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GameDaze: 'Soul Calibur II,' 'Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon'

GameDaze: 'Soul Calibur II,' 'Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon'

'Soul Calibur II'

Bone-crunching and handsome in a bad-boy sort of way, "Soul Calibur II" (Namco; Xbox, PS2, GC; Rated Teen; $49.99) is a martial-arts fighting game just a notch below our three-star favorite, "Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus."

While "Soul Calibur II" gives a nod to a storyline by having players in the campaign read a short chapter at each level explaining what happens between fights, that novelty is offset by a lack of destructible environments.

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Standing toe-to-toe, we thought "Soul Calibur II" gave "Tao Feng" a run for its money in terms of the number of martial-arts moves that could be performed by the 15 characters.

But "Tao Feng" clearly has the edge when it comes to the damage players can inflict on their surroundings. "Soul Calibur II's" environments, while lovely, are static, and that can make all the difference.

At its core, the game is yet another iteration in the martial-arts combat genre. Characters come in all shapes and sizes, boast their own special moves and have a plethora of attacks.

While we appreciated how the written story attempted to evoke a sense of adventure -- it made us wistful for our teenage Dungeons & Dragons days, when imagination and graph paper were all that anyone had -- it was unable to convince us to endorse a $50 arcade game.

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Whatever the premise, whatever the gimmick -- even if you can collect more than 200 weapons in one of the modes -- this is still a thumb-mashing melee that challenges gamers to digest dozens of combination moves like a new quarterback learning a playbook.

In "Soul Calibur II" the fighting is the backbone and the story is merely peripheral. Our bias swings the other way. What you have here is a respectable, indeed a good, fighting game. But to our minds, there is no real meat.

'Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Island Thunder'

Here we are again, at the Ghost Recon training center. Yep, it's the exact same one that greeted us in the other Ghost Recon game we played last year.

And what's that? The overall look and feel and gameplay and strategy in "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Island Thunder" (Ubi Soft; Xbox, PS2; Rated Mature; $39.99) are also the same.

Let's just say developer Red Storm didn't stretch itself too much in trotting out the latest game to cash in on the cachet of the Tom Clancy name. This time, the Ghosts, an elite team of Green Berets, are operating in post-Castro Cuba, circa 2009. They have to stop a warlord from corrupting the island's first free elections in decades.

Now we know there is a legion of Ghost Recon fanatics out there who will probably take issue with this review, so let us state up front that, yes, this game is more suited to multiplayer than single player.

However, the shortcomings of the single-player game don't go away just because you're coordinating with your buddy elsewhere.

To wit, dull graphics, boring dialogue from your squadmates, a lack of medics, and no close-range combat capabilities are just a few of our peeves.

We've seen it all before, folks. So if you want more of the same, this is for you. But for a more rewarding war-game experience -- albeit one without that battlefield sensation that we admit Ghost Recon provides -- try "Medal of Honor" instead.

First Published: September 26, 2003, 4:00 a.m.

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