If you've been following the Soul Calibur series for some time now, it will come as no surprise that another installment in the franchise has arrived courtesy of developers Project Soul. Being a more accessible fighting game than others in the genre means that Soul Calibur has always had its own intuitive gameplay that manages to be simultaneously easy to learn, yet difficult to master. But has Soul Calibur's fire been extinguished or does the soul still burn?

Find out below....

The story of Soul Calibur 5 takes place in 17th century Europe where the two swords of destiny (Calibur and Edge) continue their unending struggle for domination of the world. You play as Patroklos (the son of previous Soul fighter Sophitia) on his quest to rid the world of the accursed Malfested. Along the way he discovers and meets new friends and foes who both help and hinder his progress. Although the story modes in previous games in the series had a fair number of characters in it, Soul Calibur 5 has only a few that make appearances. This will come as a major disappointment to those who have been with the series from the beginning since it is always exciting to know what has happened to your favourite fighter in between each game. This makes the story mode of the game feel unfamiliar and almost distant to fans, and this could've easily been rectified had Project Soul spent more time fleshing out the individual characters within the story portion of the game.

In addition, the use of storyboards instead of cutscenes to tell the story (while an interesting artistic choice) is ultimately one that will not please fans who are used to flashy, stylized cutscenes to tell the epic tale of Soul Calibur. By the time you reach the end of the story you will not care about what is happening onscreen because its all done in such a cheesy and overly melodramatic way, to be ridiculous. Don't get me wrong the other Soul games all had similar aspects about their stories but the new characters introduced in part five are just not interesting enough to be worthy of attention.

Although the story mode of the game is not that good, the visuals of Soul Calibur 5 shine with a ton of gorgeous backdrops for each arena and fantastic character models. Likewise, the attention to detail on the clothing and fabric of each fighter is excellent, especially capes. The animations for each character are some of the best in the fighting game genre and are a joy to watch in motion. Of course, this is hardly unexpected as the Soul Calibur series has always been topnotch when it comes to graphical fidelity in fighting games. And of course, it's all running at 60 frames per second which really helps to show off all the great effects the game's engine can produce. Overall I'd say that the visuals are on par with what's been done with this series in the past and that's most definitely a good thing.

Complementing the visual richness of Soul Calibur 5 is the outstanding audio both music and sound effects. The clashing of swords and armor resonates in a way that is both visceral and realistic based on the weapons each fighter wields. This in turn helps to draw the player into the game and provide a more cohesive experience as a whole. The music in particular does a great job at setting the mood for each battle and is some of the series best to date, especially Nightmare's theme. Like the visuals the audio of Soul Calibur 5 is well-executed and that's to be expected given the series history.

The visuals and audio of a game play a big role in how gamers experience a game, but neither compare to gameplay which is the most important aspect of gaming in general. In this regard Soul Calibur 5 is another fine entry in the series with quite a few modes to try out including: Offline Mode, Quick Mode, Arcade, VS Battle, Legendary Souls and Training. This does not include the story mode itself which lasts a mere 3 hours at most and of course, the online multiplayer itself. Each game mode has you facing off against the A.I. or a partner.

Of course, the best part of the Soul Calibur series has always been the online multiplayer and in this iteration the combat is as awesome as ever. Along with the usual fighters there's also a crossover character that helps to keep things interesting, and that person is Ezio Auditore from the Assassins Creed series. His inclusion to the series is one of the most successful in recent memory, making him a must-play character in the game. Finally there's a much-improved Character Creator mode that allows you to customize your own fighter in any way you deem fit.

Whether its the abundance of unique and memorable characters or the balanced online gameplay, Soul Calibur 5 is worthy of your attention if you're a fan of the series or fighting games at all. Just don't expect it to be a substantial improvement from the last game. It's more of an enhanced version of the classic Soul Calibur action than a dramatic improvement. If you can accept that, than you'll no doubt have a lot of fun with this latest entry in the series.

7.5/10