A worthy addition to the series, but there's still room for improvement.
To start, the game sports all the standard modes of play characteristic of the Soul Calibur series such as Arcade, VS Battle, Time Attack, Survival, and so forth. In addition to these, Namco has added a new, somewhat RTS-based "Chronicles of the Swords" mode, which is a little bizarre to say the least, but also quite innovative. The Story mode's been changed as well, which is now known simply as the "Tales of Souls." Granted, it plays just like that of the story mode in previous installments, but each character's story seems to be a little more in-depth and there's a choose-your-own-adventure element has been thrown in for good measure. The hands-down winner of said new modes is undoubtedly the Character Creation Mode in which you, well... create your own character using a wide variety of customizable options then trick them out in the shop where allows you can purchase new weapons and armor.
Although these new modes of play are quite fun, let me take some time to delve into their ungodly hard level of difficulty and in some cases, uselessness. Hardcore SC fans are probably looking for a decent challenge, moreover variety, but some stages toward the end of each "Tale of Souls" are so difficult (remember, the game's difficulty setting is self-adjusting) that you'll want to take your controller and bash it repeatedly against your bedroom floor, much like I did. To avoid such things, I suggest you hone your defensive skills sooner rather than later. As for the uselessness? Well, the Chronicles of the Swords mode is more annoying than entertaining really, as it feels incredibly unpolished in some areas and just plain boring.
Unsurprisingly, the visuals in Soul Calibur III are absolutely astounding. From the opening cutscene to the character modeling, this game is flat-out gorgeous in every aspect. I guess this is partly due to Namco's uncanny ability to incorporate said visuals into some of the best 3D fighters to ever grace the home console market. The same thing goes for how the game sounds with the exception of some pretty terrible voice acting. Lucky for us, the musical score is as great as it ever was and the sounds of battle will surely drown out any annoying character voice issues that might present themselves.
As much as I'd like to score Namco's latest addition to their fighting legacy a perfect 10, I just can't. The insanely uneven difficulty displayed throughout just about every mode in the game accompanied by pointless additions and some poor voice acting force me to drag the game's overall score down a tad. Still, I strongly recommend picking this one up. Hell, it'll even make a great weekend rental. Just make sure you have an extra controller handy if you're the destructive type.