The eighth game in the Namco Soul series, Soul Calibur IV has been the subject of much speculation. Teaser trailers have been giving fans hints of what can be expected of the game and the latest one shows that the usual game characters will be joined by two surprises from a galaxy far, far away.
Soul Calibur IV continues the story of the evil blade Soul Edge and its good counterpart weapon Soul Calibur. Confirmed characters from previous games include Siegfried, Sophitia, Raphael, Astaroth, Ivy, Mitsurugi, Taki, Cassandra, Voldo and Yoshimitsu. Additionally, this latest installment will be following in the steps of Soul Calibur II by featuring two confirmed guest characters from other well-known franchises.
While Soul Calibur II had Link from Zelda for Gamecube, Heihachi Mishima from Tekken for Playstation 2 and Spawn from Todd McFarlane’s Spawn for Xbox, Soul Calibur IV features Darth Vader and Yoda from the famous Star Wars series.
Current news indicates that Darth Vader will be exclusive to the PS3 while Yoda will be designated for the Xbox 360. And yes, lightsabers will be involved, with Vader wielding his recognised red lightsaber against Yoda’s green one. Early images of these two look fantastic – you can see the wrinkles clearly on Yoda’s face and the light glints off Vader’s mask – and the sound effects are bang on with Vader’s breathing and the zing of the lightsabers.
This is also likely to add fuel to the fire of the war of the consoles, with game forums already exploding over debate on who will be the better Star Wars character to play. However, this recent announcement seems to further confirm speculation that Soul Calibur IV will not be released on the Wii. So far nothing official has been said but it’s looking less and less likely as the release date comes up. Of course, there’s always the chance that they change their minds at the last minute and add in Obi Wan Kenobi or Mace Windu as the Star Wars Wii character. Nintendo fans can only hope.
Several fans have pointed out that Yoda’s size will place him at a distinct disadvantage against the other characters, although hopefully this will be overcome by his in-game moves (the trailer shows him doing flips similar to those from the film Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones). Other gamers have remained cynical, calling it a cash-in for LucasArts and Namco to hook Star Wars fans. Some have even speculated that the character not available for the respective console will become downloadable for a price at a later date. And of course, there’s always that question of what exactly is a Jedi Master and a Sith Dark Lord doing in the Soul Calibur universe!?
Only time will tell. The game is set to be released in North America and Europe by summer 2008.
