The big news out of the Bandai-Namco Editors' Day unquestionably was a solid release date for Soul Calibur IV, the company's much-anticipated next-gen fighter. July 29 marks the day the series' fourth installment hits PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the former which we went hands-on with during the company's spring preview event. Soul Calibur IV kicks the series in to gear with gorgeous new graphics, heightened interactivity, and the franchises’ legendary fighting mechanics.
As far as the core fighting mechanics are concerned, little has changed in the jump to PlayStation 3. the game shares much in common with previous installments, enabling you to pull off flashy attacks with relatively simple button combinations. Triangle lets you execute a vertical attack with your character's weapon, whereas a tap of the square button triggers a horizontal attack. Kicking comes as a result of pressing the circle button. When you're not on the offensive, you can guard with X.
The controls are simple—one of the hallmarks of the series. Soul Calibur IV, as we learned in a few rounds of play, possesses a remarkably shallow learning curve that enables anyone to easily pick it up and play. Of course, there's depth to be found in complex combos and special attacks, but on the whole it's an accessible fighting game—allowing the option to use either the left analog stick or directional pad for movement stands as a great example of this. Advanced fighters definitely should opt for the directional pad, which grants greater precision of movement; however, newcomers may find the familiarity of analog control easier to get into. Either way, it's possible for nearly anyone to enjoy the game thanks to straightforward controls.
Only a handful of characters were playable: Seong Mi-Na, Hilde, Cassandra, and Taki. Our first bout slated Seong Mi-Na against Hilde on an island inhabited by now-extinct dodo birds. Stoic Hilde frequently blocked attacks, but only to limited effect. At the edges of the screen are gauges corresponding to each fighter's armor. Guarding too much causes armor to wear down and eventually breaking under the strain of too many attacks. Keeping a close eye on this gauge is vital to retaining good defense. It's also a clever means of preventing cowardly players from sitting through a fight by blocking, as it forces you out of playing defensively.
Following a pathetic loss due to a naive insistence on blocking, Hilde entered a rematch against Seong Mi-Na on a different stage. High atop a European castle capped with a creepy merry-go-round, Hilde attempted to save face. Stages like the merry-go-round arena afford the chance for ring-out wins. Not all stages offer the opportunity to knock your opponent out of the ring, but most enable you to garner a cheap win. Here, the plastic sheen on the horses encircling the stage showcases the incredible graphical detailing, not to mention the stunning vista that stretches off into the distance. It should go without saying that the characters are unbelievably detailed. Whether it's the glimmer of sunlight on Hilde's silver armor or flutter of Seong Mi-Na's hair ribbons, the attention to details is astounding.
Complementing the visuals is an equally impressive level of interactivity. In a match between Cassandra and Taki taking place in a small hall filled with various weapons and pieces of armor, the extent of the game's interactivity becomes clear. Battle axes lining the stage's perimeter are realistically thrown about whenever a character is forcefully pushed into the weapons stack. A gong situated at the far end of the arena sounds when you knock an opponent its way, the cacophonous sound reverberating as you ready another blow.
Between the high-definition graphics and added interactivity, this latest edition represents an enormous leap for the series. Online play, however, might take it to the next level. While Bandai-Namco remains tight-lipped on exactly what suite of online features the game will entertain, head-to-head competitive matches are certainly expected. Both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions will support some form of real-time fighting online, although we do know that there won't be cross-platform matchmaking. Given the distinctions between both consoles' online services, we're eager to see whether the game boasts identical features on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network or if any disparities pop up.
