Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Blog Post: First great 3d CV

soulfly666 — Fri, 03 May 2013 20:34:00 GMT

While it lacks some of the classic recognizable elements of the CV series, there is no denying that based on the storyline and gameplay alone this game is AMAZING.

Blog Post: SuperKingC77 Review: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

SuperKingC77 — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 02:01:00 GMT

Castlevania is one of those legendary titles that is instantly recognizable to nearly any gamer. Throughout its quarter-of-a-century history, the franchise has received massive popular and critical acclaim matched by very few series in gaming… at least in the 2D realm. Though many of its 2D entries are often revered as some of the greatest games ever made, the series was never able to find sure footing when thrown into the third dimension, despite numerous tries over even more numerous years. That is where Lords of Shadow comes in. This pseudo-reboot of one of gaming’s oldest and most adored series finally gives it its first truly great 3D experience by heavily borrowing gameplay mechanics from some of today’s biggest hits, which it weaves together with a terrific story littered with some of the most memorable moments I have ever experienced in my gaming career.

The story opens in the year 1047 in a fictitious part of southern Europe, with the player being thrown into the role of Gabriel Belmont. A warrior from the Brotherhood of Light, a group bent on defending humanity from supernatural evil in the name of God, Gabriel is on a quest to defeat the malevolent beings known as the Lords of Shadow, who are seen as the root of the evil that is plaguing humanity. The story takes a while to get going, seeming fairly clichéd, somewhat out of place, and downright boring for a good portion of the early game. However, once it finds its footing it quickly escalates into a spellbinding narrative that will keep you completely fixated as it carries you into what is easily one of the most jaw-dropping climaxes in gaming history. I won’t go into much more detail as to not spoil anything, but the game will end up taking you through a variety of unique and awe-inspiring locales, some of which will be very familiar to Castlevania veterans, all the while delivering a thoroughly entertaining narrative that will appeal to both series newcomers and fans alike. As a word of warning, though the opening segment of the game may be a bit boring, DO NOT skip the cinematics or ignore the story in these areas. Though seemingly unimportant at the time, nearly every element of the game shown during these moments will have some greater importance as you progress through the story, and should not be ignored unless story is completely unimportant to the player.

The game features some amazing locales, which almost always contain memorable moments

Though the story ends up being an entertaining romp through amazing locales, a game isn’t a game without gameplay, and luckily Lords of Shadows delivers in this department as well. Way back in 1997, the masterminds behind Symphony of the Night apparently decided that Super Metroid was a really great game, and thought it would be really cool if they did that, but with vampires. This lead to arguably the series greatest success, as Symphony of the Night went on to be regarded as one of the greatest games of all time. For Lords of Shadow, the developers seemed to think that God of War and Uncharted were really good games, and decided they wanted to combine the two and add in a few vampires in order to make Lords of Shadow, and ended up with a similar success. The gameplay can be split up into 3 primary categories: combat, platforming, and puzzles.

The combat will be instantly recognizable to anyone who has played God of War: it features the protagonist using a weapon primarily composed of a blade attached to a chain fighting mythological creatures using a combo-based system in rooms with a fairly-fixed-camera perspective, And like in God of War, the combat proves to be and incredibly fun, challenging, and satisfying experience. The difficulty is challenging, but fair, and there is a difficulty slider if the game ever feels too easy or difficult for your liking. Combos are unlocked using an experience system in which garnered experience is spent to unlock more powerful attacks. Most of the combat will see you taking on a variety of enemies, either smaller and weaker enemies whom attack in swarms, larger and more powerful enemies with a greater range of attacks and a larger health pool, or some combination of the two. Though early-game enemies are slightly weaker in terms of health pools and attack damage than later game enemies, most of the increasing difficulty is handled by the game putting the player in increasingly dangerous situations rather than simply upping the power of the enemy, which is very refreshing amidst the slews of games that decide to simply throw more enemies or enemies with greater health or damage-dealing capabilities at you in order to keep difficulty increasing at a reasonable rate. The game also features a variety of memorable boss battles, including some old favorites that should greatly please series veterans, ranging from God-of-War style battles against colossal enemies that are mostly managed through quick time events and uncharted-style platforming, to extremely powerful enemies of a more reasonable size, each with their own unique abilities that you will have to defeat using the basic combat skills you have hopefully acquired throughout the course of the game. The game also implements a dual magic system, in which Gabriel has access to 2 separate mana pools, one for light magic, and one for shadow magic. Light magic allows Gabriel to absorb health from his enemies when dealing damage, and shadow magic drastically increases his damage-dealing capabilities. Both magic types can be combined with secondary weapons for deadly combination attacks, and certain combos in the game can only be pulled off while having either shadow or light magic active. This use of magic helps add a level of strategic management to what otherwise would be a skill-centric hack and slash, but I never felt it was utilized to its full potential, and hope this is something that developer Mercurysteam is looking into for the announced Lords Of Shadows 2. Your total reserves of light and shadow magic, as well as health, are increased through a Metroid or Zelda-esque system in which you find power-ups hidden throughout the levels; Acquiring 5 power-ups increases the maximum quantity of the corresponding energy container by a small increment. This is definitely an interesting way to entice people to replay levels, but it can be a pain when you get through an unreasonably long section only to realize you missed a single energy piece, since you are required to complete a level in order to keep any power-ups you obtain. This means that if you get through a level with a difficult boss, or a particularly long or tedious level, and miss a single power-up, you have to go through the entire level again to get a power-up that might be located literally right at the very entrance of the level, which can be extremely infuriating.

Shadow magic gives you access to some awesome combination moves.

The platforming segments are very reminiscent of Uncharted, featuring a lot of crawling around on the walls of crumbling ruins, castles, and natural environments. They are thoroughly enjoyable and well done for the most part, and I can’t really think of much to fault them on.

Platforming segments are abundant, and generally a lot of fun

The puzzles done in this game are some of the best I have seen outside of a dedicated puzzle game. They are often done with very elaborate set pieces, sometimes encompassing half or an entire level, including one level that is quite possibly my all-time favorite single player level in gaming. They are often clever, but never too difficult, and each one has a solution scroll where you can unlock the answer at the cost of voiding the experience bonus, so like the platforming, I have nothing to bad to say about the puzzle system.

The visuals of the game are overall terrific, with amazing character, enemy, and environment designs. The graphics aren’t on par with something like Uncharted, but they are far from bad, and should please the vast majority of gamers. There is an issue with textures not always loading properly, but this is a rare occurrence. The only major issue I have with the game’s visuals is the camera. Generally the camera angles work fine, but there are several instances in the game where it is placed awkwardly that can lead to unnecessary frustration or death due to unforeseen obstacles.

Enemy design is one of the visual highlights of the game

I have never played a Castlevania game with bad music, and Lords of Shadows is no exception. Some of the more common tracks can begin to feel a bit overused by the end of the game, but for the most part the game utilizes several great songs and sound effects from both older entrees In the series, as well as brand new tracks. The voice acting is also top-notch, never really sounding forced or unnatural, so on a sound level my complaints with the game are extremely minor.

[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8Uqy9L_xtk]

Overall Lords of Shadow proves to be a terrific game, but it isn’t without its flaws. The opening chunk of the game seems to drag on far too long, being slow both in terms of story and gameplay, with some early locales feeling very out of place in not only a Castlevania game, but also for a game with Lords of Shadow’s tone, though all of these problems are remedied after the first slow segments. Though I really enjoyed the light and shadow magic powers, they feel underutilized, basically only being used to strengthen your character and solve the occasional puzzle, save two bosses near the end of the game that actually force you to strategically use your powers to take down your enemy, leaving me to wonder why this system, or at least a similar system, hadn’t been implemented throughout the rest of the game with other enemies to any degree. As previously mentioned, there are also occasional problems with texture loading or camera angles, but these are rare occurrences. Some of the levels ended up having the problem where the path the character is meant to take is obscured or difficult to find (often due to a bad camera angle), and the lack of in game map would mean that you would end up running around aimlessly, which is never a good thing in an entertainment medium. It also suffers from the aforementioned flaw of forcing the player to complete a level in order to save any upgrades they find in the level, which can be extremely frustrating with regards to some of the more obnoxiously long levels in the game.

Even with these flaws, Lords of Shadows remains a truly incredible experience that I would have a hard time not recommending to almost any gamer. It proves to be an overall extremely well made and entertaining game, and plays host to what are easily some of my all-time favorite moments in gaming, rather it be a towering colossus of a boss, an awe-inspiringly designed level, or a jaw-dropping story sequence, including a finale that is arguably one of the greatest story moments in modern gaming. This reboot of one of gaming’s most storied franchises is one of the best games I have played in the current generation, one which any gamer, whether they are a newcomer to this revered series, or one that has been slaying vampires since Castlevania first appeared in 1986, would be hard-pressed not to adore.

Final score: 9.5/10

Lords of Shadow 2 can't arrive soon enough

Blog Post: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Review

Chris Bartlett — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 22:44:00 GMT

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is a success story following the Castlevania franchises many failures to make the jump from 2D to 3D. Lords of Shadow delivers everything Castlevania fans have been craving in a 3D game since the release of the awful Castlevania 64. Intense combat, engaging puzzles, and breathtaking scenery are the highlights of this grand adventure.

The combat starts off nearly identical to that of the iconic God of War series but steadily evolves and really comes into its own as the game progresses. You start with only a handful of basic combos for your odd chain-within-a-cross weapon (very similar to Kratos' swords-on-chains) and a very useful doge roll. As the game progresses, you gain experience that allows you to purchase new combos, but I often found myself resorting back to the common mash-one-button combos. You will also add new sub-weapons to your repertoire throughout the game including series staples such as holy water, but because you have a limited supply, I often found myself conserving them unnecessarily in case an emergency that rarely came. The most unique thing about Lord of Shadows combat is the magic system. You are given separate bars for both light and shadow magic which can be activated at any time. While light magic is active, attacking enemies gives you extra health. While shadow magic is active, your attacks do additional damage. Switching between magic types mid-combo is enthralling and becomes necessary during some of the later boss fights.

There are two types of boss fights in Lords of Shadow. The first is giant titan battles which consist of scaling and then stabbing huge creatures in their glowing weak points like the colossi from Shadow of the Colossus. These fights have an incredible sense of scale that make them very exciting. However, each time you fall off the titan you have to rescale it which can take a lot of time, especially in the final titan battle. If you play the fights perfectly, you will probably loved them. If you fall off a lot you will probably hate them. Most gamers will likely fall somewhere in between these two extremes with a mere appreciation for the epic scale. The second type of boss fight is your standard affair; attack the boss while dodging their attacks as much as possible. Most bosses include a few quick-time events which lead to very satisfying kills. It's a common formula, but it fits Lords of Shadow well, and each boss fight still manages to feel fresh and original. The boss battles aren't particularly difficult once you get a few health and magic upgrades under your belt, but you can always pump up the difficulty in the options menu if you're looking for a little more challenge.

Every time you start getting tired of combat, a puzzle or platforming section breaks up the monotony. The puzzles range from simple deeds such as finding a crank handle and using it to wind a crank to challenging feats like scaring crows towards a stagnant scarecrow in order to wake him and steal his treasure. The platforming is extremely fun and hits a high note when you make your way up a large building or across a large chasm without falling. However there are many platforming segments, especially later in the game, where Lords of Shadow mistakes itself for a precise platformer. You can expect to experience many deaths at the hands of imprecise platforming. Also rearing its ugly platforming head is plank-walking. Walking across planks is an exercise of patience more than a test of platforming skill, but luckily they only show up a few times throughout the game.

The scenery of the game is absolutely gorgeous. The games preset camera might bother you a little bit at first, but you quickly learn to love it. The camera is never detrimental to combat, and only once in the entirety of the game did it make it hard for me to find where to go. It's worth getting used to the preset camera in order to see all the beautiful scenic views the game has to offer.

Lords of Shadow's cliché story of a man trying to resurrect his wife is full of both obvious and surprising twists. Don't let the word cliché turn you off from the story though, it's still an emotional, engaging quest which culminates in one of the greatest video game endings of all time after the credits roll. The voice acting is superb, featuring high-profile actors such as Robert Carlyle and Patrick Stewart.

Despite a very slow start and some poor design decisions, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is still worth your time. Beyond the 15-20 hours you'll spend playing through the game your first time, there are trials and hidden items in each level to keep the completionists coming back. Don't let the bad reputation of 3D Castlevania games, or anything else for that matter, keep you away from this amazing adventure.

Blog Post: A great action game with a pinch of Castlevania

ZexenVatenkeist — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:21:00 GMT

Lords of Shadow is a good and at the same time sad new entry in the Castlevania series. Good because it is, undeniably, a great game; even if most of it's mechanics are borrowed from other series like God of War and Devil May Cry. Sad because it represents a departure from many aspects that defined the series this far.

Graphics: 8.50

Stunning graphics and cool level designs more than make up for the unpolished Gabriel model you are forced to control. Enemies are also very well rendered on the screen. Just don't expect too much variety: Lords of Shadow follows the forest-snow-desert pattern already used by so many action games before it. Even so, the environments are breath-taking and the textures are top-notch.

Sound: 8.00

You will miss some of the classic scores and overall style of the series usual soundtracks, but once you get used to the new atmosphere of the game you will get used to it's matching music along with it. I actually enjoyed the voice acting, specially Gabriel's voice that does a good job avoiding the "vampire-killer stereotype" (created, mind you, by the Castlevania series itself). The sound effects sometimes fail and got me thinking more than once if "doing this would really sound like that".

Gameplay: 7.50

This is where things slip a bit. Forget everything you know about Castlevania: this is more like a romanian iteration of God of War with some Devil May Cry tweaks to it. There is no map, and most chapters are very straightforward. Gabriel's whip-chain work much like Kratos' chained blades, and the quick time events lack the same creativity found in the God of War series. The enemies are varied and force the player to constantly change attack tactics, which becomes even deeper with the addition of the Light and Shadow powers. The climbing system is very mechanical, but it only plays a minor role in Lords of Shadow. Castlevania was never known for having a great (not even a good, really) combat gameplay in it's 3D titles, but it actually managed to create a fun "assembly" in Lords of Shadow. The puzzles, on the other hand, are unique their complexity is just right.

Story: 8.50

Lords of Shadow's story is a hit and miss. It starts slow and builds up as you progress through the game, but it takes far too long to reach it's high point. By the time it did so I was already bored with the story, and instead of simply entertaining me, it first had to do a "recovery job" to convince me that the good part outweighed the bad one. Don't get me wrong, the good part does compensate the slow beginning; but I had the feeling it shouldn't have to. Gabriel's love story is a little tacky and cliched, but if you stick to Lords of Shadow to the end you'll be rewarded with one of the best endings Castlevania has ever seen.

Replay: 8.00

There are a lot of extras and secrets to be found, and most of them involve simple terrain investigation. There is also an unlockable difficulty level and many special moves to be bought. The Chapter Select mechanic makes this process a lot more dynamic. Lords of Shadow also has a pretty forward approach to Achievements/Trophies: do everything there is to be done in the game and you'll have obtained all of them; obtain all of them and you'll have done everything there is to do in the game. So yes, you'll want to play Lords of Shadow a second time; but not instantly.

Total: 7.75

This is the best 3D-gameplay Castlevania ever created, but even so, it's evident that the series still struggles to find it's own style inside this game concept. Lords of Shadow offers players a simple and fun adventure, but it lacks in substance when compared to both similar games (God of War) and the highlights of it's own series (Symphony of the Night).

Blog Post: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow one of my all time favourite games

shadowwrend — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 04:40:00 GMT

This game impressed me more than any in my recent memory. With its gorgeous character models and environments, and clean satisfying combat. This game pushed the dark gothic art style common in castlevania in a new direction that impressed me with its creativity and originality. the story though seemingly strait forward is a new refreshing take on the often overdone dracula nonsense. All this greatly outweighed the outright frustrating camera and I even sometimes didn't notice it at all. i'd love to see this take on the classic castlevania recipe continued into new games in the future. So I gave this game a ten for creativity and originality in art and storywriting.

Blog Post: Pretty frickin good

Thomas — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 02:48:00 GMT

Though I haven't bought the game yet I have rented it once and believe I have gotten far enough for a review.

Basically this is the first 3D Castlevania that gets a gold star from me.

Any doubt of this game should be removed. The only warning is dont be expecting any castlevania that you know of. This is more of a reboot and a new fresh start for the 3d games that will most likely be their own series.

The graphics are great,story is just epic,and the variety is just enough to get you through. And has there ever been a castlevania without awesome music?

The game play is split into 3 different styles. Hack n Slash'Puzzles'and platforming. Each are done well though the puzzles can stop you for long periods of time. Platforming area's are what you would expect but the action sequences are are the highlight of the whole game. The puzzles and platforming is basically just to prevent it from being a button masher and do their job well. Camera can be a little buggy at times and there the infamous"invisible walls".But that in no way interferes with the overall game.

Though for being a 3D game its pretty linear. Its mostly about slashing and solving your way forward.You can backtrack though to get stuff you missed.

This Is a great game for the franchise and I look forward to more.

Blog Post: Waiter? Sequel, please.

cornerstorefacade — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 08:08:00 GMT

(Attn: Major Spoiler alert at end of review)

Wow, what a great game. Full disclosure, this is basically the first Castlevania game I've ever played. I'd messed around very briefly with one or two a LONG time ago as a young kid, but this is the first one I've actually gotten into. So take that into account while reading this review: This is my first Castlevania experience, and I'm not judging this at all by previous entries in the series; I'm judging it merely as a game on its own merits.

As far as the gameplay itself, I'll keep this brief. You could certainly read other reviews that describe it quite capably basically in the same way that I would. Again, as a Castlevania newb, I was not familiar with the weapons that may have appeared in previous installments. The combat is excellent. Very fun, challenging, but not overwhelming. New combos are unlocked at a steady pace, meaning there are always new things to try. There is an exploration element as well, featuring story scrolls (which add minimum value), life, magic, or weapon upgrades. While its not quite the satisfaction of backtracking in Metroid, Arkham, or Shadow Complex, it is still nice to find every upgrade you can. There are also some puzzles spaced around, which add a welcome, but not too difficult, change of pace.

One of the major highlights of this game are the boss fights. There are some that feel just like a boss fight from, well, pretty much any other very good game, but there are a few that define the word epic. I've played plenty of games in which the boss "intro" is made to make you appear puny and insignificant. This game NAILS that. I started more than one boss fight thinking, "I have absolutely NO shot at this". This may be my number one game ever as far as epic boss fights. I've never felt quite like I was fighting something so much beyond me as I did in this game.

My few minor complaints are these: There are a few frustrating combat moments. Not many, the combat is very well done, but enough that there were 3 or 4 times in which I grew a little frustrated. My other complaint is that there are a few occasions in which its a little difficult to determine where you need to go. They could have made it a tad clearer from time to time.

Bottom line is this: this game is higly overlooked and underrated in my opinion. I know it got decent to good reviews, but I think it should be right up there with the top games of the last few years. I don't ever hear it mentioned in that respect. A few minor quibbles is all that keeps it from the upper tier of games. Here's all you need to know. True stories: While finishing the game, I could totally legitimately scream, "Die, Satan!" at my television and not look like a crazy person. And, later, if asked what I did that afternoon, I could completely honestly answer, "Not much. Did some laundry, defeated Satan, made lunch". Not every game provides that.

File: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Resurrection DLC