Impressive but it could have been so much more.
Most of the characters have been retained from the previous titles and some that were excised for Soul Calibur 2 make their returns. The selection is as broad as ever, from massive heavy fighters like Astaroth, Seigfried, Nightmare, and the new Zasalamel to light weighs such as Taki and Talim. The fighting styles are both superbly articulated and well balanced.
The character models are generally better looking than their previous incarnations but they are not state of the art by any means. The sounds are largely recycled and don't seem to have the same quality as Soul Calibur 2 but they do a passable job.
The AI is considerably harder than in the previous games and can be a daunting challenge at times. The game features a more comprehensive training system but it still seems lacking.
The new game modes are fun and the character creation mechanism adds value but it could have been fleshed out considerably more.
On the whole, Soul Calibur 3 is a great game despite having the potential to be so much more. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of fighting games and to those who have not tried the Soul series out yet, this is a good introduction.