The tale of souls and swords, eternally retold may have been told quite a few times now, but Soulcalibur II is the finest in the long-running series. Expanding on the foundations of the other Project Soul games, this sprawling game did things on a bigger scale. The full roster of the varied, memorable fighters of Soulcalibur returned with the likes of Astaroth, Cervantes and Nightmare inspiring terror in players while fighters like Mitsurugi, Maxi and Kilik catered for players craving a good guy. The addition of Cassandra (fighting style adapted from Sophitia), Yun-seong (adapted from Hwang), Raphael and Talim (both entirely unique) gave players even more choice, as did the additions of collectible alternative costumes and weaponry which could alter your fighters statistics like power, defense and special abilities. Namco's 2002 game has an equally expansive selection of game modes. As well as the usual fare of an arcade mode, time attack mode, team battle mode, survival battle mode and training mode, there is also a Weapon Master Mode which challenges its players with moving around a map defeating enemies to gain money which can be used to acquire the games many collectibles. The mode is irksomely addictive and while consuming a great deal of time will ensure you are a master Soulcalibur player by the time youre done hoarding all those collectibles.
Hailing from South East London, Sam Heard is an aspiring writer and recent graduate from the University of Warwick. Sam's favourite things include energy drinks, late nights spent watching the UFC with his girlfriend and annihilating his friends at FIFA.
