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WithNamco Bandais Soulcalibur IV hitting current-gen consoles last year,it was hard to imagine the renowned 3D fighter functioning on a portableconsole. After all, the Soulcalibur series -- which pits warriorsagainst each other in a world filled with ethereal weapons -- has alwaysbeen a visual powerhouse. Squeezing all the character detail, lightingeffects and lush backgrounds onto a UMD seemed like an awful idea.

Fortunately,Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny preserves the Soulcalibur traditionbeautifully and recreates the weapon-based combat exclusively for SonysPSP. These are really amazing portable visuals.

Broken Destinyis, ultimately, a portable version of its console counterpart. It packsmost of the characters, levels and modes that Soulcalibur fans arefamiliar with and only drops a few bits and pieces along the way. Likethe other Soulcalibur games before it, Broken Destiny is a 3D fightinggame that pits two fighters against each other in large, open arenas.Players must battle their opponent by gauging timing, distance andlocation in the ring -- as characters can be knocked off the edge whenstruck or thrown properly.

The only noticeable differencesbetween Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny and Soulcalibur IV are the toneddown graphics and the absence of the Star Wars characters... which I ampersonally very happy about. As interesting as it was to see DarthVader and Yoda (and the Apprentice) make guest appearances in theSoulcalibur universe, Broken Destinys Kratos makes much more sense whenconsidering the games setting. The only other elements worth notingthat were removed from the formula are the many unlockables and extrasthat have traditionally gone hand-in-hand with Soulcalibur games. BrokenDestiny doesnt have many extras to speak of, though you will bespending quite a bit of time unlocking items for character creation andearning special honors for your Records.

One of the first thingsplayers will notice about Broken Destiny is the visuals. Although thegame isnt as eye-catching as its PS3 predecessor, Broken Destiny is oneof the best-looking PSP games Ive ever played. Its really stunninghow much was crammed onto a single UMD and watching these charactersclash on such beautiful backdrops is a testament to the PSPs hardware.With little slowdown to speak of, this game deserves special credit justfor its looks. I know that sounds shallow, but its the truth.

BrokenDestiny has several options for jumping into battle. You can opt forplaying a Quick Match, which is exactly that: a single battle with afoe. There are also Trials to face, which are essentially survival-stylemodes that task you with racking up points and keeping your characteralive. Then theres Ad Hoc multiplayer, a Creation tool for buildingyour own characters and the standard Training mode.

The modethat takes the longest to complete, however, is the Gauntlet. Thisstory-driven, mission-based affair occupies a universe outside of thecanonical Soulcalibur narrative. Its a comical story about you (andwhichever character you select) following Hilde and her party around theworld as they search for medicine for Hildes father. It has little todo with the actual Soulcalibur story and is more fun and games thananything else.

Each mission in the Gauntlet is comprised ofseveral mini-sections that only last a second or two each. Usually,youre only objective during these brief few moments is to survive aseries of attacks and then counter appropriately. With this in mind,its safe to say that the Gauntlet is more of an instructional tool thananything else, as your failures are greeted with helpful text that giveyou the steps needed to emerge victorious.

Although this soundslike a great way to teach new players the Soulcalibur way, I found thismode to be extremely repetitive after a while. I continued playing itjust to see the humorous story play out, but by the end I was more thanready to move on. This could be due to the fact that I played throughthe mode with a single character -- perhaps switching it up halfwaythrough the quest would have been more exciting.

But at theheart of this quest and the aforementioned visuals are Soulcaliburmechanics, which have come a long way since their original conception.The battle mechanics in Broken Destiny are very similar to those foundin Soulcalibur IV, including the newer features like the Soul Gauge,Soul Crushes and Critical Finishes. If youre unfamiliar with theseterms, its actually quite simple: if your opponent guards too much, youcan wear down his or her Soul Gauge and eventually break one of threepieces of armor on the character. Once you get your opponents SoulGauge in a miserable enough state, you can execute a Critical Finish,which ends the match in your favor (and displays some fancy specialeffects).

Although Ive never been a hardcore devotee of theSoulcalibur fighting engine, I very much appreciate the amount ofvariety and strategy that goes into studying each character. Having tobalance out blocking, sidestepping, Guard Impacts and more make this avery, very difficult game to master. But at the same time, Soulcaliburhas always been a fighting game that can be picked up easily. As movesrarely require complex directional inputs or button combinations, mostgamers can at least pick up the controller and mash away for fun (muchto the chagrin of veteran competitors).

The icing on the cake inSoulcalibur: Broken Destiny is definitely the Ad Hoc multiplayer. Asbattling with a friend is a tremendous part of the fighting gameexperience, having such smooth running Ad Hoc makes the package muchmore appetizing. During my play tests, I rarely -- if ever --encountered any slowdown. Thank goodness.
CLOSING COMMENTS
AlthoughBroken Destiny is nothing more than a portable version of SoulcaliburIV (with Kratos along for the ride), the game is visually stunning andthe size of the roster is admirable. Whats most impressive aboutSoulcalibur: Broken Destiny is how well it preserves its consolecounterparts formula while making very few sacrifices along the way.
Althoughits hard for me to strongly recommend this game if you already ownSoulcalibur IV, its safe to say that this is one of the most beautiful,complex fighting games on the PSP and should please Soulcalibur fans.The developers should be praised for making the game work so well on thePSP, even though weve seen most of it before.



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