Soul Calibur 3, its like 1 and 2 but better :)

I have been a fan of the Soul Calibur series of games sense Soul Calibur 1 came out on the Dreamcast many years ago. Unfortunately I missed SoulBlade in its days so I recently picked that up and played it and had fun.

Anyway, Soul Calibur 1 is one of the few reasons I still keep my Dreamcast. When Soul Calibur 2 was announced I was very excited and I bought it, but Soul Calibur 1 was better, Soul Calibur 2 just seemed like a game that took what 1 had and added graphics polish to it, and just felt like a game to play to kill time.

Soul Calibur 3, however, is actually better than the past 3 "Soul" games combined.

Graphics:
For being a Playstation 2 game (remember, unlike Soul Calibur 2, which was released on the Xbox, Gamecube, AND Playstation 2, Soul Calibur 3 is only available on the Playstation 2), the game pulls of some beautiful graphics, you pay a small price for some small loading times in between battles unfortunately, but the graphics look great.

They feel like Soul Calibur 3's graphics, but there is something about them that make them more appealing, at least in my view...

Story:
The same story as the others, people are fighting over two words, Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, and each character has there own reasons for getting to them. Some characters want to take over the world, some characters want to destroy Soul Edge, and some characters just want to see if they really exist. Each character has there own epic story and the game has a really deep plot for a fighting game.

Gameplay:
It plays like a 3d fighter. Smooth gameplay and plenty of moves to keep you busy. I mean, I've been through the game and I only used maybe... one fourth of the moves. Some of the more complex moves are absolutely stunning, but good luck getting the button combinations right in practice mode, let alone a real fight.

The game creators really outdid themselves by adding a TON of new modes, some modes feel like they were added unnecesearily, such as "World Tournament", but they are nice, and add a surprising amount of replayability and diversity to a fighter. I will breifly desribe most ofthe games modes below:

In Tales of Souls you play through each characters unique story. It feels a lot like Soul Calibur 1 and Soul Calibur 2's Arcade mode, but the story is nice and you get to make decisions, such as to chase after sombody or not and which rumor you will investigate first.

In "Chronicles of the Sword" mode, you play a real-time strategy game in a series of missions, called "Chronicles". The story in this mode is not very deep but you get to create your own character using the parts you have unlocked in other modes. I really enjoyed the character creation system, I made myself a pirate and got to customize his clothes, as well as high fighting style, a really nice addition. The "Chronicles of the Sword" mode also keeps win/loss record of the fights your character does, and even an experience system that causes your character to level up. The only problem I have with this mode is that the Real Time Strategy part really has no depth and is simple, and your character move to slow. If a stronghold you want to capture is on the other side of the screen... be prepared for quite a trek...

In Mission mode, you fight under a set of rules. If you have played Soul Calibur 1 you will know exactly what is expected of you here. You might only be able to damage your opponent using throws, you might be poisoned, you might need to hit people against walls, you might not be able to block... It adds some interesting things.

In Survival Mode, you keep fighting opponents one after another until you lose. Fight, win, next. Fight, win, next. Really a mode I dont think you will be playing forever...

In World Tournament mode, you fight against people in a tournament... Its really no different from survival mode really, except you have a cool little bracket...

There is a 2-player mode, but that should be mandatory. But nonetheless, at least the developers included it.

There are other gameplay modes, but they are basically "kill the other person".

Sounds:
The sound is remarkable as well. Every weapon slash, every noise when to weapons colide, and every hit feels different and really makes you feel like you are a part of the game. Not to mention that the beautiful music is played everywhere, in the menus, in the battles, and on the map scren in "Chronicles of the Swords" mode. I really need to find a soundtrack to this, the music adds such an epic feeeling to the game.

Overall:
Overall, if you are a Soul Calibur fan, or a fighting game fan, or heck, even if you are one of the millions of people who own a Playstation 2, Soul Calibur 3 deserves a buy, and at the very least a rent.