Soul Calibur IV

There are few more satisfying moments to a gamer than just before an enemy is vanquished – he’s already been well beaten, and all that is required is an elaborate killing move. It’s the sort of thing that got many of us started – sitting round a mate’s house, butchering each other on Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter all those years ago is all part of the package that got us hopelessly hooked.

Just as important to these initial killing sprees was Soul Calibur, one of the biggest and most popular scrapping games, originating like so many of the greats from the arcades. Soul Calibur is a great series for a few reasons – distinctive visuals, a wide variety of characters, a suitably odd back story, and, of course, the inclusion of lots of big bad swords.

The latest instalment brings the franchise bang up to date and as you’d expect with such a huge series, excitement is mounting, fingers are being flexed and diaries cleared. The first major step forward for the series is the addition of online modes, which will allow usually friendly folk from across the world to rain pain down upon people they have never met.

Competitive online play will come in classic one-on-one mode, or in Ultimate mode, where players can fight it out with their own customised characters. There will also be downloadable content to keep everybody hooked, but the key point here is that the online modes are going to be massively popular, and reason enough for old and new fans alike to get hold of the game.

“The big difference with Soul Calibur IV is the online feature,” agrees Ubisoft’s Lidia Rumley. “It will allow players to customise their own character and take it online to challenge all comers worldwide, as well as being able to take hold of a lightsaber as guest characters Darth Vader or Yoda.”

The addition of the two guest stars, refugees from George Lucas’ universe, will also no doubt prove a huge selling point and a pull for Star Wars fans (casual or completist) to jump onto the Soul Calibur bus. In fact, it’s pretty hard for anyone with a pulse and a healthy interest in video games to turn down the opportunity to wield a lightsaber, so it’s a huge coup for Soul Calibur IV to have managed such a feat.

As you might expect, the ‘Star Wars angle’ is really quite a selling point, and Ubisoft will certainly be making the most of it, as well as taking advantage of the excitement already running through the huddled online masses. “The faithful Soul Calibur community ais already     very active and waiting for this title,” adds Rumley.

“The key marketing objective is to expand that audience and secure an audience new to the series in the absence of a true next generation fighting game, drawing them in with the Star Wars guest characters.

“To achieve this we will lead with a weighty TV campaign with a creative that emphasises the inclusion of Darth and Yoda, supported by a striking online media campaign across specialist and men’s lifestyle sites. The real winner for us though is the cinema campaign where we will use the TV creative to secure spots within the Lucas Animations’ Star Wars: The Clone Wars which launches mid-August and will surely be viewed by every Star Wars fan going. Community and PR are already working hard raising the profile of the game, and we’ll have a strong presence at retail with POS.”

With wide ranging marketing plans in full force and fans literally licking their lips in anticipation of getting their hands on the fighing title, the game itself has a lot to live up to – and it looks set to do just that with aplomb.

“Again, the online opportunities through PSN and Xbox Live open this game up globally,” concludes Rumley. “Graphically one will experience the beauty of Soul Calibur in full HD 720p resolution graphics.”