Arcade-Junkies.com

With at least 34 confirmed characters to play, many game fans are anxiously awaiting the release of the fourth title in the Soul Calibur series. Announced newcomers to the game are Star Wars’ Darth Vader and Yoda only on the the PS3 and 360 versions respectively. Starkiller, Darth Vader’s apprentice from the upcoming Star Wars game Force Unleashed, will also make an appearance in both the 360 and PS3 versions. Interestingly enough, Namco’s Soul Calibur 4 website also seems to go along with this darkside/lightside idea and even divides the site into two counterparts.  As for the game, the in-game story has all the characters once again fighting for the legendary holy sword, the Soul Calibur, and it’s darkside opposite, the Soul Edge, complimenting the Star Wars philosophy of The Force.

Aside from the new characters, new features include High Definition capabilities, online play, new scenes and new “gameplay modes.” The Create Your Own Character mode returns, this time outfits and accessories will affect a characters offense or defense. One user from Opposible Thumbs mentions that outfits can be affected by gameplay, which, in one instance, resulted with Talim’s blouse falling off after receiving too many blows to the chest.

Just recently released at E3, the final boss of the game finally gets a name, Algol (picture to the right). After dawning the Soul Calibur in one hand and the Soul Edge in the other, the human Algol becomes a demi-god and battles whichever opponent who made it to the top.  Of course there is a more intricate story involved, however, that’s for gamers to find out when Soul Calibur 4 is released.

Soulcalibur 4 is set to release in the U.S. for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on July, 29th, 2008. Most of Europe, Australia and Japan will have to wait until July 31st, 2008, and the U.K., until August 1.

Sources:

Opposible Thumbs
IGN
PSU
Namco-Bandai
GamesAreFun