Gear up and get ready to battle!
The storyline is simple: there are two powerful swords, the Soul Calibur (Heavenly), and the Soul Edge (Demonic). At one time, Seigfreid possessed the Soul Edge, and it turned him into Nightmare, a dark knight that conquered many lands and devoured souls to grow stronger. Now, he has banished the demon Nightmare from his body by disposing of Soul Edge. However, when he learned that the blade could not be destroyed like a normal sword, he set out to find the legendary Soul Calibur, which could destroy Soul Edge. This is where the storyline for Soul Calibur 3 picks up.
In search of a way to destroy the Soul Edge, Seigfreid will encounter new enemies and allies that build upon the inventory of characters on the Soul Calibur 3 roster. Also, by playing through the Tale of Souls mode of the game, you can unlock new battlefields as well.
There are plenty of different things to do in Soul Calibur 3, such as many different arena challenges, the Tale of Souls mode, and even a new RPG-style mode that allows for you to create your own character and play through the Soul Calibur 3 world in order to win the war for your country. Not only that, but in this mode you can add allies to your roster to have control over more characters. Along the way, you will run into classic Soul Calibur 3 characters like Seigfreid, Nightmare, Sophitia, Rock, and Mitsurugi.
Some of the newer characters added are Zasalamel and Abyss. Zasalamel is the "keeper" of the Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, we learn, and his it is he who keeps things in balance between the two. [SPOILERS AHEAD] That is, until he changes into Abyss by expelling either the Soul Edge or Soul Calibur and shifting the balance of power to the blade that he keeps. Abyss is the strongest character on the game, and the last boss you will have to face. Once you defeat him, you have defeated Zasalamel as well. This means that in Soul Calibur 4, there will be no one to keep the blades in order.
[SPOILERS END]
The graphics of Soul Calibur 3 are quite impressive for a Playstation 2 game, and show potential. Even the backgrounds and battlefields show breath-taking detail and color design. The characters themselves are well made and articulated. However, such impact on the Playstation 2 processor occasionally causes the game to freeze unexpectedly, so saving frequently is advised.
The audio tracks used in the game are excellent and well orchestrated. Even the introductions are voice acted out, along with each character's own voice actor.
The combat in the game is superb. There are dozens of different combonations, moves, and tricks to use in battle, along with three or so special techniques per fighter. Controls are quite flexible. You can use the circle, square, triangle, x system, the R-joystick to do attacks, or some of the R or L triggers to do guards, power up, or attack. There is a great deal of detail in the battle system, allowing for cracked floors when you are knocked hard back at the ground out of a midair jump, cracks in the walls when you are knocked into the wall, or even broken out pillars or railings on some of the battlefields. You can now kick and/or punch with one button, swing your sword horizontally in different ways with another, or swing it vertically in different styles with another. There truly is a great deal of detail in the battling system of the game.
And no detail is lost when it comes to custom characters. All of the graphical detail made in the standard characters are made in the custom characters as well. Choose from different classes to make your character, such as ninja, fighter, sword master, viking, and gladiator. These classes all have different stats that are effected by the clothing that you give your fighter, so beware.
Here's the breakdown:
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Storyline: 7 out of 10
Battling: 10 out of 10
Gameplay: 9 out of 10
Graphics: 10 out of 10
Cutscene Graphics: 10 out of 10
Audio: 9 out of 10
Replay Value: 9 out of 10
Overall Score: 9 out of 10
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Battling has never been this in depth before, and with a cast of more than three dozen characters plus your own custom made characters, why wait? I strongly recommend this game to fans of the Soul Calibur franchise, fighting games, action games, and samurai/sword fighting games.