An evening with Ezio – MG gets hands on with Soul Calibur V and its latest character
Soul Calibur was the game, that when I was slightly younger, I would get all my mates around and have a good old battle. But to be honest, for all of the skill involved in the game, if I found that one button that worked that would be me sorted. Yes, I am a one button wonder!!
I was therefore very happy to be invited to the preview/hands on of Ezio Auditore Da Firenze’s admission to Namco Bandai’s Soul Calibur 5 which is due to launch in Feb 2012.
The venue for this preview deserves a mention all of its own. It was in the Masonic Lodge at the Andaz Hotel in London. A century old room that was only discovered 7 years ago. It is a grand masonic hall with marble columns and a zodiac ceiling which with the addition of candles all around the room made for an eerie, but very apt experience.
On entry to the room we were greeted by 16 + games consuls ½ of which had soul calibur 5 and the others had Assasins creed Revelations on line. There were 360’s and ps3’s with both standard controllers and other with arcade pads which just added another dimention of confusion for an old boy like me.
We were first shown the animated short “assassins Creed embers” – the final chapter of the epic story that has spanned 40 yrs. We were shown Ezio in retirement on his farm with his family, when he is visited by a new assisin from a eastern land, I would like to say more on the matter but I do not want to spoil it for others.
It was then hands on time. I picked up the controller with more excitement than could be bottled up. I was back in my youth and didn’t it feel good. But who to choose? There were not all of the characters available to play on the night but here are just a few :-
Astaroth
Ezio Auditore Da Firenze ( Assasins Creed)
Isabella “ivy” Valentine
Leixia ( Xianghua’s daughter)
Nightmare
Voldo
Z.W.E.I Fighter who can summon E.I.N a werewolf
Viola
Siegfried Schtauffen
Nightmare
Patroklos Alexandra
So who should i choose to use first ? Well it had to be Ezio.
It wasn’t long before i was getting to grips with his moves. He has smoke bombs and a cross bow to name but a few and although I was getting schooled early on I began to get a lock on to his strengths. He doesnt look too much out of place in such a great fighting game either and is a great addition to an already stellar lineup.
I then moved on to my old favourite Voldo . His outfits have got more gimpy and his moves more strange but he still kicks behind! But with time at a premuim it was time to test out another character, this time the orb wielding viola. She has the ability to throw the orb past you and then pulls it through you with deadly accuracy and is definitely one of the gems to look out for.
Soul Calibur 5 is no longer just a game in which you have get the combos to win battles as there is now the “Critical Edge”. As you fight you build up a power gauge and once it is built up you can trigger it to unleash a furious attack that will pummle your opponent as you get the game winning kill in dramatic slow motion and close up.
The inclusion of the “critical edge” feature now makes the game a fast paced game with a mix of combos and meter combinations to help determine the outcome of the fight. After playing it for a few hours i can say it will be worth waiting for in 2012.
Later that evening we went on to have a tournament and whilst most of us were delirious on free alcohol by then I managed to stay the course to start off by losing the first couple of rounds. I was good but others were better and needless to say i didnt find the right button to win and lost 5-4 in the 1st round!!
