Soul Calibur II – XB – Preview

E3 2003 – Hands On (GameCube)

Generating steam in the arcades and most recently in Japan, Soul Calibur 2 is promising to live up
to the amazingly high standards to its predecessor, Soul Calibur.  Like the original, Soul Calibur 2
will be a weapons-based fighter, and will feature characters old and new to the series, including a
new character named Necrid designed by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane.  In an added bonus, each
console will feature a different exclusive hidden character.  The PS2 version will feature Heihachi
from the Tekken series, the X-Box version will feature Spawn, and the GameCube version will have
Link from the Legend of Zelda series making a special guest appearance.

Upon
playing it, I found Soul Calibur 2 to feature pretty much the same great gameplay of its predecessor
with a few tweaks here and there.  The combat system has been better balanced, making it so moves
won’t eat up more of more life bar than they should, and the other all fighting system felt smoother
and more sophisticated.  The new characters (even Link) fit right in with the classic gang, which is
still composed of most of the series favorites, like Voldo, Kilik and Nightmare.  The game also
features a plethora of extra modes, like Survival Mode, Team Battle Mode, and the all-new Weapon
Master mode.

The
original Soul Calibur is considered by some to be the best 3D fighting game ever made, and this
August, it stands to be replaced by Soul Calibur 2.