30 Second Review (a.k.a. Abridged Version)
Namco's apology for not bringing SoulCalibur IV to the Wii isn't so much an apology as salt in the wound. An interesting concept that quickly leads to Waggle Flailing(TM) and buyer's remorse.
Full review
DISCLAIMER: I didn't buy this game. I didn't even pay money to rent it. No, I'm not using a modded Wii, nor did I shoplift the game. I used a free rental coupon at a Hollywood Video--one that I obtained fairly after buying a Nintendo DS Lite (a black one, in case you're curious).
SoulCalibur Legends, as mentioned in the Abridged Version, is essentially Namco's apology to Wii owners for not bringing SoulCalibur IV to the Wii.
Namco: You would have been better off slapping us in the face and telling us to buy a 360. At least that wouldn't cost gamers $50 USD.
To be fair, the concept of SoulCalibur Legends is an interesting one: Your motions correspond to the on-screen character. Swing your Wii Remote down to perform a vertical attack. Swing the Remote sideways for a horizontal attack. Swing the Nunchuck downward to dash forward; swing it upward to jump back. It's a cool idea.
Unfortunately, the level design confirms any fears you might have had that this game was a rushed budget title. Nearly every room I encountered was square or rectangular. Haven't played SoulCalibur Legends? Save yourself $50 for the game or $8 for a rental and read this instead:
One of the stages is called an "arena." I guess Namco thought that made it okay to keep the players on a round stone floor for the entire stage. I'm not kidding. The whole stage.
Those of you who love the 3D Gauntlet games should avoid this game like the plague. Seriously, this game makes the level design in GUNZ look like Renaissance art.
The sudden increase of difficulty doesn't help, either. (Yeh, I'm talkin' about that flying dragon at the end of the second or third stage.)
This is yet another example of a Wii game with a great concept and poor execution. If Namco had actually hired level designers instead of throwing together simple shapes and respawning skeletons with spears, this could have been really cool.
Don't get me wrong--the game is fun...for about 10 minutes. After that, you realize the game is essentially a tech demo (think Quake 3 minus competitive multiplayer and without the ability to mod the game).
But, truth be told, I can't stay mad at Namco. I'll probably be pricing 360s as soon as they announce a release date for SoulCalibur IV--because they know that the legion of SoulCalibur fans would storm their office and club them into submission with Nerf bats if they released SCIV half-baked like they did with SoulCalibur Legends.
Save your money and go buy The Orange Box for the PC (if you haven't already).
Namco's apology for not bringing SoulCalibur IV to the Wii isn't so much an apology as salt in the wound. An interesting concept that quickly leads to Waggle Flailing(TM) and buyer's remorse.
Full review
DISCLAIMER: I didn't buy this game. I didn't even pay money to rent it. No, I'm not using a modded Wii, nor did I shoplift the game. I used a free rental coupon at a Hollywood Video--one that I obtained fairly after buying a Nintendo DS Lite (a black one, in case you're curious).
SoulCalibur Legends, as mentioned in the Abridged Version, is essentially Namco's apology to Wii owners for not bringing SoulCalibur IV to the Wii.
Namco: You would have been better off slapping us in the face and telling us to buy a 360. At least that wouldn't cost gamers $50 USD.
To be fair, the concept of SoulCalibur Legends is an interesting one: Your motions correspond to the on-screen character. Swing your Wii Remote down to perform a vertical attack. Swing the Remote sideways for a horizontal attack. Swing the Nunchuck downward to dash forward; swing it upward to jump back. It's a cool idea.
Unfortunately, the level design confirms any fears you might have had that this game was a rushed budget title. Nearly every room I encountered was square or rectangular. Haven't played SoulCalibur Legends? Save yourself $50 for the game or $8 for a rental and read this instead:
- Enter rectangular room A.
- Wave the Wii Remote around to kill stuff.
- Game spawns second group of enemies.
- Wave the Wii Remote around to kill stuff.
- Game spawns third group of enemies.
- Wave the Wii Remote around to kill stuff.
- Doors open.
- Proceed to rectangular room B (which looks remarkably similar to room A).
- Wave the Wii Remote around to kill stuff.
- Rinse and repeat.
One of the stages is called an "arena." I guess Namco thought that made it okay to keep the players on a round stone floor for the entire stage. I'm not kidding. The whole stage.
Those of you who love the 3D Gauntlet games should avoid this game like the plague. Seriously, this game makes the level design in GUNZ look like Renaissance art.
The sudden increase of difficulty doesn't help, either. (Yeh, I'm talkin' about that flying dragon at the end of the second or third stage.)
This is yet another example of a Wii game with a great concept and poor execution. If Namco had actually hired level designers instead of throwing together simple shapes and respawning skeletons with spears, this could have been really cool.
Don't get me wrong--the game is fun...for about 10 minutes. After that, you realize the game is essentially a tech demo (think Quake 3 minus competitive multiplayer and without the ability to mod the game).
But, truth be told, I can't stay mad at Namco. I'll probably be pricing 360s as soon as they announce a release date for SoulCalibur IV--because they know that the legion of SoulCalibur fans would storm their office and club them into submission with Nerf bats if they released SCIV half-baked like they did with SoulCalibur Legends.
Save your money and go buy The Orange Box for the PC (if you haven't already).
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