by Mark Amison

Created on: September 15, 2008   Last Updated: May 18, 2012

Soul Calibur 4, with it's bountiful mammaries and it's delightfully vague time setting (somewhere around the Edo period in Japan of 1603 and the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire of 1806) it is at heart, a fighting game. Very little has changed since it's noble beginnings on the PlayStation in 1996, it is still that same weapons fighter that has varied, likable characters from different ethnic backgrounds, and huge, oddly non cumbersome breasts adorning their female characters. An interesting fact is that the token ninja character, Taki, has had extensive breast enhancement and reduction surgery over the period of the 5 games, her now bountiful ninja na-na's were once "small" in comparison to the rest of the "gifted" female cast.

However, aesthetics aside (regardless that this game is rather stunning) as I mentioned, it is still Soul Calibur/Edge at heart, little has changed. Veterans won't pick Mitsurigi for the first time in this game to find a totally new move set, and that's a good thing. People who have played this series from the start will find everything they have loved about it intact, with a few welcome additions, but sadly, a few hiccups as well.

I'll start with the bad so we can move onto the good, and begin by detailing the games single player affair. I have always personally loved the Soul Edge series because of the characters and their relations to Soul Edge, and for the extensive mission modes offered in the games iterations. Where you would traverse a linear path, your action documented in a diary style, overcoming combatants whilst under various restrictions, such as only winning with a ring out, or having your health drain slowly over time. It gave the game much needed variety in it's one on one fights. Sadly though, this feature is totally absent in this game, instead replaced with a "Tower of souls" option, whereby you either ascend the tower in a sort of typical "Survival" mode of little merit, or descend the tower in a pseudo mission mode. This latter mode was where I was hoping to spend most of my time in the game, however it ended up feeling a little shallow and rushed. You will slowly descend the tower in levels, choosing your character each time, from up to 3 combatants, battling different rounds against foes who have been created in the character creation screen, albeit with impossible infinite points on their stats creating at times incredibly overpowered opponents. These opponents go to such insane levels not being able to be thrown

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