While the overall game is good, the combat is a huge issue.
The story follows one Gabriel Belmont and is credited as the first in the franchise with Gabriel being the first Belmont to wield the famous whip, this time embedded into a combat cross. Gabriel is on a quest to avenge the murder of his wife by the evils plaguing the land and the best way to avenge her is to save the world from evil. It sounds like a pretty simple story and a lot like God of War's plot and that's because it is. Despite being pretty similar to both God of War and Dante's Inferno it holds it's own due to the events that play out in it and for having a more brooding main character. Gabriel is a great protagonist and helps make the story stand out more. It's a well written tragedy that, while not remaining very faithful to Castlevania, will still hold up in the future.
While the story will hold up, I'm sad to say that the gameplay will not. Just like it's story, it's similar to God of War and Dante's Inferno in the gameplay department and, while they aren't bad games, the gameplay here feels much worse than in it's rivals. The whip feels weaker and looks weaker than Kratos' blades and Gabriel's movement is stiff, as is his dodging and blocking. You fight hoards of enemies throughout linear stages that vary only in environment for the most part. As you kill enemies you earn experience points that are used to purchase new abilities. These new abilities try to make the combat more fun, but the combat feels so poor that it fails to help. There are a lot of enemy types and they should be fun to fight, but something just feels off with the combat.
Aside from combat, you'll be running forward, climbing or solving puzzles. The running and climbing are fine, though the climbing can be picky at times, but the puzzles are usually frustrating and can be solved at any time by forgoing the experience earned from completion. I can see why this mechanic was invented, but it seems like a lazy way out of making poor puzzles. That's not to say it's all bad, the combat can be fun against some of the bosses and some puzzles are good, it's just hidden beneath a poor God of War clone and coming out after God of War III, a much better game to play, doesn't help things either.
On the audio front, the game is top notch. The voice work is done by TV actors such as Robert Carlye and Patrick Stewart and they make the characters come to life. The well written script, wonderful narration by Patrick Stewart and fantastic music add some beauty and sadness to the world around Gabriel. The music might be inferior to most other Castlevania music, focusing on more sombre tones, but it throws some of the original music in at some cool moments. If anything is said about Lords of Shadow, it's that Gabriel and Zobek are voiced perfectly.
The visuals are another thing MercurySteam got right. The dark fantasy setting is perfect for Castlevania and both the character design and enemy design are fantastically fitting and well done. Some of the environments are beautiful and some are dark and depressing, although some more actual castles would be a welcome addition. The only nitpick I have about the visuals is the talking animation, it's sort of bland. Other than that, it's a beautifully dark and very Castlevania looking game.
PROs
- Wonderful visuals
- Music and voice work are some of the best
- Creature designs are great
- Gabriel is a great addition to the Belmont family
- Story is memorable and Narration is fantastic
- Combat Cross is cool
CONs
- Combat is bland and doesn't feel fun
- Mouth movements are sort of plain
- Music is inferior to that of the rest of the series
- Gameplay is a shamelessly poor God of War clone
Overall, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is worth playing at least once. It has a brilliant story, great characters, great voice work and beautiful music and visuals. The only thing wrong with the game is the most important thing about a game, the gameplay. With the gameplay as it is, I can't fully recommend it, regardless of how good the rest of the game is. The worst part? It's hard to explain why the gameplay is so poor, it just feels off. Nevertheless, it's still a fine product, it just fails as a game. Come for the presentation and stay for the story I say.
Story: 9.0/10
Gameplay: 6.0/10
Audio: 9.0/10
Presentation: 9.5/10