Soulcalibur Legends - first look

Most of the game will find this cast tackling each level in pairs, but fighting solo. Confused? Let us decode: the game will determine which two blade-slingers are available to you for that mission and you decide which of those two is active at any given moment, switching them in and out of the action on the fly.

Whom you choose looks to have at least some effect on your strategy, as the three obviously have varying skills and weaponry. The move sets won't be as robust as those in the fighting game, but they're similar: Mitsurugi is quick and stabby, Siegfried favors slow, scythe-like swooshes, and Ivy's whip-like chain sword should give her crazy range. Dash and charge attacks will be on order as well, courtesy of the Wii nunchuk.

Graphically, nobody's likely to mistake this for a 360 game, but it already looks fair for a Wii title, and the different gameplay style is exploring the Soulcalibur world in new ways. The level we saw featured dozens of carve-able mummy-like enemies and a boss the like of which we've never seen in the fighting games: it was a levitating, laser-spewing, wall of flame-summoning sarcophagus that opened in odd ways to reveal a withered, clearly unrestful king mummy inside. Add to that planned multiplayer modes which include co-op play as well as vs, and you have a Soulcalibur unlike any that has come before it.