Soul Calibur 2 HD Online Will Feature Heihachi And Spawn

Todd McFarlane's most notorious creation, Spawn, and one of the world's greatest brawlers, Heihachi, will once again be joining the battle of the ages as playable characters in Soul Calibur II HD Online set to arrive on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade sometime later this fall.

Back when Soul Calibur II first launched, the different versions of the game offered a unique extra playable character for the three consoles. Over on the GameCube, Nintendo fans were treated to arguably the best of the lot, Link, of Legend of Zelda fame. For those gaming on the PlayStation 2, Tekken's Heihachi was available to dish out a beat-down on his weapon-wielding foes while, on the original Xbox, Spawn took a break from fighting angels and demons alike in order to go all medieval with a battleaxe.

Last month, Namco Bandai announced that Soul Calibur II, considered by many to be one of the best fighting games of all time, would be returning to the arena with an HD facelift and brand new online battling functionality. In a recent press release, the publisher said that the game will be arriving on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 “soon,” and that the “company is proud to please the fans of the series as the two legendary heroes, Spawn and Heihachi, originally exclusive characters for each platform, will be for the first time ever playable on both platforms.”

The press release goes on to state that, along with new HD graphics, Sould Calibur II HD Online will feature “all-new online modes” in celebration of its 10-year anniversary, so here's hoping for some of the usual options typically available in modern fighters, like spectator mode, multiplayer rooms, king of the hill battles and tag matches. None of those have been mentioned yet, but a boy can dream.

When Soul Calibur first launched, the series stood out for its diverse cast of characters, each wielding some sort of a weapon (typically with a blade or two). An endless battle of souls, the combatants would seek out the Soul Edge in order to achieve their various goals, a legendary sword said to grant untold power. At least I think that's how the story went. Everything's gotten convoluted over the years and, at this point, do we really need a story to give us a reason to beat the crap out of each other with an axe and a sword the size of VW bug?

When this latest version of Soul Calibur was announced, the first question series vets started spouting was whether or not the additional characters would be included in the game. It's a bummer that the chances of Link appearing on the PS3 and Xbox 360 are slim to none, but at least we now know that two-thirds of those additional pugilists will be up for grabs.