Soulcalibur IV

Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco
Release Date: July 29, 2008
Systems: PS3 (reviewed), Xbox 360
ESRB Rating: T
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Welcome back to the stage of beating people repeatedly with swords.

0:00 I was a huge an of Soul Blade, a minor fan of Soulcalibur, kind of got back into Soulcalibur II, and totally skipped Soulcalibur III. Now you know, and knowing's half the battle.

0:01 This minute spent downloading a 16MB "update" for the game.

0:02 This minute spent creating save data, watching company logos fly in, and loading the menu.

0:03 Lightning flashes above the roof of a "Two Towers"-style spire. Some samurai guy (Mitsurugi?) stands holding a small red sword with a blinking eye inside it. He flashes back to the battle where he obtained the sword, and he seems to regret his actions. He holds up the sword and falls through the crystal floor into the tower below. Cut to Siegfried, who takes out his own sword. Cut to scantily-clad Ivy battling a girl in a suit of armor. Cut to Darth Vader, who turns around to see another samurai guy (is this one Mitsurugi? I don't remember). They fight and the light saber just bounces off the samurai sword harmlessly. How does that work?

0:05 Lava rocks fall around Siegfried as he approaches the tower, so he pulls a Sub-Zero and launches an ice attack with his sword. Meanwhile, the hulking, hideous, twisted Nightmare stands atop the tower engulfed in flames. A crystal sword sits with crystal bits hovering around it. One of the crystal bits turns into the SC4 logo. "Soulcalibur... FOUR" the announcer intones in a deep bellow. Man, that was random and incoherent. And long.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer