SoulCalibur IV is at its heart a 2D/3D fighting game, with tons of characters to choose from, each with their own unique fighting styles and weapons.  This has not changed from the very first SoulCalibur game.  Not all of the 30-plus characters are available at the onset of the game, including our lightsaber-wielding Jedi Master Yoda from Star Wars fame (For the XBox 360, Darth Vader comes with the PlayStation 3 version of the game).  Unlocking the other characters happens by defeating them during the course of the single player game.

The single player game is based on a rather weak story, but let’s face it, the story is really not that important.  What’s important is the insanely creative, detailed combat moves for each of the characters, and the vast amounts of combinations of thumb-stick moves and button presses that unleashes these moves.  I’m sure that certain of these moves are only possible if you have a third hand helping out.  But for those of you wanting a story, you get a unique plot for each of the characters that play through the single-player game.

Watch the official trailer:

Visually, the game is stunningly beautiful.  The sheer attention to detail in creating each of the characters is phenominal.  Add to this the fact that you can play dress-up in the character creator mode where a large number of customisations can take place to create a unique character, and you get a game that is extremely visually appealing.  It’s just a pity that most of this detail gets lost during gameplay, as while playing you are so focussed on pressing the right buttons and dodging your opponents’ attacks that there is not time to take in the beauty, except perhaps for the stunning backgrounds.

For newcomers to the SoulCalibur franchise, the sheer number of moves available to each of the characters may be daunting, and may be tempted to do just some button bashing to get by.  I assure you, button bashing may work for the first, perhaps the second stage, but not again.  It is worth learning 4 or 5 moves for a few favourite characters at first, and then move on to the five million other moves available.  (Yes, I’m a newcomer to the series…)

Something new to the series is the online play.  Smooth, lagless online play makes this mode probably the place where most hardcore players will find themselves spending the most.  Both ranked and unranked games area available, with some special extras in Special Mode when playing online.  The one big pity about the game is that there is no tag-team mode, mysteriously ommitted from both online and offline modes.

If online is not an option, or if XBox Live Gold account is not available, players will likely find themselves playing the Tower of Lost Souls mode.  This mode lets players go up the tower, one floor at a time, fighting groups of enemies, without having your health replenished between fights.  This may seem an impossible task, and, guess what, it is.  For the most part.

Yoda gameplay video:

SoulCalibur IV, even though it can be seen as merely another weapon-based fighting game, there are many different modes, online and offline, a story for each character, ad the Tower of Lost Souls mode especially, that keeps the game entertaining, and making players want more by learning new moves to advance even further.  The added bonus of being able to unlock and play as Yoda just adds to the fun.

SoulCalibur IV gets a slice-and-dice 8.5 out of 10.

This game was sponsored by www.leno.co.za

This review also published on IOLTechnology.co.za

The result of this mix and match of two great franchises is an exciting team-based multi-player game that makes you want to play more, and more often.

The story behind ET:QW is relatively simple, mostly inconsequential, and ultimately superfluous. The alien Strogg are invading earth and attempting to destroy humanity, and the human Global Defence Force (GDF) are trying to prevent humanity from being destroyed.

Watch the game trailer

Players play as one of five unique classes outfitted with either the GDF’s army arsenal, or the futuristic Strogg weapons. The adrenaline flows as each class, in their own unique way, help the teams meet the objectives for each map in question. Objectives vary from preventing the opposing team from capturing a strategic point in the map (or, in case of the other team, actually capturing that strategic point), to blowing up key installations, and escorting vehicles from one point of the map to another point, and even using the Covert Ops class to hack into a shield barrier to drop it, to be able to escort the vehicle further on the map.

Each class has specialist weapons and items, Medics can heal, Field Ops can provide ammo, Engineers can build buildings and turrets, and all the classes can hop into any of the numerous vehicles that spawn at the team spawn points. Vehicles range from Quad bikes to Jetpacks to Tanks and even Troop Transports.

The key to playing this game, is clever team-based play. Each team can have up to 8 player, and each team must work together, with the right mix of players in different classes, to be able to outsmart and outgun the opposing team, and meet the objectives set for the map. The Xbox 360′s headset allows players to speak to your team mates, to stay in contact and discuss tactics and strategy.

Watch gameplay footage

The graphics on ET:QW are fantastic, typical next-gen console graphics: Great attention to detail, and varied sceneries making for great variety while playing. In a game like ET:QW, attention to detail often gets lost on the naked eye, as you are most often too busy ducking and diving and driving and shooting to notice the individual leaves on each tree, or the well-rendered smoke coming from the vehicle you just abandoned.

The sound in the game is above average. There are many, many unique sounds across the levels, each gun, vehicle and turret sounds different to the next, and with practice and many hours of gameplay, it would be possible to identify the weapon just by hearing its sound. The exciting music in the game stops when the action starts, allowing you to play your own soundtrack using the Xbox’s dashboard.

ET:QW is a shining example of how small-scale team-based play can provide short bursts of fun, and yet allow serious gamers to have intense battles for hours on end.

A couple of things prevent the game from being great though. One of these things is the really rubbish matching system for online games, which doesn’t allow you to choose from a list of servers to join, but instead tries to join an ongoing game with other players of similar skill to you, making it incredibly difficult to play online with your friends. Another thing is the requirement to play online, and hence the requirement for a Gold Xbox Live account, to unlock a majority of the achievements in the game, not to mention the rather unrealistic requirements for unlocking the achievements. Rest assured, it will takes weeks, if not months, to unlock *all* of those achievement points.

These relatively small flaws aside, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is a fairly good game, with great potential and lots of replay value, features two of my favourite franchises being mashed up together into this great example of what team-based gaming can be.

ET:QW gets a well-deserved 8 out of 10.

This game was sponsored by www.leno.co.za