An amazing addition to the Soul series.
Project Soul does nothing but Soul Calibur games and I missed the apparent lack luster Soul Calibur III and completely ignored Soul Calibur Legends, so my memories of the series are nothing but good with the likes of Soul Calibur and SCII. And after playing IV for a good bit of time, I'm nowhere near disappointed. SCIV is just a total package fighting game.
One of the main selling points of fighting games are the characters, and SCIV's roster is large and varied. Among the fighters there are 24 returning characters and ten new characters to play. Sadly, only two of the new characters Hilde and Algol are 100% intertwined with the Soul Calibur mythos. Five characters are bonus characters designed by mangaka such as Oh! Great the creator of Tenjho Tenge and Air Gear. These characters are merely clones of regular characters so they'll have the same moves as others basically. The last three new characters are Star Wars characters. You get Yoda on the 360, Vader on the PS3, and The Apprentice (of the Force Unleashed fame.) When you unlock all the characters there will be a spot between Yoda/Vader and the Apprentice, which you'll think is open for another character that needs to be found. I say this being 99.9% sure that Vader/Yoda will be released for DLC later down the line and I'm willing to bet that they're already on the disc you'll just have to pay for a key. A Star Wars character going in between Star Wars characters makes sense doesn't it? Oh but that's not where the characters stop, you have create a character to play around with!
Like in previous Soul Calibur games, there is "Create a Soul" or create a character. Here you can spend hours and hours tweaking your custom characters armor, stats, look, clothing, physique, weapon, and move sets. The combinations are endless and you'll never see the same character twice. You are also able to customize the existing characters as well. It's a welcome feature to see in a fighting game, and where Dead or Alive Ultimate created the standard for online fighters, Soul Calibur has created the standard for customization in fighters.
There are plenty modes to keep you busy for quite a while. You have your standard arcade and VS. modes as well as a story and a new mode called Tower of Lost Souls that gives you multiple special stipulation battles which will award you with money to buy characters and clothing. And for the first time in a Soul Calibur game there is online play. There are only two modes though, Stardard VS which you use regular un altered characters and Special VS which allows you to use your CAS characters and customized main characters. Lobbies aren't very big though, where a game like DOA4 could have 16 players in a lobby, SCIV only has 4. It's a bit lame, but oh well.
There are a few new gameplay mechanics that you'll find while playing. One is the armor breaking during battle. This is fairly comparable to some Japan only fighting games which involve clothing being shed… and then some, adult situations lets say. But in SCIV, it isn't merely fan service (which there is a lot of here.) As armor is broken not only will your character look more beaten up, your defense will lower in the process, giving your opponent an advantage in the fact that you take damage heavily. Armor is broken when a gem on the HUD is turned to pure red while guarding and you'll hear a big crack during gameplay, if you land enough damage in the same area you'll be given a short chance to do your characters critical finish by pressing all four face buttons (or one of the shoulder buttons.) These moves are over the top, flash, and are instant kills, and each character (aside from Astaroth and Rock) have their own, so its fun to try and get a match to this point and just destroy your opponent.
Technically, this is just a sharp looking game. Character models and costumes are crisp, colorful, and just fun to watch. The game moves constantly and fluidly like all fighters should. Levels a varied, colorful, somewhat destructible, and highly detailed. Soul Calibur IV is by far the best looking fighter on the market.
Soul Calibur IV shouldn't disappoint any fans of the series, and it should be played by anyone who is a fan of fighters. If you find fault with the game, then quite possibly, you're nuts. The game is amazingly polished, fun, and just a delight to play.