you have to fight 5 different characters.

With that said, they can also be very frustrating, I remember at one point
I did not want to play the game anymore I got so frustrated. So it takes patience
and a lot of determination to come out on top. This is not just your typical
‘go here fight the warriors and you complete the chapter‘ style fighter,
there are tasks that must be completed in order for you to advance. After you
complete certain tasks you’ll be rewarded with things like extra costumes,
or new stages will be unlocked. No two WMM games are alike and once you master
a character the game play is addictive and fun, as it is when you are in the
middle of mastering a character.

Exclusive Characters: Most people know that each console version
of SC 2 comes with its own exclusive character, GCN with Link,
PS2 with Heihaci and Xbox with Spawn. My first
thought of him being the Xbox exclusive character was not very positive. I thought
that it did not really make sense, as the other two consoles got a
character they could be recognized by. I found out the reason was because Namco
is developing a Spawn game for all consoles and Spawn happened to be the top
candidate for Xbox’s exclusive character. When I brought the game home, my views
with him changed drastically. I thought I would do arcade mode with him one
time and that was it. I was wrong he is actually an AWESOME
character. I am using him along with Mitsurugi and Talim in
WMM and I am in the middle of mastering Spawn. His fighting style reminds me
of Nightmare mixed with Maxi, he has a lot of power when needed and he also
has some of the coolest looking moves. Despite what people say he’s not slow
at all, he is actually quite fast.

I have also gained a new respect for Heihachi. I initially
thought he was going to be one of the worst characters since he doesn’t
really have a weapon, just gauntlets that he applies to his wrist, but in actuality
he is fast and he has some of the strongest attacks out of the 3 exclusive characters.
His moves are killer and they look awesome, and he is the only character in
the game to come with his 10 hit strings (combos) from the Tekken series.
I guess there is one good thing about bringing a fighter from another fighting
game. The downside is that he doesn’t fare well against the other
characters who can attack from a farther distance.

Finally there’s Link. When the exclusive characters were first
announced I just knew I would be getting it for GCN. Aside from Super Smash
Brothers Melee what Nintendo fan or gamer at that would not want to play
a fighting game as Link? I just knew he was going to be the best out of the
3. He could shoot arrows, throw a boomerang, and lay bombs…he had to be the
best. Was I wrong! He can be fun to play with, I mean after
all it is Link but you have to fight someone who knows what they are doing.
But instead of his projectiles being cool, they actually suck. Mainly because
you get noobs who stand all the way back and shoot you with arrows then run
up and do the same 3 hit combo. They are the “broken”, as we SC fiends
say. That means they don’t really fit in the game and they are not that necessary.
Sure there are some good combos with him but they aren’t fun if you’re playing
someone who is constantly abusing the use of them. Like I said there are people
who can play with him and make it fun, but they are rare, and since the GCN
pad is the WORST controller to play on, my enjoyment was limited on
the GCN with Link.

It is not hard notice that this game has some of the most
beautiful visuals I’ve seen in a fighting game since DOA3. My favorite stages
to play on are the Ostrheinsburg Chapel, Imperial Capital Ayutthaya,
and the Eurydice Shrine Gallery since to me, they are some of the most
detailed and note worthy stages. The character models are smooth with plenty
detail, the backgrounds are colorful, lush and detailed as well, and the sparks
from the weapon collisions are drool-worthy. All with smooth character movements,
except for some lighting issues on the GCN version and slow-down issues on the
PS2 version when the fighting gets tense. Sort of like in the Dynasty Warrior
series but none the less the game is still playable. All versions of SC 2 support
480p but aren’t we all lucky since Xbox is the only console that supports HDTV
720p, I think that’s a major plus, but there were some people who reported that
is but a black border around there screen which may mean that 720p only supports
a certain screen size (See Gronar’s description of HDTV support below). [ Soul
Calibur 2 Screenshots ]

SC 2 supports in game Dolby Digital 5.1, so you get to hear your opponents
screams in the best sound possible, the sound effects and the quotes the fighters
say when they attack are funny to listen to as well. Many of the sounds should
be familiar, as most of the weapon effect seem to be rehashed from the earlier
version, but quite suitable for the title.

This game is oozing with replay value; there is no chance in hell
you are going to be able to unlock all 200 weapons, all 8 extra characters,
and everyone’s 3rd and 4th costume, all the extra stages and all 6+ of the “extra”
game play modes in one sitting. It’s just not humanly possible, if it is then
it isn’t legit. This game will take a good player at least a month to get absolutely
everything. The way you know you fully completed the game is if all the squares
in WMM are blue, and you see all the characters weapons on the start screen.

“Although this is my favorite game right now, there are plenty of things
that could have been changed to make the experience worth while. Take the characters
for instance. When is the last time you get to play with the special character
from the moment you open the game? Not in SC 2; Spawn, Link,
Heihachi and Necrid are all selectable from the moment you
put the game in the drive. That was the one thing that disappointed me the most.
I thought I would have to go through hours of gameplay to play with the special
characters. I did end up doing that though but instead the characters that were
unlocked were Sueng Mina, Yoshimitsu, and Sophitia
along with the 3 US exclusive characters Assassin, Berserker,
and Lizard Man. I am not really disappointed anymore it just threw
me off at first.

Another thing I would’ve liked to see was the addition of Siegfried;
instead he is just the 3rd costume for Nightmare. Another thing I think
should’ve been included was Live compatibility. I would want nothing more
than to break Mitsurugi’s Damascus Sword (his ultimate weapon)
off in Links tail or to face anyone on XBS who thinks they can put
up a good challenge. It also would have been good for ranking, the more battles
you win the higher your rank goes, it would even be cool if everyone could see
it and be able to post a challenge to the highest ranked. But if I remember
the problem it was because of the guard impact. Since the games are delayed
by a couple seconds (actually split seconds) when playing each other online
the guard impact would not work, in turn causing you to get attacked although
you thought you guarded it. Hopefully Namco can find a solution and give it
to us for SC 3″. – GeN

“I have never owned a Dreamcast or played the arcade version of this game,
so it really wasn’t on my list of games I wanted. I was in EBgames last week
and decided to pick up the controller on the Xbox and give it a whirl. After
about 30 seconds of playing Spawn, I new this was a must buy title. The inclusion
of 720p HDTV support on the Xbox version is a HUGE plus for all gamers that
have an HDTV. The only thing I don’t like is that it lacks widescreen support,
but that is easily overlooked when you see all the luscious characters in full
HDTV glory. Not a jaggie to be seen anywhere, and I love the way the green smoke
emanates from Spawn’s eyeballs! Two thumbs up, this game should be in every
Xboxer’s collection”. – Gronar

Overall Score: 9.5/10 [Not an Average]
You are sure to enjoy this game.

• Official Game Site
• Namco
• Soul
  Calibur 2 Screenshots (Temporarily Unavailable, Sorry.)
• Soul Calibur 2 Cheats
  and Hints
• Buy
  Soul Calibur 2 from EB Games

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