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Soul Calibur II for PlayStation 2
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Soul Calibur II for PlayStation 2
14 reviews   4.64 of 5

Product Description

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Sound

Nothing special here in the music and sound effects department I'm sorry to say. Good attempt at the big orchestral sound, is undermined by mostly lackluster generic compositions. Sound effects are good, and basically unchanged from the previous installment except for a frequent echo.

It needs to be said....how cool of NAMCO to include an english dub. For someone who's a little sick of the "english voice acting is always horrible" crowd's knee jerk hatred of their own language, it's heartening to see a major release taking the time to consider the majority of player's sensibilities and offer choice. Naturally being anti-dub is practically a religion so many reviewers will complain about the english being included, even with the ability to change to the beloved foreign language.(where the voice acting is probably as flawed or worse...we just can't tell) The anti-dubbers always make the most noise, so special kudos to NAMCO for ignoring it.

Gameplay

Having played this sequel for several hours now I can safely report that anyone who has mastered the Dreamcast original, will feel immediately at home here. Soul Caliber's three button fighting system has remained intact, as have almost every single one of the returning character's special moves. Naturally the obligatory new characters have arrived....with Talim leading the pack as my current favorite of the rookie line-up. No surprises for the initiated are to bo found here. I should say that, with the original Soul Edge's weapon upgrades making a return apppearance in this sequel, I would have been fun to see the super slash attack back in the mix also. It's absence from the first Soul Caliber was perhaps my single gripe with that masterpiece's gameplay.(ok the ability to parry throws annoyed me too)
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Summary

The .23 Caliber fighting game of the year!


With Tekken 2 ruling the world of fighting games in ’95 and Namco raking in the glory, a follow up fresh from Tekken’s success to raise the ante and double the stakes was a must. Later that year, a new game from Namco named Soul Edge was released. Soul Edge took the schematics of Tekken with the 3D ring-out rule of Konami’s Virtua Fighter and practically added a new dimension to it with a variety of short and long weapons to fill most of the screen with intensive high speed action. The game did fairly well and kept Namco at the peak of the fighting game franchise. After the home version a year later under a new name (copyrighting problems) came out, keeping the franchise alive and on top would be in Namco’s mind until late ’97 when its sequel would be in the works. In ’98, Soul Calibur hit the arcades like no other fighting game at the time. This game had almost a dozen new characters, much improved graphics, and a more highly developed fighting engine that seemed unmatched at the time of it’s Dreamcast debut (though with Dreamcast failing over time, you could say it’s full potential and fame wasn’t at it’s brightest after a year). It was only a matter of time before Namco made a new Soul Edge/Calibur, now that the stakes were at it’s highest with the success rate of the early classic Tekken 3 dropping out of the no.1 place following Konami’s Virtua Fighter 4 (which topped the competition for the first time in many years)…

Soul Calibur 2 is about the birth of a mysteriously powerful sword called the Soul Calibur which is somehow connected to the all mighty legend of the ultimate soul reaping sword known as Soul Edge. This Soul Calibur has powers only matched by the legendary Soul Edge, and therefore, has a pack of the most supreme fighters in the world searching for it for their own various purposes. Like it’s blockbuster counter part, this game includes almost every one of your favorite characters from the original Soul Calibur like the insanely amusing Voldo or the ever so useful Ivy with a few new combos and special moves, currently stands as the best fighting game of the year, and packs a simple yet sophisticated fighting system capable of entertaining young and old alike. Unlike its original, Soul Calibur 2 for the PS2 has a set of new and beautifully dramatic battling arenas, a few refreshingly fun mini game and multiple fighting modes to play, and even adds a few cameo appearances by the infamous Tekken characters and Todd Mcfarlane creations to bring you one of Namco’s finest titles to date.

You can also see some of the same problems in this game as in Namco’s Tekken 4. Like how little they’ve really upgraded this sequel from Soul Calibur considering how this game has but 3 or so completely original main characters, and how the game hasn’t changed much in style since most every character wears their original outfits and is composed of only about 10% more original moves and combos. While these facts make for a more boring trilogy in the future if not updated, this game is nothing short of absolute fun and innovation! As for how this game compares to the caliber of Virtua Fighter 4 and Tekken 4 is undeterminable since it is pretty much a completely original fighting game idea apart from those two titles, but I wouldn’t exactly put it under either of those games as well, maybe even above Tekken 4. So overall, this is THE fighting game not to miss this year and nothing less of ass kicking, sword swashing brilliance! I just wouldn’t count on a new Soul game by next year or so, seeing on how much they are going need to remake the series for the next generation of new and original fighting games.


Replay=5
Story=2
Difficulty=2.5 (on normal)

Sound

The sound also helps the near-perfect presentational values already mentioned above. The music, like in every game from this series, creates some kind of over dramatic feeling through out the game through the use of completely orchestrated tracks (which is one of the original trademarks that separates it from the other fighter games that use high speed techno scores). The sound effects also do a great job of bringing you clashing metal on metal effects, wind-slicing weapon effects, and angry battle cries. Some of the collision effects were off and I suppose characters shouldn’t sound like they’re slicing through soft flesh when they slash at walking tin can like Nightmare, again though, like anyone really cares. The voice acting was done very nicely. The game is still full of those cheesy one-liners said by the characters before and after every battle, and those lame Adam West sounding descriptions of each enemy before each round are just some more corn-ball attempts to make their characters sound more dynamic, but again, nothing seriously wrong with the game at all.


Best Features:
-Amazing 3D battling
-outstanding presentation
-Excellent multiplayer and mini-games
-Fun for everyone
Worst Features:
-bit of a button smasher
-not really anything new





Gameplay

One reason why this game is good, it is the first time in a long time, a fighting game has gone beyond the arcade mode with a long and challenging mini game well worth it’s weight! The basic 1 on 1 arcade mode of this game has the makes of a timeless classic on its own; it’s just that this game is more like Soul Calibur: Remix/Gold/Evolution or Soul Calibur 1.5 than it is Soul Calibur 2. This game offers 23 characters. Most as good as gold, and full of potential for the hardcore fighting gamer or the once in a while gamer who mainly plays with it with friends or even the RPG/Action fan who is willing to explore the genre once in a while. The cast includes all of your favorites like the quick-as -lightning Maxi and the skillfully invincible Xianghua, the hulking one-hit-wonders like Nightmare and Astaroth, and the especially magically gifted Ivy and Voldo. This game also includes newbie’s Talim, Raphael, and Necrid along with several hidden characters and Tekken characters. Namco set it up so PS2 gets Heihachi, Gamecube gets Link, and Xbox gets Spawn for a 23rd character, a nice way to raise the interest of the fanatics of those characters and a nice little surprise to the various console owners which we should thank them for. The controls are a perfect mixture of easy-to-master attack button commands and skillful tactical button commands like the power up and the evade/block. X/L1 blocks, O/R1 kicks, triangle is the vertical attack, square is the horizontal attack, R2 powers you up, L2 is your special attack, and D-pad moves you around. You can also evade by blocking at the right time, throw by pressing two attacks together, and execute a variety of combos and special attacks by using the command list on your pause menu to look up their combinations.

Now for the most part, all the characters have their own special styles and are pretty much equally powerful if used correctly, even though characters like the axe-wielding “Assrot” and the bare knuckled Heihachi seem at the total disadvantage by being horribly hard to control, limited in combos, and short in attack length. Then we have characters like Ivy who can trip you, attack you in mid air without moving, and pull you back down to her feet. And characters like Cervantes who have a two move combo that slashes you in the air, teleports up to you and double slashes you, teleports back and back slashes you, and takes more than half your life with some time to even hit you on the ground, BOOYA! Soul Calibur 2 also includes several other arcade style modes like survival and time attack to test your skills in the armed arts. Now like most games, every character has a short background story and a resolution video to their problem if you beat the game as them. Too bad such a great cast like this has such weak story completions that make no sense and feel as if you’ve pulled out a conclusion to a story you’ve never read. On the other hand, they’ve actually put in a fun little RPG. styled mini game as a console bonus (similar to that of MK:DA.). You basically go through a series of battle arenas earning unlockable cheats and other mini games by completing multi-tasked battles. There is another hokey story to go with it all as well but you’ll still have a lot of fun earning cheats and building up your fighting skills. You can even play the arcade game with new weapons with higher stats by winning them in the “weapon master” mini game as they call it. And of course as I said before, this game has tons of replay value through a fun multiplayer mode and a bunch of fun mini games and fighting records to beat, and is playable by anyone, for everyone.


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Summary

I've played many fighting games and I have not been satisfied until now. The Tekken and VF4 series have beautiful graphics and are incredibly deep, but they would end up sitting on the shelf after some time. They just got boring after awhile. I think mainly due to the fact that they are so slow. Also, if you don't have the patience to remember 20 hit combos the most you usually get out of a move is a punch or a fancy kick. Not with this game. This game has speed and style. It's extremely easy to pick up and play without having to remember rediculous controller combinations. Unfortunately it is fairly easy to initially button mash your way to victory, but if you want to survive on more difficult levels you will have to master the finer points of the game. Weapons are what really make this game in my book. It's so much more fun fighting with weapons vs your hands and feet in this game. Mortal Kombat also has a nice variety of weapons as well, but that game is a little too much blood and gore for my tastes.
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Summary

Yes! This IS the fighting game you've been waiting for! Great graphics combined with spectacular gameplay, combine to make, in my oppinion, THE greatest fighting game ever. Everything looks great. Its challenging enogh, without being too challenging for beginners or people like me, who have a gaming skill deficit. It is also sure to satisfy fighting game veterans. All the animation is smooth, both during and before and after the actual fights. It actually feels like you are in control. When you see an amazing move, you get more of a "Wow, I did that!" feeling than a "How did he/she do that?" feeling. It is very, very fun. It has enough in the Weapon Master mode to keep you coming back for more, plus the arcade mode is one of my favorite in any fighting game, because it ends with a character story (like Tekken 4) and it is not frustrating. It is as good a game to pick up for 15-20 minutes as it is to play for hours. By the way, what's with Yoshimitsu? I'm not complaining or anything, he's a great guy (haha). I love playing as him. But why is he not our special PS2 guy? Did the other consoles get him, too? I just keep seeing him in all these different fighting games and I just think, "Man, that guy certainly gets around!" But I digress.
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Sound

The only fighter out there where you can leave the music on while you play!! Operatic, grandeous music might not be to everyones liking, but to me it adds a lot of drama and keeps the action going all night. The music also fits perfectly with the game.

Gameplay

I still consider this the only true 3D fighter out there. Every character moves seemlessly and uniquely around the arena and a characters individual speed, range and strength add extra and challenging dimensions to SC2 unlike Tekken 4 or Virtua Fighter 4, which come off as slow and linear in comparison.
Then, of course there's the weapons -- the heart of what makes this game great. To me, this makes gameplay more exhilerating multidemensional. Unlike Tekken 4 where all of the characters basic punches and kicks look the same, in SC2 they look brilliant and they all have differing speeds, ranges and damages based on the character you use. Button mashers will love using players like Maxi and Taki and players who take the time to learn a characters full repetoire will truly appreciate how free flowing and intricate fighting in SC2 can be.
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Sound

The music sounds similar to the soundtrack in SC1 which is excellent. The voices for the characters in US version speak english and their lines are really corny. NAMCO should have kept the Japanese voices. The developers really went overboard with the reverb on the sound effects which muddles the otherwise excellent sound effects like the clashing swords sounds and the grunts.

Gameplay

The gameplay is basically a *minor* upgrade of the original Soul Calibur. Their are probabaly hardcore SC fans out who may disagree but I suspect most casual players will not notice the gameplay differences between 1 and 2.The fighting engine is very accesible to a wide range of players from button mashers, newbies, and to experts.

The single player game when compared to Virtual Fighter 4 Evo is boring and the only real incentive to play is to get all the weapons and locked characters. If SC2 had VF4 evo's AI and innovative 'quest' mode, SC2 would be the greatest fighting, no, dare I say GAME ever made.

Multiplayer is where the game shines. Invite a couple of friends over, even people who have never played the game, and you'll playing for 5-10 hours straight.
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Sound

Nice orchestral music, but lacked the music of the earlier Soul Calibur.The songs are missing, but thats no problem..

Gameplay

The game is similar to Soul Calibur, which i played in my outdated Dreamcast.Soul Calibur II isn't one for rookies. Hours of practice await as you learn when to counter and block your opponent's attacks, master every fighter's moves (and believe me there are hundreds) and battle your way through Weapon Master mode. There's just so much to do.
The more fights you win, the more Experience and Gold you'll earn and that's when you can buy the likes of Link's Master Sword and Hero Shield. The further you progress the cooler the outfits are that become available and the more fighters become unlocked for you to master
However, the Jap text was irritating for me.I couldnt get to understand the story, as it was in Jap language

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Sound

Sound is good, but still not as good as Soul Blade's amazing sountrack. Some of the tunes in this game feel uninspired.

Gameplay

Gameplay is still as amazing as before. At first, you'll feel like the controls are a bit stiff, but you'll get used to it. The characters feel a bit heavier here than in the first game.

The addition of Heihachi may feel out of place, but as far as gameplay goes, he sure fits in pretty well. He's also one of the more powerful fighters.

One problem with the import version is that aside from the general options, all the important information is written in Japanese. This can be a problem in Weapon Master mode, where you'll need to know what to do in your missions.

The language thing can be a bit of a problem when playing in Weapon Master mode if you're not familiar with it, but if you've gone through the similar mode found in the first game, the Weapon Master challenges will be very familiar.

Then there's the biggest fault in the game that really annoyed me... Lizardman, Rock and Hwang are in the game, but they are not selectable in the normal modes. You can only play as them in one or two missions in Weapon Master.

Now, I've got no problem with the number of characters. There are at least 20. But it's just annoying that these three characters pop up from time to time in the Extra modes and challenge you. Always seeing them and their cool new moves makes you want to play as them.

This really sucks for me since Hwang has been one of my favorites since Soul Blade. I was really disappointed when I discovered that he was in the game, but was not playable. It's like they're just there to taunt and tease you, like those kids who had Optimus Prime action figures, while you only had Bumble Bee.

Aside from those few annoyances, this is probably the best fighting game for the PS2.

I really hope they fix those issues before they release the US version.
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