Hits the nail on the head!
What you might want to know: this game does not support the trophy feature and there is multiplayer.
Introduction: My close friend and I were searching for a simple, fun, cheap multiplayer game that we could play when we hung out. We stumbled across Soul Calibur 4 (which we snagged for about 15 bucs) and were very pleased with the purchase.
Short Review:
Ups: Excellent fighting, detailed and intricate character customization, exciting online and offline play, some really cool single player modes.
Downs: no trophies, story is quite dry, short lived and much like its predecessors.
Long Review:
Graphics: The graphics are excellent, especially considering how fast paced the fighting is. It is important to note however that graphics for this type of game are much easier to pull off (the graphics designers essentially just have to make "stages" rather than an interactive environment) than the graphics for something like Fallout 3 (a massive world to explore). I did not experience any lag in the fighting, which is a huge frustration for some fighting games out there.
Gameplay/Combat: Anyone familiar with the series will instantly love the fighting of SC4. It is very familiar, minus the addition of new moves for virtually every character. The great thing about the combat in this game is that once you pick up one character, every other character is much easier to learn. This is a key element to any fighting game and something that I definitely noticed right from the get-go.
Storyline: If it's a solid and in-depth story you are looking for, don't purchase SC4, because you will be disappointed. The entire story is basically read off of the screen, and if this wasn't bad enough it's not all that great even if you take the time to read it. Nothing seems to flow together, it all just seems botched together.
Lasting Value/Buy or Rent: At this point, SC4 will only set you back about 15 bucs (maybe less). If you're interested in it, it is a great game that should be purchased rather than rented. As with any fighting game, you tend to come back to it multiple times, especially when friends are around. I'd say either buy this game or don't bother playing it at all, because you will probably want to invest a decent amount of time unlocking all of the equipment for the customizable characters.