PS2

SoulCalibur III

Soulcalibur III (ソウルキャリバーIII, Sōrukyaribā Surī) is a 2005 fighting game developed and published by Namco as a sequel to Soulcalibur II (2002) and the fourth installment in the Soulcalibur series. It was originally released for the PlayStation 2 and was followed by an improved arcade version, subtitled Arcade Edition, in 2006.

FightingStrategy

Time to beat: about 2.4 hours

Overview

Soulcalibur III is a 2005 fighting game developed and published by Namco as a sequel to Soulcalibur II (2002) and the fourth installment in the Soulcalibur series. It was originally released for the PlayStation 2 and was followed by an improved arcade version, subtitled Arcade Edition, in 2006. It was the last Soulcalibur game to receive an arcade version and was also the last to be released by Namco as an independent company. Soulcalibur III received a mainly positive reception, and it was followed by a sequel under Namco Bandai Games, Soulcalibur IV (2008).

The game includes new modes such as Tales of Souls, an interactive story-driven mode comparable to Edge Master Mode from Soul Edge; Character Creation, in which players can create custom characters from 13 total occupations, with multiple weapons and fighting styles; and Chronicles of the Sword, a real-time-play mode that allows players to take their created souls through adventures of their own. The game also has the largest character roster, 24 characters playable in Tales of Souls mode and an additional 18 playable in all other modes, and largest battle stage selection in Soul series history.

This game takes place shortly after the events of Soulcalibur II, in 1590. The amount of time is not specified, but taking into account the various characters' profiles, a minimum of four months has already passed (one month needed to carry Kilik and Xianghua back to his master's hermit, three months that took Kilik to surpass his master's training).

The console version of the game was first released in North America on October 25, 2005. A soundtrack for the game was released as Soulcalibur III Original Soundtrack, Legend of Sounds. Two guide books were released in Japan in November, December 2005: Famitsus Soul Calibur III Starting Guide Book and Namco's own Soul Calibur III Official Complete Guide.

The game has generally positive reviews with an aggregate score of 86/100 on Metacritic. IGN lauded it for its "stunning environment" and "charming characters" but thought that the game could use more diverse sound effects. GameSpot praised the "fun, fast-paced gameplay" but criticized the lack of online play.