3 is the magic number :) (Soul Calibur III (PS2))

Member Name: rashedon89

Product:	Soul Calibur III (PS2)
Date:	21/10/08 (24 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fantastic fighting!!! with loads of extras

Disadvantages: Not a particularly strong story and some may say tooo many extras

In my heart no fighting game will ever top Soul Calibur 3! Even with the release of Soul Calibur 4, Soul Calibur 3 is still a masterpiece and although there are improvements made in SC4 they take nothing away from this game.

The storyline of the game revolves around the idea of two powerfull swords, Soul Edge and Soul Calibur and as always the cast of characters are all fighting to destroy or gain pocession of the swords. All the favourites (apart from Heichachi are back) and graphics are pushed to the max, a great way to end the series on the PS2 before its transition to PS3.

What i loved most about this game is the longetivity of it, there is so much to see and do and fighting games can get boring quickly if the gamer isn't given a lot to work with. At first I was irritated by the amount to do but having played SC4, which I found both repetitive and short, I now really do appreciate SC3.

Firstly the story mode is great because your character can choose differnt paths, this leads to different enemies being fought allowing you to unlcok new characters and new weapons. I have to admit sometimes it was frustratingly difficult to defeat the extra enemies but well-worth the reward as a good fighting game should have plenty of characters.

The stages are varied and all look fun with interesting twists such as a windmill that spins round and can blow the cahracters towards one direction. The cut-scenes and the fighting look great and are all fluid. Soul Calibur is renowned for its 8-way-movement system and for the fact that you can use weapons. The game really challenges you and its not a case of button bashing. You need to time carefully to perform guard breaks and counters to win a battle.

The old characters like Kilik and Misturugi maintain their unique and awesome fighting stlyes but there are plenty of new and interesting characters, especially Tira who fights with some sort of metal disk and Setsuka whose sword is contatined in an umbrella!

SC3 was the first game that allows the create-a-character mode which really lets you customize every element of your character with huge variety of outfits for each part of the body. Also there is an extensive pallet for you to chose the colour of each item, clothing or body.

Unlike SC4 which makes you model the character on one of the already exisiting arcade players SC3 really lets you make your own creation and you can find online some interesting creations including Ada from Resident Evil. Also you can choose the fighting style of a character by giving them a type e.g. monk or dancer.

Another challenging mode is a sort of mission mode that requires the gamer to perform tasks in a time limits, such as collect a certain number of coins when fighting an enemy etc. This challenge begins with an easy mode progressing to a hard mode, which should be renamed impossible!

My favourite mode is the Chronicles of the sword mode. Some argue the addition is worthless but in my opinion it gave you something more to do in the game. Using your created character you employ your forces in a tactical manor to go an defeat the enemy army. Your character levels up as you progress and although the levels seem repetitive there is a basic story to keep the game going and most of all it just varied the fighting experience.

Lastly, I don't pay much attention to it but the sound in the game was terrific, the voice acting isn't oscar winning but it doesn't affect my enjoyment of the game. The only thing SC3 lacks is a stronger story like Tekken where things are developin rather then repeating themselves.

Overall this game, for me at least, has everything, terrific graphics, sound and most importantly gameplay and longetivity. Definitely a must have!!!

Summary: A great accomplishment in the series!