For those of you that don't know much about the history behind the game, to bring you up to speed, the Soul Calibur is one of two swords. Soul Edge is the name of one sword - Soul Edge being the evil sword and Soul Calibur its holy counterpart; the storyline is based around these two swords. Soul Edge was eventually sought after by fighters who wanted to use its power for evil.

That's where Soul Calibur comes into play. Basically, it's all about the balance of good and evil - one sword balances out the other. In SoulCalibur II, the 'soul' of the evil sword possessed one of the fighters and the sword and its wielder continued with its rampage to devour new souls. That just about brings us to where SoulCalibur III begins.

As an arcade game, the essence of the storyline was probably lost on many who just wanted to spend their dollar coins on mindless, kickass fighter vs fighter entertainment. The arena-style gameplay certainly has its appeal, but it's the storyline and characters of Soul Calibur that set it apart from other games of the same genre.

In SoulCalibur III, there are quite a few options you can choose from to play the game. The old school arena style of fighter vs fighter is there (called VS Mode) and there is also a single-player mode. The other two areas are 'Shop' and 'Options'. Shop is where you can upgrade your gear, buy new weapons, etc., for your characters, pretty nifty but standard game essentials.

After choosing single-player mode, you are given several other options to choose from. The first of these is 'Tales of Souls' which is an introduction to each of the characters in the game thus far. 'Chronicles of the Sword' is the new strategy based game mode which uses your character as the basis for the storyline. 'World Competition' is where you can enter a tournament to become the world's best fighter.

'Soul Arena' is different again. In this area you get to fight arena style against other opponents with missions that you need to complete. The missions are all set at different difficulty levels. You can also customise your characters' weapons and costumes. Now, that's pretty cool.

The next area is 'Practice' where first time players can learn all about the game, how to move and fight. 'Museum' is also another area that shows the profile of each of the characters with spectacular illustrations and art work. The last area is called 'Character Creation' where you get to create your own character and use this character to fight other opponents. SoulCalibur III is so much more than just a fighter vs fighter game.