New Star Wars Character Joins Soulcalibur 4

The crossover madness continues as another Star Wars character has been announced for Namco's upcoming brawlfest, Soulcalibur IV.

Darth Vader's secret apprentice will be the third Star Wars character joining the cast of the upcoming fighting game, following Yoda and Darth Vader himself. While Yoda will appear exclusively in the Xbox 360 version of the game, and Vader will be available only to PlayStation 3 owners, the secret apprentice known as Starkiller (although I prefer the much catchier Darth Crashdown) will be playable on both platforms.

While the new character lacks the old-school Star Wars street cred of Vader and Yoda, he is expected to earn a high profile among fans following the mid-September release of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, a new project by LucasArts in conjunction with Dark Horse Comics, Del Rey, Lego and Hasbro. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will include a new LucasArts-developed videogame, as well as a novel and graphic novel, toy line, reference book, miniatures set, RPG supplement and more. Vader's apprentice, the lead character in The Force Unleashed, is portrayed by Sam Witwer, best known for his appearances as a refugee from Triton in the hit television series Battlestar Galactica. His voice and likeness will also be used in Soulcalibur IV.

Soulcalibur IV is set for release on July 29 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. For more information, which probably won't include an explanation as to exactly why Darth Vader and Yoda are in this game in the first place, hop over to Soulcalibur.com.