Frayhua Reviews: Soul Calibur II

Soul Calibur II

System- Playstation 2, Gamecube, and Xbox
Style:1 or 2 Player Fighting
Publisher:Namco
Developer:Namco
Release Date:August 27, 2003
ESRB:T

Story- Characters with their own motive searching for the Soul Edge and Soul Calibur

Presentation

I.) Graphics- The character models and the environments look fantastic. They animate really well.

II.) Sound- The music, voice acting English and Japanese, and sound effects sound excellent.

Gameplay

I.) New Characters- Soul Calibur II has 5 new characters:
Talim, who wields elbow blades.
Hong Yunsung, who is similar to Hwang.
Raphael Sorel, who wields a rapier.
Cassandra Alexandra, who is similar to her sister Sophitia Alexandra.
Necrid, who the most derivative character in the game and is created by Todd McFarlane.


II.) Returning Characters- Nearly everyone from SC is back except for Hwang, Rock, Edge Master, and Siegfried. Note: Siegfried is Nightmare’s 3rd costume, but you still have Nightmare’s moves.

III.) Guest Characters- There are 3 guest charcters in total, but 1 for each console.
PS2- Heihachi from the Tekken series.
Gamecube- Link from The Legend of Zelda series.
Xbox- Spawn from the Spawn comics by Todd McFarlane.

IV.) Bonus Characters- Soul Calibur II has 3 bonus characters that are similar to Hwang, Rock, and Lizard Man.
Berserker, who is similar to Rock from original SC.
Assassin, who is similar to Hwang from original SC.
Lizard Man, who is the same as he was in original SC.
Charade, who is similar to Edge Master and Inferno from the original SC.

V.) Single-Player- You have your standard modes of Time Attack, Arcade, Survival, Team Battle, and Practice. Also there is a extra mode of all the standard modes mentioned featuring the use of the weapons you collect in Weapon Master Mode. Weapon Master Mode is this game Mission Mode where players fight under special conditions so you can unlock new characters, weapons and costumes. The weapons have their own status effects such as regenerating health, guard damage, attack power, etc. The only problem is that some weapons such as the Damascus Sword for Mitsurugi and the Vajra for Maxi are overpowered because those weapons had no defense period and their attacks can defeat your opponent in 5 hits even though your opponent has their best weapon. Attacking them does very little damage. Overall, everyone is balanced except on selecting extra weapons. Still this is a well made solid fighter to pick up and play.

VI.) Multiplayer- is just one-on-one via standard or extra weapons.

Value- Soul Calibur II is a near perfect sequel to the Dreamcast classic.

Overview

+ Great Sequel To A Dreamcast Exclusive
+ Solid Presentation
+ Simple for Newcomers and familarize veterans
+ Lots of stuff to unlock
+ Strong Multiplayer
- Some weapons can be overpowered

Graphics- 5/5
Sound- 5/5
Gameplay- 4.5/5
Entertainment- 4.5/5
Final Score- 19/20= 9.5/10= Superb