Soul Calibur IV - First Impressions

My eagerly anticipated copy of Soul Calibur IV arrived in the post today and I couldn’t resist popping it in for a look as soon as I arrived home from work. First impressions are very positive indeed: it looks stunning; seems nicely balanced; has a nice variety of play modes (the story mode in particular is well implemented) and features a large roster of characters.
One nice surprise was how well The Apprentice (of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed) played — it almost makes up for giving 360 owners Yoda instead of Vader (grr…)
