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CES '08: Soul Calibur IV Hands-On
Namco shows off playable Soul Calibur IV in Vegas and announces some Sci Fi guests for the fighter's roster.
By Ricardo Torres, GameSpot

LAS VEGAS--At CES, Namco showed off a playable demo of Soul Calibur IV and announced some surprising guest characters for the game's roster of combatants. We got our first look at the multiplatform fighter in motion earlier this year at Tokyo Game Show, but haven't had the chance to try it until today. However, news of the playable demo was nearly overshadowed by the announcement that Namco and LucasArts have teamed up, resulting in Darth Vader and Yoda appearing as console-exclusive playable characters.

The news that Darth Vader would be exclusive to the PlayStation 3 version of the game and Yoda would be exclusive to the Xbox 360 game was a surprise, but not unexpected given the franchise's history. Soul Calibur II set the precedent with three console-exclusive characters back in the day: Heihachi from Tekken in the PS2 game, Link from The Legend of Zelda appearing in the GameCube game, and Spawn of comic and cartoon fame appearing in the Xbox game. The Star Wars cameos are a bit left-field, but, given that Darth and the Y-man are packing light sabers, not too big a stretch. While neither character was playable, we were able to catch of glimpse of them in motion in a trailer that announced their inclusion in the game. We expect Internet debate to kick up a bit over the hidden meaning of what each console's exclusive character has to say, and we leave folks to it. The only thing we're certain of is that the pair will most certainly have to play better than the original PlayStation's Masters of Teras Kasi fighting debacle, given the Soul Calibur team's experience.

Sadly neither character was playable in the Xbox 360 demo on display at the event, so we'll have to reserve judgment on how they fit into the action. However, we were able to try out three characters--Mitsurugi, Taki, and Cassandra--in two different backgrounds in an early version of the game. Namco reps on hand were quick to point out the demo was roughly 50 percent of what the game had to offer and next to none of the new additions to the system were present which are set to be included in the game. So there were no finishing moves, stage interactivity, and new character attacks here. Instead, the demo offered a modest taste of basic combat and the visual upgrade the game is getting on the PS3 and 360. The combat in the demo felt familiar, as the game will use the same button layout as before and will feature an array of strikes, a kick, and a block, with combos and special attacks coming out of mixing up button and direction combinations. The three characters handled as they have in previous versions, with Mitsurugi kicking much butt with his sword and powerful moves, Taki tearing foes up with lightning fast attacks and Cassandra offering a more balanced attack style. The two environments were basically outdoor areas in two different settings. One had you fighting in a Grecian locale that featured columns and stone statues, which had us thinking it was a stage for Cassandra or her big sis Sophitia. The second arena was bordered by a lush rainforest on one side and a vast river heading off to nowhere. Both locales featured a decent amount of space to move around in, with some ring-out hazards but didn't really do much else outside of look pretty. The arena by the river showcased the best hippo modeling and animation this side of Sony's Africa--when that hippo yawned we were totally feeling it.

Hey, they got Star Wars in my Soul Cali...oh forget it.
While the fighting system was solid as ever and did give us much of an idea of what the final game is going to wind up like, the visuals stood out a bit more due to the obvious bump the game is getting over its predecessors, thanks to the latest batch of consoles. The three fighters were looking good, although the game's incomplete state was obvious in a few spots. Generally speaking, the fighter models look great and benefit from the extra polygons being thrown their way. Detail on all the fighters is up, although some of the scarring on Mitsurugi is obviously still being worked on, and their clothing features a number of different animated elements that move convincingly in battle. Of the two females, Taki is apparently the current lady on the roster who is testing the limits of gravity with her ginormous and independently bouncing breasts. At present, the speedy fighter is bounce-tastic and tremendously lucky to not knock herself out during her more athletic combos. By contrast, Cassandra's bounce factor is considerably lower thanks to her outfit's corset-like style. Thankfully, the physics madness has missed Mitsurugi for the moment, although we're a little worried about what this might mean for Voldo (but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it).

Based on what we've seen, Soul Calibur IV is looking like it's headed in the right direction. The combat system feels solid and should be a good foundation for the team to build on. The visuals are shaping up nicely, with the team clearly having some fun with all the added processing power and polygons afforded by the new hardware. We're anxious to see the various new additions to the game come into focus, especially the character customization, online play, and how the Star wars characters get balanced along with the rest of the crew. Fans of the series should be pleased by what's coming and newcomers to the series should consider checking in on this latest entry if they've never tried it as it doesn't appear this generation of consoles will be having an overabundance of 3D fighters. Look for more on Soul Calibur IV as it becomes available.

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