Secret Apprentice for Soulcalibur IV News
Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 News by Robert Purchese
Namco Bandai has decided to include the Secret Apprentice from The Force Unleashed in its upcoming fighter Soulcalibur IV.
That means you will be able to clash lightsabers with either mentor Darth Vader (exclusive to PS3) or light side leader Yoda (exclusive to Xbox 360) on the Imperial Battlecruiser stage accompanied by the John Williams Star Wars theme.
Not that you would want to fight Yoda, mind you; we had a chance to play as and against him at the recent UbiDays event, and soon learned he was too small to either grab or hit with high attacks.
Apparently his weakness is his short reach, but he, like Vader, has a Force meter to produce fancy jumps with - in the hands of an expert he can stay air-bound for quite some time.
Vader fought a little more traditionally, which is presumably the way his apprentice will. And both will sport red lightsabers, which is very much the in-colour this season.
The demo we played had characters Hilde with her spear and short-sword, Siegfried with his enormous blade, and Mitsurugi with his samurai powers - plus the two Star Wars additions.
Soulcalibur IV is absolutely gorgeous and behaves as gracefully as previous games in the series, albeit with the fresh Critical Finisher and destructible armour features to make things a little less defensive.
Critical Finishers can be activated after you pummel a defending enemy enough to turn their Soul Gauge black. It only changes for the briefest of moments, but if you can press all four face buttons in a particular order in that time, you unleash a killing move, regardless of how much health your enemy has.
Vader throws his opponents up in the air and then launches his lightsaber after them to spin around and generally chops them up. His was among the weakest of the bunch we saw.
Soulcalibur IV is due out for Xbox 360 and PS3 on 31st July, catch the latest trailer, featuring the Secret Apprentice reveal, over on EGTV.
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Comments: 1-42 of 42 in total
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I remember either Gamespot or IGN were doing a feature on the two SW characters and they happened to mention there were a few framerate issues on the PS3 version. Presumambly (having played both versions) you should be able to say if this is true or not...
It would definitely figure into which version I buy.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 06/06/08 @ 09:28
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I would love them to use the tech from apprentice to make Jedi Academy 2. I liked the mission structure of that one. The thought of being an old style Jedi Knight appeals to me. Going around the galaxy either taking part on negotiations (we all know a Jedi ultimately ends up negotiating with a light saber) or rescues from dangerous planets etc. etc.
Effectively I want a sandbox style jedi game. |
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Mentalist(air)
06/06/08 @ 08:46
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some of those SW games were great
Yes, but generally they were the ones from before Episode 1 came out. Up until that point only Maters of teras kasei (or whatever it was called) was truly awful, most other Star wars games, from the vector arcade games to the SNES platformers to X-Wing and later Rogue Squadron were between decent and cracking. As soon as The Phantom menace and the likes of Super Bombad Racing came out, everything went to shit. Except KOTOR, which had the good sense to stay away from Lucas's assasination of his own franchise. |
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" It only changes for the briefest of moments, but if you can press all four face buttons in a particular order in that time, you unleash a killing move, regardless of how much health your enemy has.
Vader throws his opponents up in the air and then launches his lightsaber after them to spin around and generally chops them up. His was among the weakest of the bunch we saw." How can Vader's Critical Finisher be weaker than the others, if they all kill the enemy? |
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They're cramming a lot of content into this, so I'm just hoping that they've still concentrated on the one area that really matters (the gameplay you dummies;) If they have, then very good news indeed for having a beautiful, enjoyable and amazingly substantial game.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 06/06/08 @ 09:50
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@ Mentalist(air)
Not everything was crap after Ep1. Racer was excellent, Phantom Menace (PC), BF, Ep3. There were a few good ones. I actually liked Masters of The Teras Kasi (still give it a go now an again, although it's not aged well at all). It's got a lot wrong but it is enjoyable (I know I'm in a VERY small minority!). Maybe if Namco and LA got together and made a proper SW beat 'em up...... / kneels and prays for a new SW beat 'em up
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 06/06/08 @ 10:00
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muscleblade
06/06/08 @ 08:53
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There is no question about it. Im buying SC4, the original SC and SWTFU.
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GordonCaladan
06/06/08 @ 09:03
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I really hope there's an option to switch off the Star Wars content. As much as I love Star Wars, I don't want it in my Soul Calibur.
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monkie_king
06/06/08 @ 09:31
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They should have put Old Ben Kenobi in, instead of Yoda, complete with Alex Guinness voice samples, and a special move that involves pivoting on the spot really slowly.
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farticusmaximus
06/06/08 @ 09:39
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How the fuck can you miserable morons complain that your are getting extra characters, regardless of where they come from? SC is SC, it will play like SC if you are playing Asteroth, Voldo, Vader, Mickey Mouse or fucking Bob Hoskins.
Moaning bastards. |
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RazorObsession
06/06/08 @ 10:05
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i really wanted to play as vader on 360, as he's a more iconic, cooler character than that muppet reject, but in terms of gameplay, I'm guessing that another big slow strong longsword character to add to the collection of big slow strong longsword fighters already abundant in the roster doesn't really add much to the strategy of things. a little midget will at least mix things up a bit.
opposite console characters available at a much later date as DLC FTW! |
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@farticusmaximus
Soul Calibur isn't Super Smash Brothers, and the visual and narrative coherency of the game is damaged by all these Star Wars cameos. I know nobody plays fighting games for the plot, but no matter how it plays, you have to admit that Mickey Mouse vs Bob Hoskins just wouldn't be Soul Calibur. If they just arbitrarily decided to include Halo's plasma rifle in Call of Duty, wouldn't you find that similarly jarring? |
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farticusmaximus
06/06/08 @ 10:29
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"opposite console characters available at a much later date as DLC FTW!"
I'm really hoping this is the case as I'd like to play as Vader. As a side note, pinstripes work really well on Vaders suit. Makes him look quite classy! Now there's an alternate costume idea for you Namco.. |
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farticusmaximus
06/06/08 @ 10:30
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@Gnort
"narrative coherency" - Seriously.... this is Soul Salibur... a bunch of randoms in a random arena pounding on each other... the phrase "narrative coherency" has no right to be within 100 yards of SC. In fact I'm applying for a restraining order! Anyway, Spawn vs. Necrid: Not SC lore but still the same sublime SC action. Nuff said.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 06/06/08 @ 11:36
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Mentalist(air)
06/06/08 @ 10:56
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How the fuck can you miserable morons complain that your are getting extra characters, regardless of where they come from?
Because it ruins the suspension of disbelief, instantly destroying the game's atmosphere. I just hope the star wars nonsense won't intrude on the singleplayer story mode. |
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farticusmaximus
06/06/08 @ 11:04
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"I just don't see Vader living in the same time era as Voldo"
Does that really make you enjoy the game any less? If it does then I feel sorry for you, and you really need to take that stick out of your ass. |
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"Soul Calibur isn't Super Smash Brothers, and the visual and narrative coherency of the game"
"it ruins the suspension of disbelief, instantly destroying the game's atmosphere." I cannot believe I've just seen these comments about an all-star beat-em-up game... seriously! Soul Calibur's "story" is as vapid as Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, it exists purely as an excuse and is irrelevant as soon as you hit Start. I'm just looking forward to smashing Yoda's stupid green head in with Nunchaku :-p |
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farticusmaximus
06/06/08 @ 12:39
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@menage
I see where you are coming from on this issue, I'm a big fan of lore and continuity in my media, be it book, film or game. The thing is Soul Calibur already throws together a carnival of camp misfits under the i-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-y thin pretext of a quest for a wacky sword. It's not a strong story, and there is no narrative actually happening during 2 player gameplay, which is where these characters will pop up. However, if you think the authenticity of a battle between, for example, a pirate and a space ninja is compromised by the presence of a Sith or Jedi (I hope you realise how rediculous that sounds) then fair enough, enjoy your stick and dont play the new characters. |
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@farticus.
See, that at least is a decent answer. Far better than that stick comment. Although it's a pretty nice stick. I don't really mind btw. I'm just sick of them trying to sell the whole game on these characters while the SC has plenty of cool ones on it's own. Go make a SW beat em up and be done with it then. (And one reason why Leia isn't here, she had a A-Cup). |
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farticusmaximus
06/06/08 @ 13:22
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"I'm just sick of them trying to sell the whole game on these characters"
It's inevitable that the promo material would feature them heavily. Does kind of make you wonder if they arent confident enough that their own franchise can sell the game? The beat-em-up market is due for some heavy saturation over the next few months, but no matter how many of the genre I own Soul Calibur will always take join first place with Fight Night for me ... with or without space men. ;) "(And one reason why Leia isn't here, she had a A-Cup)." /chuckle /teenagefantasies /droolymouth /bathroom /kleenex |
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statusjones
06/06/08 @ 14:11
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was i the only one who, when reading the headline, wondered why on earth the beeb and alan sugar were getting involved?
hmm... i guess so |
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SeesThroughAll
06/06/08 @ 14:16
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If ever there was a time it would make sense to allow cross-platform online, this is it!
Keep Vader and Yoda exclusive to each console, but allow them to fight each other online! |
Comments: 1-42 of 42 in total
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