For single players, Soulcalibur IV features an extremely abbreviated Story mode, the only real point of which seems to be that it allows users to unlock more characters and various extras. There is a brief, written, introduction for each character in this mode and a different final scene after the last battle, but as there was never really any attachment to the character created via the story, while the end cut scene is nominally interesting it is not truly affecting.
Though this extremely minimal Story mode is a disappointment, the game does have a number of other modes to make up for it. There is a pretty standard, though fun, arcade mode and the "Tower of Lost Souls" mode which is, in effect two different modes. There is an "Ascending" mode, in which a player has to battle through a few floors without a break (with a different number of fighters depending on the level). Each level features some sort of unlockable element (weapons, clothing, armor, etc.) which is freed upon performing specific actions during the floor (x number of blocks in a row, KO'ing an opponent without taking any hits, etc.). The "Descending" mode makes the player (with two fighters) go through floor after floor nonstop.
One of the best elements of Soulcalibur IV is its Character Creation system. All the standard characters can be customized with various choices of armor, weapons, and looks, and all new characters can be created as well. The game does a wonderful job of balancing out the created characters so that even with unlocked equipment it is difficult (if not impossible) to create an unbeatable character. By adding more powerful armor or weapons something else, like the ability to equip special powers (hit recovery, etc.) is diminished. Consequently, one can spend hours tweaking little bits and pieces of their characters to work out the best combination for their style of play.
There is also an online mode which performs exceedingly well. Players can choose to be able to use characters with or without special abilities equipped. Matches can be either ranked or unranked, but the game does not seem to try and pair low level players against one another. The first few hours I spent playing online I fought opponents who were ranked at levels 40 and above as opposed to other newbies. Though it is, of course, possible to beat more experienced players, it does give the impression of being thrown into the deep end before actually learning how to swim.
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