Castlevania is well known for its epic adventures, through a fantastic castle, against tons of different enemies, in 2D space. However, Konami has had major problems adapting this trademark gameplay into the third dimension, but have they finally given Castlevania fans what they have been craving for years, or is this just another disappointment for us all?
The first thing you will notice in Lords of Shadow is the excellent voice talent that was hired to bring each character to life as well as the story that surrounds them. You will notice voice talent such as Natascha McElhone, Aleksander Mikic, Emma Ferguson, Richard Ridings, and Jason Isaacs who all do a fantastic job with their respective characters. Easily the most impressive of the bunch though is Robert Carlyle who voices Gabriel Belmont, and Sir Patrick Stewart who voices Zobek. You play as Gabriel Belmont who is heavily troubled by something awful from his past but as you progress through the story you start to learn that the past is not what it seems. Zobek is a sort of mentor to Gabriel in the game who is a really brilliant character in the story as you will learn. He also offers a short monologue between each level that quickly sums up what is going on in the story at that moment in the game which is helpful. Voice talent is completely useless in any game without great writing to back it up, and good writing is something this game does not lack at any point. Not only is the story extremely interesting throughout the majority of the game, but the ending will leave you with goosebumps and a giant smile on your face. I don’t want to spoil anything for you here which is why I am giving such few details about the plot, but trust me when I say its good and you will enjoy it.
Lords of Shadow is broken down into twelve chapters offering about 20 hours of gameplay on your first play through and about another 20 or more hours of replay value for people who love achievements and trophies. To make sure these 20-40 hours never get boring you travel through multiple castles, a bog, a forest, a swamp, a titan graveyard, a snowy mountainside, a sewer, and many other diverse locations. To match the different environments you also get large variety of enemies to fight with everything from little tiny health sucking plants, to Frankenstein’s mechanical scorpion, flying vampires, angry trolls, and werewolves. Even the boss battles are all different with each one offering a unique experience and challenge to them, however their are a few titan battles that are a total drag in comparison with the other normal sized bosses. Possibly the best part of the game though is the amazing musical score you get the pleasure of listening to throughout each level, and how each song is perfectly matched with every situation you play through.
The weapon of choice in Lords of Shadow is a ranged melee weapon called the combat cross which has similar characteristics to the classic whip but offers enough diversity to create an engaging combat experience compared to the action games of today. The combat is designed around light and heavy attacks that can be combined is various ways to create many different combos, but the developers did not just shamelessly rip off God of War’s combat system though, they implemented enough of their own ideas to create a system that is diverse yet rewarding. The combat system relies heavily on defense, and you must wait for the most opportune time to attack your foe because if you are to aggressive the enemy AI will take a large chunk of health away especially on the higher difficulties. Since the game lacks frequent health refills so you must use your combat skills effectively to recharge your health bar with the light magic system which you will learn early on. Basically when light magic is active you gain health with every attack that hits an enemy, but you have to be careful because if you go out on all out offensive to try and gain some health back the enemy will make you pay dearly again for your lack of defense. The magic system really adds a great dynamic to the fighting system that you will need to master in order to succeed in the later parts of the game. Overall the combat is great fun with the exception of the camera as it sometimes gives you poor angles and transitions causing difficulties seeing all the enemies around you.
The game breaks up the action with some decent puzzle sections that are mildly entertaining but nothing ground breaking, although the nice thing is if you are to lazy to figure them out you can skip them for a small fee. Their are also quite a few platforming parts that try to break up the pacing a little bit, but they are easily the weakest parts of the game. The shoddy camera work and imprecise jumping of Gabriel combine to be an annoying experience especially when you get to the late game where they implement some timing jumps into the levels. The sad part is they even highlight the ledges you need to jump to but sometimes you just fall to your death because of the poor mechanics put into the game for these types of actions. You will also be spending some of your time doing a little bit of exploring as most the levels have branching paths and secret areas to uncover if you take your time to find them.
Despite the flaws with the platforming this game is an overall great experience that classic Castlevania fans and modern action game fans can both enjoy. If you are looking for a fun but challenging single player experience that will not baby you through each level then you should look not further then Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. The game is available for both PS3 and Xbox360 so grab one if you own either of system.
Our Score: 9 /10
One of the best action games in recent years and I highly recommend you purchase this game.
