Soulcalibur II

I never had the privilege of playing the first Soul Calibur game so I can't compare that and Soul Calibur II. It sort of has a Tekken III feel but the control is better and you have more to do in your environment. However, fighting games are very limited as far as their gameplay goes and have been for a while up until now. Soul Calibur II changed some of that, it gives players more to do than just sitting there mashing buttons and hoping you can beat the computer which can duck and block your every move, there is some strategy in it, most of it (as mentioned previously) has to do with the environment, also the variety of weapons and characters, and most importantly, the gameplay itself.

Aside from having beautiful graphics and some of the most detailed areas I've ever seen, the environment also has a lot of hidden dangers in some cases, which makes the strategy more intense. At times you will play special missions in which the only way to defeat the enemy is by knocking him against the wall, throwing him out of the ring, and things like that.

What would a game be without characters and their kick-tail weapons? The answer of course is nothing. And this game is far from nothing with the variety of characters and weapons at your command. With secret characters and dozens of battle gear to unlock, there is a lot of replay value because you'll always be sitting there thinking "just 100 more gold and I can buy the Razor Sword for Link, just 100 more."

And finally the gameplay itself. The controls are tight which makes it easy to swing that two-ton battle axe out there giving great pain to the reciever. The game is sometimes repetitive as far as the actual fighting goes, especially in the dungeons where you have to navigate and take paths that are usually the wrong ones. But one thing that can fix all of that in an instant is multiplayer mode! You'll have to take turns with all of your friends because it's only two player but it's well worth it. You can unlock different kinds of multiplayer modes which is a plus. One cool multiplayer option I like is team battle. In team battle you can choose up to six characters and you battle another player who has there six people. If one in your team is defeated then next character in line enters the ring. It's great fun, especially when your friend is losing all his guys trying to beat Raphael who is the first person in your team.

Good areas, characters and weapons, and gameplay itself, make an awesome game, and that is exactly what this is. If you love fighting games then this is the one!