Sword Raving Mad

Is Soul Calibur III going to KICK ARSE or what? Not only will it feature a totally out-of-this-world Character Creation mode, but according to the latest video released by the official site, SCIII's Story Mode is set to blow every other fighting game's namby-pamby excuse for this primary gameplay mode.

According to the Soul Calibur III developers, SCIII's Tale of Souls mode will be unique to each character. Each fighter will have a story that he or she will play through, and the mode will have them going through not only through the usual duels but interactive cinematics where they will be able to either make friends or enemies out of various supporting characters. There will also be paths to choose, so you can create your own tale and follow your warrior's adventures one way or the other. This non-linear, interactive and story-intensive way of doing the Story Mode is revolutionary considering that every other fighter so far basically just has a line of fights broken up by short, non-interactive cinemas as staple fare.

Darn. It's official... Soul Calibur III is the PS2's last, greatest fighting game. Let's hope every other fighter from now on follows its bloody magnificent trail. The slashing starts later in 2005, exclusively for the PS2.