Garnett, Shane, Andrew, John and Philip gather to discuss Soul Calibur IV, Geometry Wars 2, Mortal Kombat vs. DC, the past, present, and future of downloadable games, and this week in gaming news.
Soul Calibur IV launched worldwide 15 years ago, bringing with it the best performance of the series to date.
Hell no. It was the start of the downfall (SCV) of the series. Huge downstep from the giant SCIII
Used to love this series, probably my favorite 3D fighter, perhaps together with the now also dead Dead or Alive (2-3-4), but as with so many games in the fighting genre, their short-term greed (season passes) has made me lose all interest, sadly …
Loved Number 2 and 3( loved all the solo modes like chronicle of the sword ) so was super hyped when 4 came out but the lack of single player content was disappointing. Still love soul calibur to this day though
2 was definitely the golden era of Soul Calibur for me. I was a bit conflicted about it at times because there were 3 different versions (I liked the PS2 version for controls, I liked playing as Spawn the most, and I thought the addition of Link was really awesome). Even so, the single player content was outstanding. Easily the most fun I've had with a fighting game, followed closely by Tekken 5's single player modes
While some feel it was the Mortal Kombat: Annihilation movie, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is popularly touted as the lowest point for the franchise – at least in terms of video games. The prototype IP soup tried to do something new with popular characters going head to head, but never really got a good reception.
The biggest issue was that with the introduction of DC and Warner Bros, MK's iconic gore had to be dialed down. Batman, after all, cannot be split into two by Kung Lao's hat. However, while the game itself signaled the fatality of the Mortal Kombat franchise, its core formula is what resurrected it to become NetherRealm Studio and the reboot we've come to adore.
MK vs DC wasn’t awful. If reception for that game made mk9 possible then hopefully the failures of MK11 can make some good changes as well. It’s time to get rid of variations, they had a good run but ended up a mess.
I think MK 9 did.
In fact I remember being bummed that this was a T rated MK game and just dismissed it. MK 9 was when I actually stood back and said, "They're back!". Still think that game is fantastic.
From VG247: "Link suits the world of Soul Calibur. The elf-like little twink fit into the roster as well as any sword-wielding fantasy hero could – facing off against the likes of the machiavellian Frenchman Raphael, the inhuman hellspawn Astaroth, or the horny gimp Voldo, the Legend of Zelda guest character fits right in. Weaponry, aesthetic, move set… all of it gels with Soul Calibur’s camp high fantasy world – even when you’re pulling massive bombs out of God-knows-where and hurling them across the stage. It just fits.
You know what doesn’t fit, though? Lightsabers. No amount of sci-fi reasoning, magic, or blaming it on wizards can make Yoda, Darth Vader, and (eurgh) Starkiller fit in the war-torn European and Silk Road settings of Soul Calibur. It just doesn’t track. Why Bandai Namco decided to shoehorn the trio of characters into the fourth Soul Calibur game, then, remains a mystery; it’s damaging to both brands, it makes no sense canonically, and – more than anything else – it’s just all a bit tacky (or should that be Taki?)"
