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The Soul Calibur series has always been at the forefront of the beat 'em up market. Since the original version of the game erupted onto the scene in the late nineties (named Soul Blade), the franchise has grown in renown and popularity. Introducing a varied range of fighters and dynamic weapon-play, the Soul series of games have always prided themselves on delivering a rich gaming experience, taking the static nature of the beat 'em up genre and crafting it into a more rounded gaming experience.

Soul Calibur IV is the first of the Soul series to reach next gen platforms, appearing on both the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360. One of the most eagerly anticipated titles of 2008, Soul Calibur IV had the weight of expectation of its back, especially with Playstation 3 fans, as it is the first real beat 'em up to be released for the console. Soul Calibur III, whilst maintaining a rich and detailed gaming ethos, was viewed by most as a miss-step in the series, overcomplicating game play and deviating from a much-loved combat engine.

Thankfully, and as promised, Soul Cailbur IV rectifies this mistake and pushes its way triumphantly to the head of beat 'em ups one again. Whilst technically the game offers little in originality, this is really the point. Fans demanded a return to the classic style of the franchise and that's what they got. Of course, being a next-gen title does bring massive advantages with it. Game play is fluid and more natural than ever before, with character models moving and reacting with a realism that borders on astonishing at times.

Soul Calibur's crux has always been the motley band of fighters that appear to wrestle for control of the soul swords, and in next-gen presentation the characters are truly gorgeous. From intricate facial expressions and motion capture, to dizzying attention to detail (polished armour will change each bout to reflect the relating background); Soul Calibur IV is truly a delight to behold.

Gameplay returns with the usual plethora of additional content. Tower of Lost Souls will test your skill and endurance as you take on constant combatants without a health replenish, and for the first time ever Soul Calibur goes online, allowing players to combat each other across the world and earn respect on a global scale! A few new in-game functions have also been added, most notably the Soul Gauges and Critical Finishes, which act as instant winners you can punish an enemy with if they block too often.

Special mention must go to the Character Creation mode, which returns from Soul Calibur III with a massive revamp. Whilst the range of different styles has been scrapped, this makes way for a function so in depth it is addictive enough to lose hours of your day to. The smallest details are accounted for; you can even alter the pitch of your character's voice. With a gargantuan range of equipment available and even more to unlock, players can create truly unique characters. The most impressive thing is that, whilst on past games character creation was fun, the end result would never gel with the characters proper and appeared almost as superimposed sprites on the screen. With Soul Calibur IV, the characters you create are so detailed and well developed that they could have been made by the games designers themselves, and appear no less impressive than the real characters of the game.

There are few downsides to report, but a few niggling factors emerge in the game. The Story mode seems less rich than in previous instalments, and there is less of an overall narrative to the proceedings which used to give the story distance, you felt you really were travelling the world in search of your goal. Also, using the in-game graphics for the character endings is adequate; however with next-gen consoles surely the ability to give us full CGI endings isn't too much to ask?

Overall however, Soul Calibur IV is a raging success, doing exactly what it says on the tin, and then some. A beat 'em up has never looked so attractive, and the game offers enough challenge to keep players hooked way past the usual parameters for a game of this genre.

Rich

Rich writes for the pop culture/memorabilia site starstore.com and its blogs, covering the latest and greatest in film, TV, music and comics merchandise and collectibles.

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