I was very much looking forward to SoulCalibur V. I am a big fan of the series. My favorite entry, the second, completely redefined what a fighting game could be.

The third and fourth entries were both very solid games, but just didn’t measure up to what the second accomplished. That’s why I got excited when SoulCalibur V was announced; I was expecting to be blown away.

I was not.

The story mode is filled with dumb moments (shocker) and it can’t make up its mind on whether or not it wants to be challenging or simple as simple can be.

Hardly any of the playable characters available in the game are used in the story. I got bored very quickly. But, thankfully, it’s also short.

Finding someone to play against online is a cross-your-fingers-and-hope scenario. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were more people playing Star Wars Galaxies when it shut down than there are playing online in this game.

If you can manage to find a player online, or if you are just playing against the CPU or a friend in VS., everything is good as far as combat goes. It is fast and flows smoothly, but the block button doesn’t work a lot of the time and the characters’ moves also begin to feel very familiar after only a short time playing with each of them.

The other modes in the game, aside from Legendary Souls, are fun to play. Legendary Souls is just frustrating and should not be bothered with by most gamers.

The arcade mode, however, is quite enjoyable. It’s nice to be able to battle opponents without having to watch a bad cut-scene between each fight. The difficulty in the arcade mode (as well as in the story mode) can also be tweaked to match the player’s skill level. That’s nice of Project Souls to allow that, seeing as how the training mode in the game is garbage.

I am utterly disappointed with this game. It is filled with pretty graphics and wasted potential. I sat the controller down after I beat the story mode and played through a couple of more single player matches, and I just stared at my television screen for a minute. I felt empty.

Here is the newest entry in a series that helped to revolutionize fighting games, and it settled for mediocrity. What a shame. I hope that Project Soul puts more effort into SoulCalibur VI.

Pull Out Box:

SoulCalibur V

Release Date: Jan. 31, 2012

Rating: Rating Pending

System: Xbox 360

2 1/2 out of 4 stars