The latest iteration in the “Soul Calibur” series is no longer an upcoming release. The much-anticipated “Soul Calibur IV” hit retail chains this past Tuesday, and I, like many fans, have spent much of the past two days in a world populated by walking, armored lizards and scantly-clad females.
Unsurprisingly, the game is very similar to its predecessors. The title’s strengths are the weapons-based combat and the addictive multiplayer offerings, while the lackluster singleplayer offerings are far less enjoyable.
This is a trend, which is quite prevalent in the fighting genre, leads me to question the necessity of solo modes in games intended to be multiplayer experiences.
I am not advocating the death of the singleplayer experience. In fact, my feelings are much the opposite. When crafted correctly, as in games like Uncharted, Okami and Psychonauts, story-driven solo adventures can provide some the most brilliant and memorable experiences offered by a console. I still have yet to find a title that makes me feel the way “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” did.
However, I am beginning to notice that there are certain games that would benefit from the absence of a generic singleplayer campaign.
“Soul Calibur IV,” in my opinion, is one of those games.
The latest entry in the series features three solo offerings (Story, Arcade and The Tower of Lost Souls). Each has features that differentiate it from the other two (treasure collection in The Tower of Lost Souls and some semblance of character development in Story mode), but the premise is essentially the same. Players are pitted against an opponent (or opponents) and must defeat said foe (or foes) to advance to the next round.
This is usually where I would take the time to bash the laughably-shallow stories crafted for each combatant in the game. However, as I have ignored (read: skipped) every single cutscene throughout my play sessions, I am unable to do that. I am so completely detached from the characters and their stories, that I am unwilling to devote even a few seconds to a video detailing Kilik’s triumphant victory over Algol.
The reason for my apathy is quite simple. The stories presented in most fighting games are utter garbage. Sure, some are better than others. However, none are ever deep, enthralling experiences that enhance gameplay. As a result, these cutscenes only serve as an interruption to the best part of any fighting game, the combat. Personally, the only reason I slogged through the story mode was to earn gold to unlock characters, illustrations and various items for the character creation mode.
In previous “Soul Calibur” games, characters were unlocked through the completion of the Story/Arcade mode. After each completion, a new warrior would join the fray (not to be confused with that awful band).
Things are a bit different this time around. Characters are not unlocked. They are purchased for 4,000 gold pieces. Gold can be earned through the solo modes or by winning ranked matches online (I got 2,000 from my singular online victory). Therefore, you don’t have to rely on the arcade and story modes to earn money. You can’t bypass the solo offerings completely (some things can only be unlocked through Story, Arcade and The Tower of Lost Souls), but you don’t need to rely on them as heavily as in past games.
However, earning money online will take substantially longer for those not worthy of the title “Soul Calibur” prodigy. Though, I suspect some will spend an extended period of time with “Soul Calibur IV” anyway.
There is more weapons-based goodness on page two.
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It’s true enough. Back in the day, Streetfighter 2 managed perfectly well with3 simple parts:
1) This is your character’s backstory
2) This is why your character is fighting
3) This is what happens after you beat everyone
No more, no less. Same with Killer Instinct and Mortal Kombat (before it became too crappy). You didn’t need to search for a magical artifact or collect a certain number of items or anything like that. It was about the fights, not the story.
Sure, you got a story as a reward at the end, but it didn’t force it down your throat.
I don’t need a story for soul caliber, i just wanna kill people.
Although I can’t do that much anyway.
Tekken had some interesting character stories. They even made a really good (anime) movie of it.
But I think the best characterization of any “fighter” would have to be Twisted Metal Black. The only reason I went back and played through with every character (using cheat codes) was to get their stories.
Look at Shadow Run: the developer chose to have no single player and consequently the lack of any single player was reviewer’s main critisism.
Instead of getting rid of single player in fighting games (or stripping it down to an arcade mode) I think they should devote time to the complete opposite: improving it.
What of those without internet access or who simply don’t want to play a game with people because they suck/don’t know anyone who likes that kind of game? What about when the game looses its popularity and nobody plays it anymore? And what of having your gaming experience so dependant upon the other people you are playing with?
ALL games should have a robust single player mode.