Soulcalibur IV

Soulcalibur IV is the sixth installment in Namco's Soul series of fighting games, due for release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on July 29, 2008. For the first time in the series history, the game will have competitive online play. This will be the second game in the series to not have an arcade release before the console release.

Characters
The whole cast of characters of Soulcalibur IV is still in the process of being revealed. So far, there are 31 confirmed and revealed characters for the game.

Darth Vader and Yoda, characters from the Star Wars universe, are confirmed to be playable guest characters but exclusive to different platforms. Darth Vader will appear on the PS3 and Yoda will be on the Xbox 360. Yoda can now be bought and downloaded for the PS3 and Darth Vader for the Xbox 360.

Returning characters

 * Amy
 * Astaroth
 * Cassandra
 * Cervantes
 * Ivy
 * Kilik
 * Lizardman
 * Maxi
 * Mitsurugi
 * Nightmare
 * Raphael
 * Rock
 * Seong Mi-na
 * Setsuka
 * Siegfried
 * Sophitia
 * Taki
 * Talim
 * Tira
 * Voldo
 * Xianghua
 * Yoshimitsu
 * Yun-seong
 * Zasalamel

New characters

 * Angol Fear (bonus character designed by guest artist Mine Yoshizaki)
 * Ashlotte (bonus character designed by guest artist Oh! great)
 * Darth Vader (guest character on the PlayStation 3 version)
 * Kamikirimusi (bonus character designed by guest artist Hirokazu Hisayuki)
 * Hilde
 * Scheherazade (bonus character designed by guest artist Yutaka Izubuchi)
 * Shura (bonus character designed by guest artist Hiroya Oku)
 * Yoda (guest character on the Xbox 360 version)

Modes
The fourth Soulcalibur-game will feature the familiar Story, Arcade, Training and Museum modes. A new mode will be called Tower of Lost Souls, and it will put the player fighting special battles in order to gain rewards.

Character Creation
The game will bring back Character Creation from Soulcalibur III. Choosing your character's clothes won't just affect his or her appearance, but also how he or she behaves in battle. Some pieces of equipment favor offensive and others defensive playstyle.

Active Matching Battle
Soulcalibur IV's battles will use a different structure from its predecessors, nicknamed Active Matching Battle (AMB). It allows players to fight multiple opponents at the same time under different circumstances.

Soul Gauge & Critical Finish
Soulcalibur IV will feature an all-new Critical Finish system. This time there will be another gauge under the characters' Health Meter, known as the Soul Gauge. This meter will fill up when attacking and decrease when guarding. When the meter is empty, the opponent can do a strike that breaks off a part from the character's armor, altering their appearance and making them weaker for the remainder of the match. There are also three green boxes below the gauges, reflecting the state of the characters armor: high, mid, or low.

If the character manages to empty out the opponent's Soul Gauge again, they will get a short chance to perform a powerful Critical Finish move, which will kill the opponent instantly, by pressing all four face buttons at the same time. Each character has their own personal Critical Finish move. Namco says that they developed the Soul Gauge to decrease the benefits from constant guarding, thus giving the game a faster tempo and making the matches more offensive.

Force Abilities
The Star Wars guest characters, Darth Vader and Yoda will both feature unique, Force-based styles. Darth Vader will be able to utilize Force-based pushes and chokes, while Yoda will use the Force to launch himself into the air for complex aerial attacks. These moves will drain a special Force Meter, until it is emptied, at which point Force-based moves will drain the character's health.

Online Battles
For the first time in the series, Soulcalibur IV will have the option to fight against other players online. Confirmed versus-modes available in online battles are Standard VS (for classic matches) and Special VS (for customized characters). Director Katsutoshi Sasaki has mentioned that created characters will be playable in the online multiplayer mode.

Limited Premium Edition
Namco/Bandai confirmed there will be a limited Premium Edition of SCIV available which will include an art/comic book, a t-shirt, a tournament kit that will "give fans the opportunity to document the battle amongst friends", will include extra in-game customizations, and sell in a metal packaging on the same release date as the regular game.