Soul Blade
PlayStation * Namco

Review by Michael Vafeas
9.5

Namco has been a key licensee for Sony since the release of the PlayStation over two years ago. Namco's arcade games are titles that have won the respect of gamers and critics alike, and their PlayStation conversions of these games have not only delivered everything that we have come to expect from a successful translation, but have often surpassed their respective arcade counterparts in the process. Playing Tekken 2 in the arcade is awesome. Playing Tekken 2 at home whenever, wherever, and against whomever you like is a Tekken fan's dream come true, and was made possible by the unrelenting effort of Namco. Namco's last completed effort for the arcade was the surprisingly not-so-successful Soul Edge, which featured the same tournament combat theme, but set in the past and featuring warriors armed with various...well...blades (duh?). The inclusion of weapons changed the mechanics of the standard Tekken format, and we were left with what seems to be best described as a cross between Samurai Shodown and Toshinden. Though Soul Blade---the new title, which is apparently attributed to litigation concerns in the United States---takes bits and pieces from existing games, it surpasses all past efforts in 3-D weapon combat and gives us yet another reason to thank our friends at Namco for producing such beauty.

Beauty seems to be a preoccupation with most Namco games, and following the established tradition, Soul Blade features some of the most gorgeous sights in any videogame. Indeed, just watching the cinematic introduction of quality which almost defies description was enough to give my retinas a temporary seizure. Recovering from this, I proceeded to play the game, which sported every graphical trick in the book. Light sourcing, transparencies, motion trails, 3-D backgrounds...you name it, Soul Blade has it, save for the 60 fps frame rate, which was cut in half but still looks wonderful. Attention to details such as overgrown grass blowing in the wind and background changes from day to night makes for a graphical experience which ups the ante for all future fighting games.

Soul Blade also features some beautiful, if forgettable, music and sound effects. The Tekken-ish yells and grunts are here, accompanied by some new (and mildly interesting) "ching" sounds of blades striking one another and different attack sounds. The soundtrack tries to impress, and does a fair job but offers more instruments than good composition. Still, it works, and fits well in the game.

Soul Blade is controlled using a four button system, which works conveniently with the PlayStation controller, which has exactly four action face buttons (wow, what a coincidence, huh?). Each character has two weapon attacks and a kick, and one button is reserved for blocking. While this might initially seem a bit odd for those who have become accustomed to High/Low or Right/Left button configurations, you'll find that the controls work fine after a minimal amount of practice and using the ever-so-useful practice mode. The attacks, though some look overly violent, do not usually take an obscene amount of energy, which helps give the gameplay a good balance. However, the slight lag time it takes for your character to attack gets in the way, and the game consequently lacks that perfect control found in Street Fighter and Virtua Fighter games. Dodging is also a nice touch, although it is not always effective. Additionally, a well-executed AI, a couple of different modes and a decent number of characters (although not nearly as much as that of Tekken 2) add considerably to the game.

After playing games like this, it forces me to consider what would have been the course events had Namco taken Sega's side instead. It must be said that games like this have contributed much to the PlayStation's success, and with good reason. The combination of great graphics, good music, and decent gameplay have once again made another fine Namco title, and one that most PlayStation owners should love.


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