Soul Calibur 4 is a solid entry in the series that should please fans of the genre
The characters in this game are diverse and fun to play. A lot of familiar faces are here, along with some new combatants. The most notable new entries hail from the Star Wars universe. Darth Vader's apprentice from "The Force Unleashed" is present on both consoles, with Yoda being exclusive to the Xbox version and Vader himself appearing in the PS3 game. Of course at this point, both Yoda and Darth Vader are available as DLC should you want to complete the character collection. Personally I enjoy many of SC4's characters, including the Star Wars characters. It may not make perfect sense why Vader and Yoda are suddenly fighting with Nightmare and Taki, but I think they fit pretty well with the look and feel of the game.
Of course the character creation mode is back, and in some ways improved. You can still create an original character from scratch, this time with control over muscularity, voice pitch, and yes, even bust size. There probably aren't quite as many options as far as clothing goes this time around, but there is still a lot to choose from. Gone are the general classes from SC3, with only the ability to create a fighter that uses the fighting style of a pre-existing character. The only complaint here is the absence of being able to create a character that uses a light saber. I was looking forward to creating my own Jedi. The pre-existing character customization has been improved as well, this time allowing complete costume changes for most characters. The only real negative to the character creation mode is the introduction of the skill point system. For some of the modes in the game your character can be given additional skills like a stronger horizontal attack or the ability to avoid ring outs. These skills must be purchased with skill points that are gained by wearing various articles of clothing. Sometimes to get the skills you want, you have to dress your character in some outlandish attire. Players that go for a certain look may end up with a weaker character than those that don't.
New to Soul Calibur in this entry is the network mode where you can fight against other players in online matches. The ranking system seems pretty good, and lag does not seem to be a problem for the most part. Occasionally, though, you may find your onscreen persona a second or two behind your button pushes, making for some sad defeats. You can only hope in this situation that your opponent is also experiencing a delayed reaction. Personally I don't play too many games online, but it's there and it's worth checking out.
Bottom Line: A standard fighting game with character creation and online capabilities that should satisfy fans of the series and of the genre.