Soul Calibur V (Xbox 360): "The Love/Hate Relationship"

This is a follow up to my last article about "Soul Calibur V", and it's more of a discussion about what I'm finding out about the game as I play it. In this particular article I'll also try to discuss further pros & cons I have found about the game ...
 As most of you know I'm a serious fighting game critic, and player. I have spent a majority of my gaming career playing fighting games, and have enjoyed it for the most part. I have experienced about every sub-genre of fighting games including 2D, and 3D fighters. As with all game genres there comes the good, and the bad. Over the years I have witnessed the decline of fighting games as they entered the "online era". I would have thought that online fighting games would have proved to be more welcome, but the fact of the matter is that the online features in these games are just as flawed as that of any other video game out there. The reason I say this is that online fighting games have become plagued by the same hacking, and cheating issues as you'd find in other online genres such as FPS. Players have become so desperate to win that they'll do so any way they can. I have found this to be the same with Namco's latest release of "Soul Calibur V".

As I have played the many modes, and experienced the various online features of "Soul Calibur V" I've noticed a familiar trend to begin emerging. This trend I speak of is "cheating". Today I was actually playing an online players match in "Soul Calibur V", and the guy ragequitted just as I was winning. This wouldn't have bothered me so much, but they had done the same thing in a match before me with another player and got to continue in the top spot as a result. It's this sort of thing that really pisses me off. After the spoiled sport had left the lobby I continued on to win a few matches before being dethroned which was fine by me. Aside from this ragequitting incident I have seen some fairly impossible wins by opposing players, and have even heard talk over the mic about various cheats/hacks that players are using. These were very specific things that were mentioned by decent players, so the credibility is definitely there. It wouldn't actually surprise me to find hacks in a game such as "Soul Calibur V". Any online game is vulnerable to attacks. This fact alone annoys me to no end. It seems to me that developers would have developed a more secure online by now.

Soul Calibur V is not all doom & gloom. It definitely has some good points as well. One of these "good points" happens to be the detailed "Character Creation". I have never seen a fighting game "Creat-a-Character" made with some many possibilities. In fact I have been able to create some pretty amazing custom characters including the 4 "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", "Go Nagai's Devilman", "(Jun Fudo) Go Nagai's Devil Lady", "Ben Templesmith's Wormwood Gentleman Corpse", and even some of my own unique creations. The huge plus to this character creation mode is the ability to design, and store up to 50 custom characters! This alone makes the game worth the asking price. Even if the game is flawed online I still enjoy showing of my created characters to players around the world. Their comments, and compliments are truly priceless. It's definitely nice to get noticed for such artistic talent within a video game!

I have not only enjoyed the character creation in "Soul Calibur V", but I've found it's offline modes to be equally as impressive. If your looking for a solid offline fighter then "Soul Calibur V" can definitely fill that spot. As with previous installments of the "Soul Calibur" series there are multiple offline modes to be experienced. Among these modes, "Soul Calibur V" continues with it's own unique story mode that takes the game's story to new limits with CG cinematics and involved gameplay. Once you playthrough the game's story mode there's pretty much no reason to revisit it though. Other modes in offline pick up in that replay value area though. As usual you will find the "Arcade Mode" in which you can attempt to beat your current record, or even a challenge mode where you can earn new titles to show off in the online modes. The only mode I didn't see that was present in previous titles of the series was the "Survival" mode. The lack of this mode truly disappointed me on so many levels. I think the last time I saw a survival mode in the "Soul Calibur" series was actually in "Soul Calibur II". It would have been nice for them to add this to the roster of playable offline modes though.

I wasn't going to address the online modes that are in "Soul Calibur V", but I think there are some of you that may be interested in which online modes are the best. For a while since getting "Soul Calibur V" I've been trying to improve my rank in the online "Ranked Matches". This is definitely not the way to go since the online in "Soul Calibur V" isn't fair on so many levels. There are major input delays, as well as frequent lag issues. It's definitely best that you avoid this mode all together. The " go to" online mode would be "Player Match". This mode features lobby search criteria (region, connection, language, lobby type) that makes for much better matchmaking. I often search the "Player Match" lobbies when playing online for fun, and hassle free fights. The huge benefit of the "Player Match" mode is that it won't aggravate you as much when you lose to a cheater. If your looking for something more competitive in nature then "Soul Calibur V" offers the online tournament mode which has lobbies that are divided by regions, and cities. This better guarantees an issue free match (assuming some jerk from another region hasn't joined in ...).

I hope this article has shed a little more light on "Soul Calibur V" for you. I did touch base on some things I've already mentioned, but I've also touched base on which modes are best to play. If your looking to enjoy "Soul Calibur V" then definitely stay away from the "Ranked Matches". If your determined to go online just play the "Player Matches". That's the best advice I can give you. You'll find that "Soul Calibur V" still offers a superb offline though, and a character creation that currently surpasses any fighting game I have seen/played thus far. If you're wondering if this game is worth the money or not, that is simply up to the person who's playing. The scales of worthiness could be tipped either way when it comes to "Soul Calibur V". The game has a lot to offer, but it is far from a perfect fighting game experience.