...a original and addictive action-adventure.
You play as Kain, once a noblemand, but then viciously murdered and then turned into a vampire. After that, you wake up in your tomb, bent on only one thing: revenge your murder. The story in the game is not of course a typical revenge plot. When you eventually do kill your murderers, a mystical necromancer appears at the Pillars of Nosgoth, and asks for your help to kill creatures, that are connected to the Pillars themselves. Of course the story is not that boring, the story in the game is truly interesting and original, it will take to distant lands and even back in time. The story in the game is perhaps the strongest one of all.
The gameplay in Legacy of Kain is probably the weakest, although it has some nice hack and slash combat in it, it boils down as a very repedetive action. Although you start with a basic sword and armor, you get new weapons in the game and of course spells. Weapons and armor will change and they will have different and unique effects on how to demolish your opponents. For example, a mace that you will get later on in the game can destroy some types of rocks and nock your enemies unconsious for a few seconds. The effective flesh armor will have the ability to drain your opponents health, giving some for you when you hit them. That comes very handy when you will have dozens of enemies to fight. Unfortunately it isn't enough to change the gameplay to some new and exciting directions.
Kain is a very powerful character and he is very well animated, he moves with great realisim. The enemies are very well animated too, but there are some graphical glitches too, regretably. The boss fights are pretty much the highlight of the game and they are very convincing and some of them are even pretty scary looking. That gives the game a really great feel.
First time you hear Kain manicaly laugh, when he cuts open one of his enemies, you'll know that he is purely evil. Guess he turned that way when he was bitten by a vampire, huh. One of the best things about the game is sound. The soundtrack is very suitable to the current theme and some sad melodies are really great. Although the voiceacting is superb, it feels a bit forced through, but that is forgiveable.
Overall, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain is a fantastic game, that shouldn't be missed. The fact that it is possible to get it free, is even more tempting. Although the game has a few shortcomings, it's still a good thing to go over again and get more of the hidden secrets that there is. Oh, and did I mentione the game keeps track of how many people you kill or suck blood out from? It is a really neat touch.