Could have been so much more -- pretty graphics and on-line come at the cost of just about everything else.
If something is bad, or needs improvement do you A.) Try to make it better or B.) Remove it entirely and hope no one notices. Namco has opted for the second option here. Unfortunately, even if you don't care a bit about content, that still doesn't save the game from feeling incredibly slap-dash and shallow. What you get is a basic game with a few rudimentary options and modes which seems intended solely as a frontend for the on-line component. And even that is pretty cut and dry.
The only thing deep about SCIV winds up being one of its more frustrating components and that is the new Stat-based Character Creation and Weapon Effects. Apparently the majority of the game's development cycle was spent worrying over this feature and, in the end, it really ends up being a lackluster affectation that really does nothing but prevent you from making a character you like the look of and having to constantly shuffle junk around to get the desired effects.
Ironically, a far more workable solution to this issue is ALREADY IN PLACE in the customization options for canon characters' 1-Player costumes. You tie your stats to a single equipable item (non visual) as well as the weapon selected and customize from there. It works stupid more efficiently and accomplishes the same exact ends without having to juggle every bit of equipment on your character to get the skills you want. As opposed to SC3, leveling up in 4 is an entirely trivial task which, while it has tangible results, takes VERY little time and/or effort to achieve.
Single player game modes are non-existent. You have a VERY short story mode, a basic 7 round Arcade (with no option settings mind you, so if its too hard you're out of luck) and the Tower of Lost Souls. The latter is basically a quick way of saying: Endless strings of matches against consecutively worse odds which some lame-o decided could pass as "challenging". It's not, and coupled with the horrible AI, its pretty much nothing but an exercise in frustration. Heck, there isn't even a guided training mode in this one but... I suppose that's just because Edge Master took the sequel off.
The AI in SC3 was annoying, and Namco has gone to great lengths to make it even more so in SC4. At times it will stand around and let you pummel it into oblivion, at others it will dance around and block/dodge everything you attempt to throw at it then hit you with eighty chains of combos until you've been killed five times over and, if possible, ring'ed out for good measure.
I suppose I should mention something about the new characters. Well, one new character, a pair of jedi and 5 cosmetic overhauls of existing styles. I for one was really looking forward to a character with two katanas, as Shura seemed to represent but she, along with all the rest besides Hilde, are not customizable (beyond Weapons/Skills) and not usable in Character Creation; though that's somewhat pointless anyhow since all but the Jedi and Mrs Krone are copies. I will say that the Jedi are at least interesting to play with and Hilda makes a great and unique addition to the SC roster, but that is a sole diamond in a pile of mammoth sh... well, you know.
So, are HD graphics and On-line worth it? You'd better hope so because that's about all you're getting. The only things they didn't manage to bash repeatedly with the Fail Hammer are the core fighting system and the game engine. Even if everything SC3 presented wasn't perfect, that's no reason to cut ALL of it out entirely and present something so utterly lacking and incomplete.
Sad.
If you just want it for on-line or have never played Soul Calibur before, you may not find it quite as bad. However, I am openly rating this with a heavy bias and quite frankly find it to be a complete and utter disappointment.