Soul Calibur 2 is a superb game in both casual and high level
play. Every character can be used effectively and besides some cheap
guaranteed combos that top players can do, the game is considerably balanced and most importantly, fun! One of my favorite aspects
of the game is
the speed... SC2 is indeed a lot faster than SC3 & SC4
(in more ways than one), which is why it's my favorite installment in the
series.
When SC2 first arrived,
I was hoping to see a few more "new" fighting styles/characters. However, Namco
did re-define all of the returning characters' styles, nearly making them
seem completely new in their own right! In my opinion, the stages could've been designed
a tad better and could've featured some more "environmental
interaction," but at the end of the day, the wall game adds an
exceptionally fun element to the gameplay.
Some nitpicks
I have about SC2.... First, it always
bothered me that the characters always have the same set of quotes during their intros / win poses
in the VS mode, but if you play through the 1-player Arcade mode,
each character has a different win quote AND introduction after
nearly EVERY battle.... Why didn't that awesomeness cross-over into the VS
mode!?
That small detail would've made the VS mode a lot less repetitive, but
that certainly didn't stop me from playing the hell out of this game.
Seriously, my friends and I put countless
hours (more like years) into this game... even well after Soul Calibur 3 was released
(which didn't live up to SC2 in my opinion). At the end of
the day, Soul Calibur 2 is a must have
for any fighting gamer, and in my opinion, is one of the best fighting games of
all time. And if you're reading this Namco... please give us Soul Calibur 2
HD Online Edition someday!!! I know some people who would buy several copies
of that. ~TFG
Webmaster
STORY: Soul Calibur 2
is set four years after the end of Soul Calibur, which based on calculations
puts the game's story in the year 1591. The wave of slaughters that terrorized
Europe reached a sudden end. The knight in azure armor, Nightmare, and his
followers were successful in collecting enough souls and were about to start the
restoring ceremony on the ruins of the once-proud Ostreinsburg Castle. But just
as the ceremony was to start, three young warriors assaulted the castle. After
an intense battle, Nightmare fell, but then the evil soul inside Soul Edge sent
the young warriors into a vortex of hellfire and stood to confront them. As a
result of Soul Edge's evil aura, Krita-Yuga revealed its true form: that of the
Holy Sword, Soul Calibur.
The intense battle ended with the victory of
the holy sword, but at the collapse of the vortex of Inferno, both swords, along
with the azure Nightmare, were sucked in a void and expelled in another place.
Siegfried, recognizing his sins, set out on a journey of atonement. Still, the
blade held a strong bond, and every night it took control of the body and took
souls of those nearby. The efforts made by the young knight were fruitless, and
four years later the Azure Knight Nightmare returned.
Around those times various warriors came into
contact with the blade's remaining fragments, revealing Soul Edge's ultimate
survival after its defeat. Driven either to possess or destroy it, they join a
new journey, while Nightmare begins his rampage, seeking souls to restore Soul
Edge once again.
Time to learn how to guard
impact... it pays off.
REVIEW:
Soul
Calibur 2 built upon the solid foundation of the epic Soul
Calibur, and in many ways managed to live upto the original smash
hit. New gameplay engine improvements include: new stages featuring walls (and
wall specific moves), more effective "sidestep" and "avoid"
systems (which allow fighters to more effectively evade vertical & linear
attacks),
the new Clash System (which occurs when two similar attacks impact at the same
time, resulting in a white flash and no damage to either opponent), and finally,
an update to the Soul Charge system with many attacks receiving new properties
when Soul Charge is activated.
Several new fighters have joined the ranks, including: Talim, Raphael, Yunsung
& Cassandra. Each of the newcomers proudly shows off
their own unique weapon style in unprecedented detail, and make the
overall SC experience even
more diverse and well-rounded. The new battlegrounds of SC2 are full of
detail
and are much more "open" (and realistic) this time around, unlike the classic
water-surrounded rings of past installments. The home versions of SC2 feature the new Weapon Master Mode (based on the original one from the PS1
version of Soul Blade) which is an entertaining play-through for single players.
Yunsung may look like
Hwang... but actually has a completely new moveset.
Like its predecessors, SC2 stands out visually due to the expertly done motion
capture animation. The authentic and innovative weapon styles
are dead-on and really make the characters stand out....
The samurai, Mitsurugi, can look like
a true Japanese swordsman in the hands of a skilled player, while the giant axe-wielding
Astaroth, moves slowly but unleashes devastatingly gruesome attacks that
always make you cringe.
The amazing visuals are complimented by superb voice acting and crisp sound
effects. SC2 is one of the few games where I can say I enjoy both the
Japanese and the English voices. Some of the one-liners eventually get kind of old,
but it's hard to complain when the characters of SC2 have eons more dialogue
than characters from other games.
SC2's animation was no doubt at the top of its class at the time of its debut
(and still is pretty damn good to this day). On a side note, if you
ever get the chance to watch SC2 in slow motion, you can actually appreciate the animation
in even greater detail. Seriously, if you haven't watched a good
tournament-style match in slow motion, you're missing out on some ouch
factor!!!
Namco did an amazing job with some of the "finer details" of the
animation, especially the collision detection. Those extra
animations Namco spent time on truly make attacks and throws look convincingly painful (in a beautiful
way nonetheless)!
Following the footsteps of some solid prequels, Soul Calibur
2 presents some of the most dynamic and solid 3D gameplay of all
time. Returning from the first Soul Calibur, the 8-Way-Run allows players to quickly move in
any direction, and the system is now
faster and more fluid than before. Due to the excellent movement speed,
high
level matches can become incredibly intense and fast-paced in the blink of an
eye. The addition of walls adds an interesting new dynamic to the gameplay; the
wall game is actually very solid and fun once you learn the ropes. Finally, Guard Impacting (parrying) is
still one of the game's most dynamic and skill-demanding defensive mechanics,
and the system feels noticeably smoother and is more rewarding in this installment.
With the exception
of only a few moves, almost every offensive technique can be parried if
the defending player can see the move coming and taps "Guard + Forward"
or "Guard + Back" at the correct time. Whether you want to shift your
opponent's weight backward
or forward is an awesome strategic element, unique to the Soul
series, and really completes SC2's dynamic gameplay mechanics. The parrying feature not only balances the game, but it drastically separates the
skilled players from the novices (and the
button mashers). That said, those silly button mashing noobs have absolutely no chance at winning against a
skilled player... and that's what makes a great fighting game in my book.
Seriously, players who shamelessly spam in SC2 are simply insulting the
game (and are also easy to beat)... GI (Guard Impact) that shit.
Ivy is back... with one of
the most amazing fighting styles ever seen.
The characters
of Soul Calibur 2 aren't only cool character designs visually, they're actually
some of the most elaborate fighters in terms of their play styles. Unlike some fighting game
characters out there, SC2's characters have incredibly complex movesets and
demand countless hours of practice (and sharp reflexes) to truly master. It's not all about
blocking and attacking in Soul Calibur 2; it's really about tricking your
opponent (AKA mix-up). You can cancel most standard
attacks
by tapping "block" immediately after the attack, and you can even mix up the timing of
the cancel. Certain special moves also have special cancels, offering some
pretty tricky options.
As in the original Soul Calibur, most characters have the ability
to change their "stance," which greatly alters their moveset for the moment.
This allows for a variety of transitions and gives characters the potential
to be used exactly how the player wants. For example, no two Raphael players
are alike... and no two Ivy players are alike. SC2 really gives you the creativity
to create your own style of fighting, using your chosen character (or
characters) as your
base.
If you truly learn how to use a SC2 character properly, you will feel completely in control
and confident with them at all times, and possibly even be able to
play them in a variety
of different styles. For example: Ryu from Street Fighter will always do the same
Hadokens, Shoryukens, and Hurricane kicks on top of his priority moves... but in
comparison, a Soul Calibur 2 character has about 25 times the abilities
and mix-ups of a Street Fighter character. Yeah, SC2's characters are that dynamic...
but you have to practice a lot to get to that point. It may take some time, but
once you get to that point of controlling your character and mixing up your own
play styles with each character, SC2 almost becomes an entirely new game
than when you first started playing.
The Gamecube version's exclusive
character... Nintendo's own Link!!!
Along with
sleek menus, a handful of modes, and the entertaining "Weapon
Master" mode, the home version of SC2 is an awesome package.
Exclusive to the home version are 3 characters not
seen in the arcade version: Necrid, Assassin & Berserker). Necrid has an
interesting but strange fighting style, using moves from many different
characters; Assassin's moveset is based on Hwang's; and Berserker's is based on
Rock's. Furthermore, each home console also received its own exclusive
character... Heihachi (PS2 version), Spawn (Xbox version) and Link (Gamecube
version). It was a pretty cool move by Namco, and something the fighting genre
has never seen before. For the record, my favorite guest character in SC2 would have to be Heihachi,
playing "Tekken style" in Soul Calibur
is surprisingly fun!!!
Museum Mode also returns and includes all of the awesome content that you'd expect: High
quality artwork/endings, Exhibition Theater (where you can view the awesome
character katas) and Character Profiles which allows you to read each
character's full bio and also listen to every single line of spoken dialogue
in the game (upwards of 100 different phrases per character, and in both
languages!)
...Once again, Namco really went all out and delivered an awesome package. SC2 also has some great options, including the ability to toggle between English
and Japanese voices (which wasn't a staple option for fighting games at the time)!
PS2/GC/XB)
PS2/GC/XB)
That small detail would've made the VS mode a lot less repetitive, but
that certainly didn't stop me from playing the hell out of this game.
The amazing visuals are complimented by superb voice acting and crisp sound
effects. SC2 is one of the few games where I can say I enjoy both the
Japanese and the English voices. Some of the one-liners eventually get kind of old,
but it's hard to complain when the characters of SC2 have eons more dialogue
than characters from other games.
Namco did an amazing job with some of the "finer details" of the
animation, especially the collision detection. Those extra
animations Namco spent time on truly make attacks and throws look convincingly painful (in a beautiful
way nonetheless)!
Seriously, players who shamelessly spam in SC2 are simply insulting the
game (and are also easy to beat)... GI (Guard Impact) that shit.
...Once again, Namco really went all out and delivered an awesome package. SC2 also has some great options, including the ability to toggle between English
and Japanese voices (which wasn't a staple option for fighting games at the time)!
