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First of all, I must simply say: This is an EXCELLENT fighter. To sum up the plot quickly, it is about a large group of characters who all wish to get a powerful magic sword called the Soul Edge. This is the 3rd game in a (so far) 3 game series. The first two were called Soul Edge and Soul calibur. The playable characters throughout the game are Ivy, Cervantes, Nightmare, Voldo, Astaroth, Mitsurugi, Necrid, Taki, Talim, Heihachi (PS2), Link (Gamecube), Spawn (XBOX), Raphael, Kilik, Maxi, Yunsung, Cassandra, Xianghua, Yoshimitsu, Charade, Sophitia, and Seung Mina.
This game never really gets old, because you can always keep mastering characters, and things such as survival mode will also keep you occupied. It is also very fun to play with friends, with just one vs one, or in a team battle. I give it a challenge rating of 7.5/10, because it Weapons Master mode can be quite hard, and you have to be dedicated to truly get good with any character. Here are my individual scores:
Music: 8.5
The music in Soul Calibur 2 is fun to listen to, and sounds quite exciting. It seems to be classical with an edge most of the time. The music for each stage is also varied, but once you have played the game for a while you start to memorize all the music and it does get a bit tedious, so that is why I give it an 8.5
Sound Effects/Voices: 9
The sound effects sound quite clear and realistic most of the time, and there are many for each character so that it does not get repetitive very quickly. I always like listening to the character's beginning and end of battle taunts, and it is always nice to hear a nice crack or slash of your weapon when you finish your enemy off.
Graphics: 9.5
This game's graphics are beautiful. The backgrounds are very detailed, and if you go into the character profile mode you can zoom in on the costumes and look at how nice they look. The weapon animations are very good looking, as well as the weapons themselves. I give the overall graphics a 9.5 out of 10.
Control: 8.5
The controls in Soul Calibur 2 can take some getting used to. Learning combination attacks effectively can take quite a while, and you might feel overwhelmed when first playing. Even though the controls are a bit complicated, it is also good that they aren't to simple, or the game would get old very quickly. Other than that, the controls are nice and responsive and I see no other problems.
Gameplay: 9.5
The gameplay in this game is great. The missions in Weapons Master mode are all varied so that they give you a good challenge, and then of course you can just play original Arcade mode, which lets you simply play through against a group of other characters from the game. The load times for Weapons Master mode could be a bit faster, but that is the only hitch. Everything else rolls together to make a very playable and fun game.
Overall: 9.5
Overall, this is one of my favorite current games. It is a fun, innovative weapons based fighter. So if you are looking for a great game this christmas, I highly recommend Soul Calibur 2.
© 2003 Namco
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| Link attacking from above. |
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| Link fighting stance. |
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| Link aiming his arrow. |
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| Spawn attacking. |
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| Graphics: | 9.5 |
| Sound: | 9 |
| Control: | 8.5 |
| Camera: | - |
| Plot: | - |
| Gameplay: | 9.5 |
| Overall: | 9.5 |
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