Although yesterday's Namco Bandai event was loaded with a few big announcements, few had the impact of Soulcalibur IV. First, the publisher announced that the highly anticipated fighting sequel will come out in North America on July 29th. Second, it unveiled a Limited Edition release, which will come in a tin box with a console-specific T-shirt, art book, tournament supplies (bracket posters, etc.), and exclusive downloadable content. Finally, Namco unveiled a hot new trailer that highlights the game's new fighters, and of course, the bonus "Star Wars" characters who will be burning some souls with the usual suspects. Afterwards, we played a new build of the game with some fairly limited roster options. Nevertheless, we immensely enjoyed what we played.
The roster on the build was a little different than what was on the menu at CES. Although Taki and Cassandra were again playable, Mitsurugi was not available. Instead, we got two characters with more distance-based fighting styles: Hilde and Seong Mi-Na. Mitsurugi might be a favorite, but there's no complaints here about trying out new fighters.
So far, minus any profound reflections on gameplay differences -- it was only ten minutes of gameplay, after all -- SC4 looks to hit a sweet spot between some of the concepts of SC3 and SC2. The pace of action is a little slower than the last installment, and the fighting system is set up to minimize turtling, or playing too defensively. If you block too much, you're handing your opponent offensive points to build up a critical hit. A critical hit can break your armor and leave you more vulnerable than if you'd simply played more aggressively.
And that's a noticeable digression from past Soulcalibur games. The HUD has been reconfigured. To the side of the usual life meter is a gem-like icon. That's the Soul Gauge. Think of it as a mood ring that changes according to your fighting style. As you hit more combos, blocked or not, it builds up (parries don't seem to help it, though) and gets you closer to critical hits, or more importantly, a critical finisher, which you can execute as the gauge turns blue and you hit all four face buttons on the controller. This unleashes what's essentially a killer throw which will end the round if it connects.
We only managed to see one critical finisher pulled off by a Cassandra player. Her critical downs the opponent, then she jumps into the air and pounces on them, sitting on their chest as hearts float around. It's a bit odd to see the direction that SC4 seems to be taking with its female combatants, from absurd cup sizes that require chiropractic care to floating hearts.
