Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I could probably spend all day writing an article about why this game is a complete waste of time for fans of the series, but instead I'll opt to list my biggest problems: 1. As everyone else, from gaming site reviewers to customers here, has already noted, the story mode is a joke. Literally. You will laugh at the unintentionally awful "dramatic" lines. It takes about 90 minutes to complete, there's ONE ending, none of it is interesting or challenging, and you only get to play three characters (with some minor move variations). Why is this so bad? Might have something to do with the fact that the devs OUTSOURCED the story mode to another company, one that decided to craft what is arguably the first coherent story found in a Soul Calibur game but one that also lacks any semblance of joy. It is filled with anime cliches, an unlikable hero, terrible writing, mostly static cutscenes, and three of the less fun-to-play characters (although that's obviously a matter of opinion). On the other hand, you can rack up some quick and dirty trophies. What I wouldn't give for a return to challenge modes of Soul Calibur or SCIV instead of this crapola. Or, heck, Tekken 6's story mode was terrible but at least it was substantial and let you unlock each character's CG ending. 2. The arcade mode is now a time trial mode and nothing else. That's right, gone is the 15-year legacy of fun little stories for each character, the in-engine endings of Soul Blade and Soul Calibur IV, or even the lame written endings of Soul Calibur 1 and 2. You get six stages, timed, and that's it. Only one path is ranked and you can change the difficulty from a lamentably easy "normal" to a ball-burstingly frustrating "hard." Look, it's not like the Soul Calibur series was ever known for its narrative or incredible variety of modes, but there's something to be said for game developers who don't just phone it in while ignoring fans of single-player modes. The complete lack of attention paid to single player was excusable for Broken Destiny on the PSP because it was a portable version (and quite frankly, it was amazing that they could port SC4 to the PSP, so we were thankful and overlooked the blemishes), but in the era of Mortal Kombat's lengthy story mode, KOF XIII, or the Blazblue games, this is completely inexcusable. There's essentially only half of a great game in your $60 disc. 3. The new characters are terrible additions. Ezio is passable, and Z.W.E.I. is... well... interesting (he summons some kind of bizarre wolf-orb-thing). The rest are padding. Most are copies or riffs of older characters who have been excised from the fifth entry. 4. This one is perhaps the most subjective problem listed here, but I can't stand the Street Fighter-izing of this game. Soul Calibur's new interpretation of SFIV's "ultras" feel way too easy and cheap and they give the game a "LEARN TO PUT THESE INTO YOUR COMBOS OR ELSE!!!" tourney vibe that's somehow out of character with what you'd expect of a Soul Calibur game. Some may dig this, some will just think it's a new layer of nuance added to the versus matches, but I didn't appreciate what felt like an egregious ripoff of a game that's practically in a different fighting sub-genre. Positives? It's marginally better-looking than SC4, there are difficult challenges available (mainly through difficulty choices and the unlockable Legendary Soul mode) that may keep you interested, the music is nice, and at its core, it's still Soul Calibur. Oh, and the character creation is a little more usable this time. Only buy this if you a.) have too much money sitting around and absolutely MUST have every triple-A release before it gets discounted, or b.) are such a diehard player of Soul Calibur's versus mode that you just can't stand to pass up the latest entry for fear that your friends will make fun of you. Otherwise, in no way is this blatant cash-in and middle finger to fans of the series worth $60. If you're like me, you'll want to "critical edge" Namco right in the jaw after playing this game.