Posts Tagged ‘Darth Vader’
Soul Calibur IV Game Review–Long Or Short Term, Still A Value
Fighting games seem to be thinning out of late, buried under a slew of first person shooters and sports games, but one particular gem has managed to emerge from the fray to continue a following that goes back decades, back to a simpler time when there were arcades in malls and most people got their head-to-head action from a room full of bleeping machines. Today we’re talking Soul Calibur IV, part of the long running series.
Featuring all your favorite fighters, and a panoply of new ones (including for reasons that still escape me Garen Malek, Darth Vader and Yoda depending on what version of the game you buy and whether or not you go in for the downloadable content), you’ll plunge headlong through the stories of all the various fighters, which is why you’re not getting a plot synopsis of the game this time around. It would just, plain and simply, take too long. Each character has his or her own individual story, and occasionally, it even overlaps with other characters’ stories to make this strange sort of massive latticework of plot over the whole game. I’m actually very impressed that this ridiculous brawler game is getting THIS kind of plot.
And your involvement with that plot won’t even feel all that minimalist. You’ll be fighting all the other characters, sometimes one on one, other times two on two, and sometimes even four against one as you advance through the stages to find out what your character’s particular connection to the legendary cursed sword is this time around.
I’m actually very surprised by this—normally fighter games, for me, have been pointless button mashers where you try to memorize lists of moves for use against opponents of varying and in some cases downright ridiculous skill levels, but this time I got access to a whole array of moves that required little more than a controller direction and a button press, plus a whole bunch more if I wanted them. I could use Yoda’s force powers to fling myself headlong around the screen, or if I wanted to, I could just use his surprising agility to make short hops and bash my opponent into oblivion with my light saber. There was a LOT of variety here, and frankly, I was glad for the opportunity to just sit down with the game and let the smack down go on. I even got little nuggets of plot regularly as I beat an opponent or series thereof, just enough in just close enough increments to make me want to keep moving. I got through Yoda, Voldo and Ivy’s plotlines in maybe a half-hour’s play time, but man, I wanted to catch everybody else’s plots too.
This game might be a bit big for just one rental—and if you’re a party game sort you may want to buy a copy just to keep it on hand—but even just a short time with it won’t leave you disappointed or missing a whole lot of the plot. This is a game with lots of surprises that looks beautiful and plays even better. I don’t recommend fighting games very often—maybe because I don’t get many of them TO recommend in the first place—but I can’t see a way you won’t have fun with Soul Calibur IV.
Star Wars The Force Unleashed–Great Fun For A Few Minutes
There are games that visibly, awesomely, catch your imagination and pull you into the experience with a force and grandeur all their own. I admit that this was the case with me playing the first stage of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Sadly, this wonderful beginning couldn’t last, and from there, the game throttled back its spectacular fun factor. The upshot is that the collapse was not complete. Let’s go ahead and take a look at this game that could so deeply hook me at first, but lose most of that hook after only minutes in.
You play as Darth Vader’s secret apprentice, somewhere between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope in the chronology, that vast chunk of time where Vader was just getting started. Longtime fans of the series will be interested to note your character is named Starkiller, or the original name of Luke Skywalker. But anyway—Starkiller is dispatched by Vader to complete the work he began, the destruction of the Jedi throughout the universe. As you progress, you’ll have the opportunity to follow your master into the Dark Side, or separate into the Light Side, and thus have access to two different endings based on your choices.
Now, like I said earlier, the first few minutes were what had me so very hooked. This was because, for the first few minutes, you don’t play as Starkiller at all.
You play as Darth Vader.
Playing quite possibly the greatest Sith who ever lived—let’s remember that the guy’s going to hand it to Palpatine down the line—is like controlling a black-cloaked tornado. You’re dropped onto Kashyyyk, otherwise known as Wookiee Planet, and sent to take down a legion of walking furballs with blasters. This should make just about anyone’s blood run cold–Wookiees are badasses of the first order when sufficiently provoked—but not you. You are Darth-and-don’t-you-forget-it-Vader. You don’t run. You just stride in this coolly controlled fashion, striking down whatever walks in front of you with a flurry of lightsaber swings or various Force powers. It’s like controlling Jason Voorhees; a towering, hulking juggernaut that seemingly can’t be brought down no matter how many Wookiees take potshots at him. It’s a real jaw-dropper of a sequence.
It’s only too bad that the rest of the game can’t live up to this amazing opening, or to the hype it generated. Oh, sure, it’s FUN enough—Starkiller is a pretty entertaining sort and there are legions of enemies to strike down. But compared to that sweet taste I got in the beginning, the whole rest of the game just feels like a letdown.
The interesting part is, the PS3, Wii, PS2, Nintendo DS, N-Gage and PSP versions of the game are all different from the Xbox 360 version. Some have small differences, others have massive differences. For those who wonder, I’m handling the 360 version, so I’ll caution you all that your mileage may vary.
In summary, the plot is solid, and the first five minutes will grab your attention in a pure-on Force grip, but the rest of the game will not be so compelling. If you’re okay with a small disappointment in an otherwise fair-quality game, then your time spent playing Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will not be ill-spent.