Ezio Auditore Confirmed For Soul Calibur V Roster

Ezio from Assassin’s Creed is a playable Soul Calibur V character revealed Namco Bandai!

This continues the tradition of the Soul Calibur series featuring awesome and interesting guest characters. It started with Link from Zelda (In the GameCube version), Heihachi from Tekken (In the PS2 version) and the antisuperhero Spawn (In the Xbox version) in Soul Calibur 2, and continued with Soul Calibur IV featuring Yoda in the Xbox 360 version and Darth Vader in the PS3 version (with Starkiller/The Apprentice from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed playable in both versions). While the PSP game Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny featured Kratos from the God of War series.

Ezio marks the first time a character from an Ubisoft series has been playable in the long-running weapons-based fighter series. Players can use the whole range of Ezio’s tools and weapons in Soul Calibur V, from his Roman Longsword to his trademark Hidden Blade.

Here is a look at Ezio gameplay footage in Soul Calibur V.

“Ezio is from the same time period as Soul Calibur in that late renaissance period, so it’s very easy to see Ezio in the Soul Calibur universe and the Soul Calibur characters in the same Assassin’s Creed-style universe, so they fit very well together,” said Producer Hisaharu Tago.

“Ezio, just like the characters in Soul Calibur, uses weapons to fight, so Soul Calibur is a weapon-based fighting game and Ezio is a character who uses all kinds of different weapons when he’s fighting so it was a perfect match, and when he first saw Ezio he thought, ‘well this is it, this is the only choice’. An important point for Ezio is that he was strong up close, and that he was strong right away. He was an all-mighty kind of character, which were very important points for having him in the game.”

“The entrance of Assassin’s Creed into the Soul Calibur universe is an historic meeting of two of the most revered and influential game series,” said Namco Bandai partners senior vice president Olivier Comte. “Ezio has captured the imaginations of millions of fans around the world, and it will be very exciting to see how his lightning fast moves stand up to the mighty swordplay of Soul Calibur’s finest.”

Soul Calibur V is a “true sequel” to Soul Calibur IV, that is set 17 years after the fourth installment and will feature both new and returning characters.

Those who pre-order Soul Calibur V meanwhile will also earn an additional character, Lord Geo Dampierre from Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny!

Here is a gameplay video of Lord Geo Dampierre in action!

Additionally, a Soul Calibur V Collector’s Edition has been announced with will include an Art Book, Soundtrack CD, Making-of DVD Documentary, a signed paper from the development team from Namco’s Project Soul and exclusive DLC items such as the Black Knight and Paladin Armor Sets.

Soul Calibur V will be released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2012.

Via Digital Spy and PS3blog