Brilliant original game. Namco rule the fighting genre!
To start off, the arcade mode is just what you would expect - eight to 12 fights and a boss at the end. Even though I did not find the arcade mode very challenging, I didn't manage to put the controller down. The boss of the arcade mode is Inferno (unplayable boss), who can mimic the fighting styles of other fighters. I thought that maybe they could have made an original character, but nevertheless, arcade mode is fine. The extra characters, Necrid and Heihachi,I found added a lot to the game. Necrid is one of the best characters in the game and his weapon is awesome! Heihachi, from the Tekken series, packs a real punch and it shows that the people who make the Soul series have real imagination.
The weapon master mode didn't really work for me. I completed it within two hours and then they double the amount of levels. I couldn't be bothered to do the rest. I have Soul Calibur 3, and I would rather complete chronicles of the sword in that the weapon master in this. One thing that this game does have that Soul Calibur 3 doesn't is team battle - my favourite multi player mode. Team battle allows you to battle with up to eight characters on each team and it is total mayhem.
There are a lot of other modes in Soul Calibur 2, but I don't really play them because I can play them in Soul Calibur 3. If you notice that I have only played this game for less than 10 hours, it is because I can do the same with more characters in Soul Calibur 3 - but don't let this put you off, this is one great game and I've found that it's good on the Xbox too. For all of the people out there thinking about getting a Soul seriesgame, I would recommend this one if you want to spend a little less money.
If I had anything I would want to change about this game, add to it or improve it, I would say that this game needs an original, more challenging boss (like Jinpachi from Tekken) and that there are not enough characters.
Thanks for reading, Jem.