Real Talk By: Amir

This is Amir the magical Trucker Ninja here talking to you about this wicked title Soul Calibur V. Namco did work on this one. The graphics are epic in detail, the stages are crispy clean and interactive too.  Similar to the former SC’s in that respect. The character models are great and animations flow well. The fighting has been sped up, which was a major complaint in the former iterations. They even added a Mortal Kombat style story line following a family that unless you played the former, you will be confused by the narrative. This is where Namco really dropped the ball.

The story line was written by someone who assumes too much. Played every SC (Blame Ivy), so I have the story imbued into my mind. Just looking out for the brothers and sisters whom have never played. People see a crisp fighting game that has dazzling combos twisting the mind, might buy the game thinking they can jump right into it. This is not the case SC newbies. Honestly, they put so much work into the fighting and all the random modes,  a crappy story mode can be pushed aside. While it doesn’t matter fully to me, the average person spending their 60 should be aware of what the game offers. The player needs to know that the single player experience, should not be the main factor when deciding to buy.

The multiplayer is epic. No staring at a wall, waiting for your match. Spectator mode works well. Sit back, talk trash and watch that one friend totally trounce your peers to the nearest shower, because he is just that salty. The matchmaking is simple to set up, and you can keep an eye on the connection to see who’s the weakest link. Those that strictly play in the network modes really wont find a lot wrong with this version.

The Online is not the only thing that’s right. They brought back the character creation and tweaked it out so you have more control. The more you play the other modes, the more outfits you can unlock for your Frankenstein creation. Pretty cool. They brought out some different series characters that will dazzle, and impress especially if you’re a Tekken fan. Your imagination will take you far in SC5. More DLC is on the way to help optimize your custom characters.

Overall this title is stacked well online. Tons of modes to keep the user busy for hours, especially if you want those trophys or achievements. Lots of legit moves to learn. Its a Yawn of a story line and the arcade mode is a joke. Literally a 6 stage arcade mode with no proper boss at the end, but the community picks up the slack online where it really counts. It’s too bad SC5 is missing local modes from the fourth version as well. This is still a solid entry in the series but the next title really needs to bring it.

Soul Calibur V Gets

Out of Five

 

What’s Legit?

+Graphics

+Smoother fighting than the earlier

+Strong Spectator mode

+Really die-hard achievements separate the renters from the owners

What’s perpetrating?

-Have to be a diehard fan to figure out the story.

-Offline modes are lacking.