By now Namco has easily proven that they know how to make great fighting games. Tekken 5 was absolutely fantastic and their contrasting Soul series of fighting games have been some of the most acclaimed games ever made, particularly in the second and third instalments (Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast and Soul Calibur II for the current generation consoles). The fourth instalment, Soul Calibur III, is the first in the series not to hit the arcades, instead being exclusively tailor made for the PlayStation 2.

If you're a fan of the Soul series, especially those who have been with it since Soul Edge/Soul Blade, you're going to be in heaven. Not only is the gameplay just as good as it has been before (with some minor adjustments, most notably to the blocking system), but each and every main character from the series makes a return in this game... though it will take a lot of hard work to discover them all! However, that list does not include Todd McFarlane's guest character from SCII, Necrid, who is scrapped completely.

Soul Calibur III features a wealth of new modes that would take me a great while to talk about in-depth, so I'll try to be brief! Tale of Souls is a new single player mode that replaces the traditional mode that you usually see in fighting games. Comparable to the original Edge Master Mode in Soul Blade, here you select a character and follow his or her path and role in SCIII, making various story choices along the way that reflect the scenes you see, as well as the characters you face. No longer do you fight other characters for no reason - each and every battle has a story behind it. It's easily the best "quick style" arcade mode for any fighting game and has some actual rendered endings to boot (two for each character, in fact).

One thing I dislike about the mode, however, is the mini-games which included (twice per story) that ask you to press specific buttons quickly, Shenmue style. Usually it's one or two buttons, but the problem is that the icons are so small and discreet that half the time you might not even see them! Which is unfortunate, as there is always one during the endings and it will greatly effect the ending you see... luckily you can easily go to the theater and replay the ending, only this time making sure you get the buttons right! Aside from this arcade mode, you'll find numerous tournament and league style modes, as well as a simple quick play option and various other single player challenges. The main mode, however, is the brand new Chronicles of the Sword adventure that takes Soul Calibur in a whole new direction.

Some fans really wanted there to be guest characters this year, such as Link, Heihechi, Spawn and Necrid from the previous titles... Namco's answer to that was to simply let them design the characters they wanted and this character (as well as any other characters you make) are used in the Chronicles of the Sword mode, where you'll see very few actual SCIII characters. The custom character mode is surprisingly deep, allowing multiple layers of clothes, armour, masks, hairstyles, belts, etc. Full colour options are available as well (and even the ability to change the colours of the official roster) and up to 13 different job classes to assign your character, ranging from Assassin to Ninja, Thief to Knight, Gladiator to Barbarian and everything in between (including dancer, sage, monk, and pirate!)

Each class has specific disciplines they can achieve, which represent the styles they fight in. Instead of simply putting one of the SCIII character's style on your own guy (which you can do), Namco has developed a huge amount of new styles that none of the main roster uses, so expect to see masses of brand new styles and weapons in the game that have never been used or seen in Soul Calibur before. The character creation mode, as well as all the styles, weapons, gear and items you can buy for them is huge, in-depth and superb all around. Unfortunately, the mode you use them in is severely lacking.

In Chronicles of the Sword you command the young soldier you created to lead a cavalry of other soldiers into battle (up to five at a time, though you can have many more than that on your squad). Surprisingly, and perhaps shockingly, this mode plays like a strategy game, where you move your soldiers around a battlefield trying to capture enemy strongholds whilst defending your own. It sounds like a great mode, but it really is just dreadfully boring and actual strategy rarely plays a large part. Watching your characters run from point A to point B is not particularly exciting, and once you do get to point B you'll be even more frustrated when you lose due to bizarre stipulations, such as no blocking, or offensive attacks being reduced... only to travel back to the structure again, to try over.

Sure, the stipulations make it challenging and I really wouldn't mind them at all if I didn't have to travel back and forth between fighting and watching my characters run around - which is even worse due to constant load times. On paper the mode sounds like a good idea, and SC experts will enjoy the ability to set up their characters and decide who fights what, and with which weapon, but the actual execution of the mode leaves an awful lot to be desired and I would much prefer a return to the SCII mode - after all, it had the same stipulations, but without waiting for your character to run to the building to fight. Still, being able to send out more than one character to a certain battle is a cool idea and the mode does have some strong points, one of which is that it lasts 20 challenging missions, but it just doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the game. The story itself is also a departure, which focuses on the background and history of the countries in which the game takes place, instead of the actual swords it's titled after.

Outside of this mode, Soul Calibur III is almost flawless. Hell, I wouldn't feel the need to even dock the game for this mode if you weren't required to play it to unlock hundreds of items. The creation mode is fantastic, the huge roster is a blessing to veterans, all the new styles are great additions and some of the new weapons are seriously cool. The stories for the individual characters are excellent and worth playing the Tale of Souls mode for - but expect to see newcomer Zasalamel a hell of a lot, as he plays a major role and seems to be the new main character, a bit like Raven's role in Tekken 5.

The presentation of Soul Calibur III is also up the classily high standards that we've come to expect that from this series; the backgrounds are drop dead gorgeous, full of rich colours that make them look like something you'd be proud to hang on your wall. They truly make the game feel like an epic fantasy from a storybook, as they should, since the game is a retelling of the legend of the two swords! Animations and character models are top notch as well, looking and moving better than they ever have before. For the most part the sound is just as good, with the exception of the dubbed voice track; most of the characters' voices just don't seem to fit and either lack emotion or have way too much. Luckily, the option to hear the original Japanese is available. The music is, as always, on a grand, epic scale with a full orchestra and completes the package perfectly.

Fans of the Soul Calibur franchise will find it hard to be disappointed with this game. But, as much as I consider myself a fan of fighting games, I did find myself walking away in a bit of a mope. I couldn't really put my finger on it... the Chronicles of the Sword mode certainly was one aspect of it, as I really would have preferred a more traditional mode in its place with less strategy and more fighting. However, there's something else.

I'm not one of these fighting game fans that memorises every combo, the damage each attack does and in what state it leaves the enemy. I find much more enjoyment out of the battle itself and not having to worry about pulling off a huge combo, or doing a specific move to set my enemy up for a major fall. But I don't button mash, either; I take absolute joy in blocking, dodging and striking at the right time, regardless of the damage or effectiveness of the attack. In this regard, Soul Calibur doesn't deliver as much as I had hoped, especially considering that it's weapons based. The battles don't feel as exciting and enjoyable as, say, Tekken 5. They come off as much more technical, where you almost need to memorise specifics to enjoy it, although I guess that's what SC is about and why it has such a hardcore following. If you don't understand every technical aspect of the gameplay, you're also likely to get destroyed in the later Chronicles mode (the other single player modes are surprisingly easy) - not only are there rough stipulations but enemies love to pull off 'dirty' tactics, including doing standing combos to the air knowing that you'll get up and inevitably hit it when you do.

Perhaps Soul Calibur III was developed with the hardcore, technical players in mind who do memorise everything and for them the game will be a dream come true. For those casual players who just enjoy a good unpredictable battle and don't like to know exactly what move to do at all times, Soul Calibur III may not be what you're looking for. You cannot deny that there is plenty of excellent fighting action to be had, while both the graphics and audio are superb, but somehow it's not the mind-blowing follow up to the mind-blowing game that came before it, and that everyone is anticipating.

Reviewed by Christopher Martin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).