Soul Calibur III E3 2005 Preshow Hands-On
We get an exclusive hands-on with Namco's anticipated 3D fighter for the PlayStation 2.
Take a look at the full-length E3 2005 trailer for Soul Calibur III, exclusively at GameSpot.
We've been anxious to get our hands on Soul Calibur III since the game was announced just a few weeks ago. The third entry in Namco's acclaimed weapon-based fighting series boasts new characters, new modes, and refined combat. So, naturally, we've been anxious to see just what's going on with the game. Rather than wait until E3 next week, we managed to get our hands on the first playable demo of the game to see how it's shaping up. The limited demo offered just a modest sampling of what the final game will feature, but it did reveal to us that the game is headed in a promising direction.
The demo featured a selection of modes that were basically laid out the way they've always been in the series. You'll see three basic main modes--single, versus, and shop--that offer different variations for you to explore. While most everything was locked out, we were able to have a peek at what will eventually be available. Single-player featured the most options at the moment, as it had several different submodes listed. "Tale of souls" is the single-player story mode that, while pretty standard for just about any fighting game, has undergone a tweak to offer a slightly different experience. You'll start out by selecting a character as you always have, and then you'll head out to engage in some beatings. The demo offered Soul Calibur poster boy Misturugi and one of the new faces to the roster, the spiky hoop-wielding Tira, as your fighter options. You'll then go to a story screen that offers context on what's going on before hopping into a traditional one-on-one fight. Following your fight, you'll be sent to an overworld map, similar in form and function to what we've seen in the weapon master mode in the previous games, where you'll get to choose where to go next. You'll get a bit of text that continues the story laid out in the setup for your fight, which offers you two options on where to go next. This new branching path system will affect where you go and who you fight with your chosen character. From the sound of it, you'll need to play through at least twice with each character to see and fight everyone. To offer a taste of how this will play out, the demo pitted us against different fighters. After playing through it twice, we were able to meet and fight Kilik, newcomer Zasalamel, and a variant of Berserker who was included to show off the kinds of characters you can make in Soul Calibur III's character creation mode.
Besides the tale of souls mode, your single-player options will include "chronicle of the sword," world competition, soul arena, museum, and character creation. Character creation is the mode we're most excited for, because it lets you create an original fighter you can then take to the chronicle of the sword mode to see how he or she fares. While Namco representatives still weren't giving up much information on exactly how the mode will play out, it sounds as though you might be taking more of a "coaching" role in that you let your virtual self do its thing in battle. The other mode reps were coy about is the museum mode, as it sounds like it's going to come packed with content, such as artwork and other renders that should please fans of the series.
Outside of the single-player options, the demo also listed a versus mode, which we expect will have a solid array of submodes to choose from (just as single-player does), and a shop. The shop will function as it always has in the series, offering you a plethora of goods to buy with currency earned in battle. You'll find everything from content you'll actively use in your game, such as new weapons and accessories for your fighter, to artwork and cinematics you can check out in the museum mode.
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- GameSpot Score 8.2 great
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