BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Soul Calibur 2 - PlayStation 2

Let me start by saying I both love and hate this game at the same time. The game is absolutely addictive but is angering and frustrating as all hell. Below is my opinion of the game. Watch it is probably going to upset the little fan boys who I will have to destroy.The Good:Graphics 5/5 - The graphics are phenomenal, they are crisp clear and absolutely gorgeous. The characters move, execute their attacks and get the butts kicked flawlessly without a single twitch, polygon or color out of place. The backgrounds are also flawless, and the characters are very well developed.Sound 5/5 - The music isn't bad, neither is the voice acting. Also the sound effects during combat are flawless, well timed, and perfect.Controls 5/5 - The controls are very easy to learn, attacking happens flawlessly and exceptionally smoothly. Ultimately, the game is more of a button masher as I find that I get further by randomly pressing buttons than by actually attempting to utilize any real attacks.Characters 5/5 - The characters are absolutely awesome... most of them. Astaroth was perfectly designed and he looks crazy as hell, also Ivy and Nightmare are awesome. On the down side I find that Yoshimitsu was poorly designed and is done much better in Tekkan 5. They should have made his look cooler and creepier as he does in Tekkan, not kind of loserish. Additionally, why the hell would they put Heachi?? Couldn't they find a better cross over character from Tekkan? I think Devil Jin would have made a sicker cross over.. but that is me lol. BTW, Voldo is awesome, my favorite he is the hardest to use, but at the same time if you master him, you can beat anyone or anything that stands in your way!Unlockables 5/5 - There are tons of unlockables. You will be there for hours trying to buy everything from weapons, to game art, to new costumes. Some of the new costumes are tackey, but thats ok, I prefer most of the originals. Also, you can buy videos, and did I mention lots and lots of awesome weapons with all kinds of cool features. Unfortunately you can't buy characters though, those you have to earn by beating them or by fulfilling certain aspects of the game.Game Modes 5/5 - There are tons of modes. You have classic arcade which when you beat inferno gives you character profiles of each character after you win with them. You have a time trial, you have survival and a ton of others. Additionally you have a section called "weapon master". While this section of the game is awesome, it can also be very difficult and super angering. At first I hated the damn weapon master , but as I got used to it I found it more and more fun and far more addictive. The crazy part is that once you beat it once, you have to beat it a second time, and holy hell the second time around is crazy hard!Truthfully the special moves are also awesome. Ivy uses a cool sword that doubles as a whip which is great for long range attacks. Additionally as angering as this game can get, it is absolutely addictive. As much as I want to put the game down out of sheer anger and frustration, I simply cannot because of its addictiveness.Oh and what the hell you give me suckie Charade but not Inferno! I WANT TO USE INFERNO!!The Bad: What is with all the reading? This is so elementary, you have gorgeous graphics, you should be using them for gorgeous cut scenes, not making me read the story.Next the computer/AI in this game absolutely sucks. The game does not have easy or medium or hard modes available for the weapon master, no, it goes from piece of cake easy (you blow through the game in less than 10 minutes in arcade mode and stuff like that), that you can just blow through the game by button mashing, to exceptionally hard that it makes me put the game down... The weapon master is super easy for the first 5 levels, than after that it is nightmarishly hard.. get ready to have alot of broken controlers after throwing them against the wall in anger! Dont dictate to me the difficulty, let me pick it. Secondly, when the computer isnt just standing their taking your punishment, it is out cheating against you. The computer has stronger moves than you, deals more damage than you and can block and execute moves that you cant. Really? Put us both on the same set of rules! Its mind boggling how Astaroth or Nightmare can connect with you from a mile away but when you play as them you are too slow to hit anything. And please, dont even get me started on Cervantes... really? He kills you with a move that takes 90% of your life in one hit, and he uses it repeatedly.. real fun! Also, the characters are oddly skewed, the female characters tend to be faster more fluid and deadlier, while the male characters are slow as hell. How does it make sense that Astaroth has a gigantic ax and is massive but he deals less damage than Taki who is tiny? I can understand him being akward and slower, but weaker? really now?In my opinion, this is a great game. Pick it up, play it, enjoy it, but definately remember that it can get crazy hard and the AI can annoy the hell out of you!

Ok, before I get lynched here, let me start out by saying that this really is an excellent game and anyone would do well to own it.However, that being said, I feel this game lacks some special ingredient to make me come back to it time and time again.Let's break it down:Graphics: Stunning is an understatement. Superb and near-perfect is perhaps more accurate.Sound: Great music and SFX.Gameplay: Excellent. You have total and complete control of any fighter you choose to use. Characters are 100% responsive to the directional pad and left analog which is quite impressive considering it's rich 3D environment.Characters: Some very cool characters and lots of 'em make sure there is a fighter for everybody. There are even some unlockable fighters to spice things up even more.This truely is a spectacular game but I could not give it a complete 5 stars due to one thing. This game didn't appeal to me in that special way that all-time classics seem to do. This is something the Street Fighter series was very good at. For some reason, Sould Calibur 2 just doesn't have that little extra flavor to keep me spellbound as Street Fighter did.4 out of 5 ain't bad though and this game is a must-have.

If there are two editions to enjoy in the Soulcalibur series, it's 2 and 3. Although, i personnally will always reutrn to Soul Calibur 1 for nastalgia's sake and to Soul Blade for many other reasons. Soul Calibur 2 made mistakes with content like getting rid of Rock and Hwang but instead having Barbarian and Thief, respectively. But made up for it by introducing Talim, Raphael, and Yun Sung. Also by fan service of Tekken's Heihachi being guest featured, the only character in SC to fight with his bare hands! Also, they brought back the concept of the weapons having different attributes that affected gameplay. Or you could use standard effects with any skin. I never liked the choice of art design for this one. The beautiful textures found in SC1 took a back seat to the ubiquitous pastel surface colors of the models. This edition contains the second and last time we got to see exhibition theater, where characters demonstrate their technique forms for you.The fighting was intense, fast paced, and merciless. All characters that returned had expanded move sets. Many included different stances to lead into other oppurtunities. Plus, they made more substantial stages that were more believable then just oddly shaped rings. This edition of SC is a must have if you play to annihilate your opponent!Btw, the re-release in the "HD" marketing scheme, available on PSN, did not port well. Its an adulterated version as is no gauge by which to judge this great PS2 game.

I wanted to break out of the Tekken and Super Smash Bros. rut this year by trying my hand at something new. Soul Calibur caught my attention. Since I play Tekken, got the PS2 version of this game and the Tekken references were pretty obvious: Heihachi as a guest character, Yoshimitsu, and some attacks being borrowed from Tekken characters (eg. Sophitia having Hwoarang's Plasma Blade). I am considering getting this game again for the Gamecube since Smash series character Link is a guest, and I play Smash as well.That said, I find myself playing Soul Calibur 3 (and just now Soul Calibur 4) more often because of character creation. Nothing like creating an elderly-sounding black woman in a Chinese dress using Sophitia/Cassandra's moveset or in a geisha kimono with Setsuka's move list and what-not. Soul series, however, will take a little getting used to since I am accustomed to Tekken's physics.

I Absolutely Love My Game..Plays Perfectly...