Soulcalibur IV
This article is about the video game. For the weapon, see Soul Calibur.
Soulcalibur IV is a fighting game by Namco. This installment is unique to the series, as Namco and LucasArts came to an agreement to include Darth Vader (exclusive to PlayStation 3) and Yoda (Xbox 360) as playable fighters. Galen Marek, the secret apprentice of Darth Vader from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, was also made an unlockable character under the name "The Apprentice" in both console versions; however, his endings are different in the two versions; the PS3 version is longer and features Darth Vader.
On October 23rd, 2008 Yoda and Vader were both made downloadable content for the systems they were not natively on. Vader costing 400 MS points and Yoda costing $4.99. These changes allowed Vader to be in the second to last battle of Yoda's story mode, and Yoda in Vader's. It also extended the ending of The Apprentice's story mode on the 360 version to that of the PS3 version.
An Infinities comic titled Star Wars: Visions of the Blade was later published on StarWars.com to provide a possible explanation as to how Darth Vader, Yoda, and The Apprentice (named Starkiller in the comic) ended up in the Soulcalibur IV universe.
Gameplay[]
Players control one of many selectable characters at a time to battle others. Modes featured include standard Story, Arcade, and Training modes, as well as a create-a-character feature and the new Tower of Lost Souls mode, which offers players the chance to participate in special battles to gain rewards.
Unique to the Star Wars characters are Force abilities. Each of the three characters has a special Force Meter, which drains and recharges based on the players' use of Force attacks, as well as different sets of abilities from the others. Darth Vader has been given Force push and choke; Yoda uses the Force to propel himself higher into the air than most characters to unleash more complex aerial combos; and The Apprentice utilizes various dark side attacks, such as Force lightning.
One game level is Star Wars-themed and is called Star Destroyer Docking Bay; it displays a space loading platform. A Lambda-class T-4a shuttle is landed near the fighters. A Death Star can be seen in the background as well as a Star Destroyer and TIE Fighters flying in what seems to be a supposed space battle.
Notes[]
- Three actors from the Star Wars universe reprise their roles in this video game:
- Sam Witwer reprises his role as Galen Marek.
- Matt Sloan reprises his role as Darth Vader.
- Tom Kane reprises his role as Yoda.
- Of course, this also applies to the main-stay Japanese seiyū of the series for the Japanese version of the game:
- The late Ichirō Nagai reprised Yoda.
- Tōru Ōhira reprises his role as Darth Vader.
- However, Galen receives his only one-time Japanese voice provided by Shūhei Sakaguchi. It is unknown if Sakaguchi will reprise his role in future appearances since a Japanese-dubbed version of The Force Unleashed was not considered at the time.
- Of course, this also applies to the main-stay Japanese seiyū of the series for the Japanese version of the game:
- Three characters from the Soulcalibur universe, Mitsurugi, Astaroth and Taki, are the only characters to appear in official Star Wars material relating to the game - the comic Star Wars: Visions of the Blade. For a list of all other characters see List of Soul series characters on Wikipedia.
Star Wars Character Images[]
Sources[]
Swords and Lightsabers Clash in Soulcalibur IV on StarWars.com (original site is defunct)
Notes and references[]
External links[]
- Official English website (backup link; content now obsolete)
- Official Japanese website (backup link; content now obsolete)
Soulcalibur IV on Wikipedia- Soulcalibur Wiki