Bla!(wg)

It's hot. It's "I want to put my head in the fridge" hot. It's "I think my eyeballs are melting" hot. Seriously, it's hot. The outer wall of my apartment faces due West, so the setting sun in the afternoon turns the place into an oven.

That being said, at least Soul Calibur 4 is some kind of awesome. The story mode is shockingly short at 5 levels for every character, and the ending sequences are pretty darn confusing for most of the people involved (at least they're cut scenes and not just a three-picture slideshow). The graphics, however, are absolutely eye-popping, and every now and then something happens that makes me just go "okay, that was flipping sweet." And in a game like SC4, the versus mode is the key to the kingdom, and it's definitely hot in this version. Full screen HD looks absolutely jaw-dropping. The first time I saw some of my favorite characters rendered with the PS3's enhanced graphics, I drooled a little on myself. Sure, Ivy's breasts are the size of a small child and her outfit probably uses about as much cloth as an average handkerchief, but man, oh man, your humble narrator isn't complaining.

The game is noticeably slower than SC2 and 3, but that just makes it more tactical. As for the inclusion of armor that breaks, it doesn't really seem to affect the game much, and the new cinematic 'critical finishers' haven't once made an appearance in versus mode. I imagine they will only show up once in a blue moon, or if someone is a complete pussy.