RSIgamers

Capcom released the power pack update for SF4 last week, adding new features.  These include a replay viewer and a new ‘Championship mode’, which is supposed to be the replacement for the very broken Ranked match system.  Does it offer anything substantial or is it just another lazy update?

Championship mode is set up like a mock tournament, with three wins in a row required to take the title of champ.  By mock, you are not enrolled into tournament with set players per se, but rather you play other players who are in the same matchup as you, meaning semi-finalists will play any other semi-finalists, and finalists will play other finalists.  Winning a tournament nets you Championship Points (CP), which the game uses to match you up with other opponents of the same skill.   Championship mode is also blind picks, meaning you can’t see which character your opponent chooses, which stops counter picking.

Capcom have also included a disconnection % ratio for each player, so ragequitters will be publicly shamed from now on.  This feature seems to be a bit buggy, as occasionally players will get an extra % on their disconnect rating randomly, or when the other player quits first.  Ragequitters have less incentive to pull the plug this time, as you don’t lose CP for losing.  Boosting for CP is also more difficult, because you can’t keep matching up with the same people with the tournament setup.

There are some good points about this system.  Firstly, I have noticed a large decrease in the number of ‘flowchart’ Kens, although ironically, by first tournament win was two extremely tough fights followed by a scrubby Ken in the finals.

Secondly, a large increase in the number of skilled players on Championship mode, who probably avoided the broken ranked match system in favour of player match. The way Championship mode is set up means you will always face other winners, and my first few matches were brutal, probably some of the best players I’ve ever encountered, both on arcade and console.

Lastly, the replay system is what every good fighting game needs, a feature to let you watch the top players and learn from them.

There are a few problems with this update though.  Championship mode still suffers from the same problems that ranked match did.  Being able to choose who you fight and don’t is a stupid idea, and totally defeats the purpose of a ‘ranked’ match.

But you might say something like, ‘I only fight people with 3 bars connection or better’.  Which is fair enough if you live the States or Europe, but when you live in a country that has stone age internet like Australia, combined with a small player base, this becomes extremely annoying and very difficult to get any games in. Either way, you should not be able to see who you are playing until you are in the actual match, nor should you be able to kick them.

The problem with this new Championship mode, is that it’s really not any different from Ranked matches.  If anything ranked matches are now obsolete, because BP is too inflated due to the large number of boosters and ragequitters.  What championship mode should have been, is something like a tournament creator integrated into the game.  For example I could create a tournament for X number of players, private or open, with options such as double or single elimination. Wait times would be minimal because everyone would play their matches at once.  Capcom could even host official tournaments online for each region/continenent, and winners would have their win recorded on their profile with some kind of points awarded or something.

Even better, there could be some kind of ladder system built into the game, but players have to enrol in specific ladders, where matches are played out over several weeks like a season.

Replay mode also differs between console releases.  The 360 gets input displays while the PS3 gets a replay rating feature.  Why couldn’t we have both?  This is an extremely puzzling move and the only reason I can think of is some kind of exclusive deal with either MS or Sony.  It’s stupid!  PS3 owners really get the shaft, as input displays are far more insightful to players than a lame rating system.

What this update should have also included, is the lobby system from HD Remix.  While player match is good, playing the same person over and over can get really stale, especially if both of you don’t change characters.  With a lobby system, you can invite in a couple of friends, say 5, and the game would match everyone up instantaneously.  After each match, the game would put you up against a different player, instead of spectating, which is the way the multiple arcade cabinets are set up.  The setup I described earlier is essentially a lobby system anyway, except that it tracks the player’s progress through a real tournament with set players.

Capcom has taken a step in the right direction with this update, but I think there’s still a lot of improvement that can be had.  Here’s hoping for the next big update!