SoulCalibur V might have been a good game if it was released in 1995. As it is, the game loses everything fans liked about the SoulCalibur series.
For starters, the story mode is shockingly lacking. It takes barely over an hour to play through, and the actual gameplay takes less than 30 minutes. The story mode is filled with cut scenes that aren’t actually scenes at all, they’re black and white sketches with text and voice acting. It is like reading a black and white comic strip. The sparse CGI cutscenes use the in-game graphics as opposed to being of cinematic quality. What’s more, the player has no control over the storyline – all the player does is fight, while the characters do all the talking, traveling and decision making. It could be said that the story of SoulCalibur V is coherent, but this does not make it good. There is little satisfaction to be had, and the character interactions are not always believable. There is a lot of melodrama between the characters who have massive changes of heart in the span of 30 second cut scenes.
The story mode does let the player control a few different characters, but not many. In fact, many characters do not see an appearance at all in the story mode, although they do appear in other modes. On this note, a bunch of popular characters from previous SC games are cut entirely, namely Xianghua, Taki, and Seong-Mina, among others. As replacements, SoulCalibur V offers a few new heroes, most of whom aren’t strikingly unique, and are poor imitations of previously loved characters.
Overall, there are less features in SoulCalibur V than its predecessors. There are less games modes, and strikingly less features to be unlocked. There are no CGI cut sequences or movies to be unlocked, no new weapons, portraits, etc. What SoulCalibur V does have is a character customization mode where the player can create a unique character for online play. The options are fairly extensive and allow for some comical or cool characters. However, most changes are purely aesthetic and do not affect the actual gameplay.
Some customers, of course, will only be looking for the actual fighting. This is fair, SoulCalibur V is, after all, a fighting game. And thankfully, it does deliver. The graphics are beautiful, and the colors in the fights are striking and engaging. The gameplay is fast-paced, and there are some pretty sweet effects.
Essentially, if you are looking to play versus other players online for hours on end, have at it. Otherwise, the game seems only 20 percent complete, and there isn’t much to warrant the $60.00 price tag.