It may surprise some of you readers, but I belong to a very small, exclusive society. No, not the Communist Party, silly, the “Soul Blade is better than Soul Calibur Club”! While Blade’s framerate is a generation behind, and the gameplay isn’t quite as refined, Soul Blade benefited from a plethora of features that were inexplicably dropped from its sequel. Among them; a much deeper quest mode that was individualized for each character, unlockable weapons with different attributes, multiple endings, a wider music selection, as well as a opening FMV sequence so spectacular you’ll wonder why the industry as a whole didn’t cease to the use the technology afterwards, for fear of never matching it’s greatness. Most importantly, Soul Blade actually FELT like a swordfighting game. Defending and finding an opening played a much bigger role in Namco’s original tale of soul and swords. Simultaneous strikes from both combatants created an intense weapon clash, and absorbing too many blows while defending would destroy your weapon, leaving you at a major disadvantage. Elements that you would see in your average, everyday swordfight (you know, at your local neighborhood swordfighting arena), made Soul Blade the ultimate weapons-based fighter. Soul Calibur 2 addresses some of the deficiencies in Soul Calibur (a damn fine game in it’s own right, don’t get me wrong…), but can it unseat the originator in 3-D swordplay, or will the Blade reign supreme?

Story/Gameplay:

At the close of the first Soul Calibur, the SC crew decided to take the most reasonable route to ridding the world of the evil Soul Blade by destroying the sword and scattering its remains throughout the Earth. Of course, any strategy that wouldn’t work on Freddy Kreuger has no chance on the world’s most demonic weapon, and now the shards of the Soul Blade are creating havoc. Most of the group from Soul Calibur returns to rid the world of the evil sword, or use it for their own sinister purposes. Even though the loss of Rock and Hwang, my two favorite characters from SB and SC, hurts, the roster additions in Soul Calibur 2 more than make up for it. Over half a dozen new faces, including one character designed by Todd “Comic Book Guy” McFarlane and one character exclusive to all three platforms, grace whatever system floats your boat… there’s even two hidden masked characters that have strikingly similar movesets to my favorite expatriates! The gameplay remains pretty much untouched from Soul Calibur… it’s still a bit button-mashy for my tastes. I may be one of the few folks who prefers the slower pace and more defensive-based combat of Soul Blade, but it’s pretty hard to argue that the series has become more Street Fighter than Bushido Blade.

The biggest gripe that fans had with SC has been remedied, as unlockable weapons make their glorious return. Unfortunately, the Weapon Master Mode just isn’t as fun as it was in Soul Blade or Calibur. Whereas Soul Blade individualized the mode depending on who you chose, and Soul Calibur was just the right length with varied mission objectives, Soul Calibur 2’s Weapon Master is far too long, devoid of an interesting story, and chock-filled with tedious objectives. Namco- a free suggestion from a fan: no more duneons, please. Ever. Seriously. The arcade mode endings remain the same boring text pages that sapped replay value from the original Soul Calibur. I don’t think that Namco realized how innovative and fun Soul Blade’s interactive endings were, because they’ve saddled the series with these plain vanilla endings for two games running.

Graphics/Sound:

Regardless of what system you’re playing it on, Soul Calibur 2 is miles ahead of it’s predecessor in terms of graphics. Character design, special effects, and background elements are all top notch, and only level design has taken a hit. Where the heck is my floating raft stage? Those owned. The soundtrack is once again, top-notch, and in a nice touch, Namco allows the players to choose between Japanese or English voice acting. Still, nothing can match the Super Khan Session soundtrack from Soul Blade. I mean, it’s called the Super Khan Session for God’s sake! It has to rock with that name.

Overall:

Soul Calibur 2 has plenty to unlock, so you’ll be at it for quite some time. That’s a good thing, because the game is, for all I’ve ragged on it, an excellent fighter, and, it’s pretty much your only reasonable choice for a while. Namco’s pretty much got the weapons-based fighter market all to themselves, unless Sega decides to make another Last Bronx, which I don’t necessarily recommend. The future of fighters isn’t so bright, and while Soul Calibur is more than enough to tide you over, it still can’t hold a candle to old Souls.