The Game:
When I was younger, Street Fighter II, in all its variations, was the undisputed king of fighting games. Mortal Kombat had the gore factor going for it, but in terms of sheer fighting mayhem, Street Fighter II was it. As that series waned, no individual title stood up to take the role of king of fighters. Heck, there was even a series called King of Fighters, and it didn't amount to much. There's also Tekken, Marvel vs. Capcom (a great fighting game that died on the vine after its second installment), a slew of one-off fighting titles, and a little game known as Soul Edge that garnered quite a bit of notice when it was released on the Sony Playstation in 1995. In 1999, the sequel, Soul Calibur, popped up on the Sega Dreamcast. For the first time since Street Fighter II, a legitimate heir to the fighting game throne had appeared. The game received great acclaim, and is still referred as one of the best fighters of all time.

In 2003, the world saw the release of Soul Calibur II, which featured an exclusive character for each of the three gaming systems available at the time. Of the three, Link from The Legend of Zelda fit into the game the best, offering the best balance with the Soul Calibur-branded characters. Despite the game selling well, the next installment, Soul Calibur III, was only available on the PS2. Most noted for its extensive character creation system, III made less of a splash than II, but was still well received critically. The series has enough of a pedigree that when the fourth (fifth if you count Soul Edge) was announced, anticipation ran high, especially when Namco announced a few surprise characters.

To start things off, Soul Calibur IV continues in the grand tradition of the series. The fighting is as seamless and balanced as ever. What I've always loved about Soul Calibur was how well the characters are balanced. In the right hands, any character has a fair chance against any other. There's an element of strategy to the game, learning each characters' strengths and weaknesses. And the PS3's D-pad is perfect for the game, registering each input quickly and efficiently. The core gameplay hasn't changed since the first Soul Calibur, but there are little additions that affect the details of each entry.

I haven't played Soul Calibur III, so I don't know if it had armor breaks, but they're certainly included here. Each character now has an armor set, high, middle, and low. Enough damage dealt to any section will visibly break the armor, leaving the player with less defense in that area. Further, there's now a Soul Gauge. If you're too offensive or defensive, your health bar will begin to flash red. If you don't switch your tactic, your Soul Gauge will turn completely red. This opens up the opportunity for your opponent to do a one-move kill.

There are multiple game modes, both single player and multi. There's the standard Arcade Mode, where you simply fight against randomized opponents until you get to the boss. There's the Story Mode, one of the weak points of the game. The stories are all told in text scrolls, and then the fights are pretty much all on the same levels. In this day and age, where the cutscene is king, this paltry excuse for a story is simply not acceptable. Better is the Tower of Lost Souls, this game's version of the ubiquitous Quest Mode. Here you ascend (and later descend) a tower, where each level contains a fighter or group of fighters with special abilities. The trick is learning how to defeat them and with whom.

The multiplayer comes in two forms: Standard in-system multiplayer, and, for the first time in the series, online play makes an appearance. The quality of the experience depends upon the connections of both parties. Fighting games are especially susceptible to lag, as a single move can make the difference between defeat and victory. When it works, you can play ranked battles against random players, or go into an unranked lobby and take turns fighting. Those not fighting get to watch in a spectator mode. Personally, I did not have the best time online, but I like that they at least included it.

The final component is in the form of the character editor. You can edit any of the existing characters or create a brand new one, with a wide variety of customization options. Not surprisingly, people have already created characters that look eerily like Solid Snake, Raiden, Ryu Hayabusa, and more. The great thing about the editor manages to keep things balanced. Every point you spend powering your character up in one area is one less point he or she can use in another. It's the kind of system where you can be as in-depth or quick as you like. Very handy to have.

And then, there's those surprise characters. By now, you surely must know that Namco has shoehorned Darth Vader, Yoda, and Vader's Apprentice from The Force Unleashed into Soul Calibur IV. The pathetic excuse for a story doesn't make their inclusion any better. Vader is the best fit, as he's essentially derived from the samurai films of Kurosawa, anyway. In that case, it's probably appropriate that he feels like a slower but stronger version of Mitsurugi. He has a few Force powers, but you can beat almost any opponent without them. Yoda relies even less on the Force, and his diminutive stature means that he cannot be thrown, even by another Yoda. By the far the most unbalanced character in the game, maybe even the entire Soul series, is the Apprentice. He's an aggressive character, with a multitude of Force powers, including lightning. He can even toss his lightsaber across the screen at his opponent. For a series that has prided itself on balance in all things, this is an obnoxious step backward, but not bad enough to break the game.

The Graphics:
The graphics in Soul Calibur IV are fantastic. Every one of the characters has been meticulously rendered, and the new ones you make with the character creator never look less than great. The levels have also all been expanded, with expansive backgrounds and all kinds of new details around the edges. In all things, this game looks truly next gen.

The Audio:
Soul Calibur IV has an impressive orchestral score. Sadly, the characters themselves only have a few lines before and after the fights. From a fan standpoint, it's fun to hear the announcer from previous entries return once again. Probably the best part of the soundtrack is hearing the armor breaks, which resound with a satisfying crash as you see the armor shatter.

The Conclusion:
From its first appearance, the Soul Calibur series laid a legitimate claim to the fighting genre throne. Soul Calibur IV brings the supremely balanced fantasy fighting to the next gen systems, with great success. There are a few drawbacks, such as the spotty online and the woefully inadequate storylines, but the pros far outweigh the cons. This is one of the easiest video game recommendations I've been able to make in a long time. Highly Recommended.