Instead of trying for something new, Defiance attempts to make the standard elements work together perfectly.
Raziel seeks a way to escape the control of the Elder God and to avoid his fate of having his soul consumed by the Soul Reaver, as dictated by prophecy. Kain, on the other hand, seeks to find some way to preserve the Pillars of Nosgoth without sacrificing himself to prevent their corruption. The defiance is in the attempts of the characters to avoid their fates. The story is great for showing the idea that you meet your destiny on the road you take to avoid it. The story in the actual game flips back and forth between these two characters. For the majority of the game, Kain's portion occurs in the time of the Sarafan and Raziel's journey occurs 500 years afterward.
Kain plays a more combat driven character, and there is a great sense of power when fighting. The enhancements for the Soul Reaver are quite significant in combat, and everything feels pretty visceral. Hitting enemies in a combo will send them flying, and sword hits send up sprays of blood. When fighting human (most of Kain's enemies are Sarafans) enemies, a large spray of blood signifies that they are dying and they can either have their blood drained for health, or their blood absorbed by your blade for a greater increase in the combat meter. When in combat, the meter increases with every blow, and when it's fully charged, it gives extra damage, and with the lightning enhancement(for example) the third strike of a combo will send out a lightning strike to surrounding enemies. Also, one full charge can be stored and used at any time for a very strong attack. There are some minor puzzle solving aspects in Kain's levels, but many of them are regulated to the find key for lock variety. However, they aren't too boring, and the combat keeps things fun.
As anyone familiar with the series can predict, the levels where you play as Raziel are much more focused upon puzzle solving. This is coupled with the fact that Raziel has two realms in which to work. The spectral realm and the physical realms place different restrictions upon the actions Raziel can perform, due to his bodily corruption. The spectral realm is, basically, trippy as hell. Features become stretched and distorted, sometimes allowing for passage that would otherwise be impossible, such as pedestals moving and so forth. One example that occurs is the shift to spectral to move through a grate, going up a set of stairs and jumping onto a platform unreachable in the physical realm, finding corpse gas to shift to material realm, ride the pedestal to it's physical location and then jumping to a previously inaccessible ledge. In the physical realm, Raziel can swim, but in the spectral, water has no buoyancy, so Raizel can walk on the bottom of the water. Differences such as these make great possibilities for puzzle solving. There are enemies particular to the spectral realm, and the enemies in the physical are vampire hunters and possessed bodies much of the time. The combat meter for the wraith form of the Soul Reaver with Raziel is utilized more for puzzles than for combat, though it definitely assists in combat as well. Most of the time the blade either by itself or charged is used for puzzles, such as an air blade into a vent to lift you in the air, or a charged blade of darkness to turn invisible.
Overall, the graphics are excellent. The pre-rendered cutscenes look superb, and the in-game cinematic sequences look very well done as well. The Gothic architecture of the vampire citadels look beautiful, and each of the different citadels for wraith enhancements have their own looks (darkness, light, fire, water and so forth). As far as I saw, there were no locations that had noticeably poorer graphics than anywhere else in the game. The enemies look very good and are animated well. The gaits of Kain and Raziel are different, and their bodies match their play style and their combat styles. Raziel is lean and fast, where Kain is bulkier and moves more slowly with more power. Additionally, the sound works very well. The music fits the mood of the game in any location. Some of the boss fights have great musical accompaniments as well. Combat is very satisfying. The grunts and groans and screams of death set the atmosphere and keep you there.
There are some rough spots in the terms of difficulty, but nothing that would present something too challenging to someone familiar with this type of game. The main goal of the game is to provide a story to the player as well as providing an entertaining game. It doesn't try to revolutionize anything, but it does make a very solid game. The largest problem is with the camera. For the most part, the game uses a fixed but rotating camera that can be tweaked some, but it can lead to confusion when moving between some rooms. It can result in accidental returning to a previous room. This can happen a few times, as well as an inability to see enemies if too close to the wall in some locations. However, aside from a few minor incidents such as these, there are no problems I encountered.
During the game, health talismans, telekinesis runes and ancient tomes can be collected. There are twelve health talismans for each character, which result in four separate health increases. The telekinesis runes are eight for each character and each provide a boost. The tomes unlock production art for other games in the series, which is very interesting. Also, upon completion of the game, a whole slew of content is unlocked. This includes more production art as well as a number of cast recordings, such as for individual roles and some very amusing outtakes.
This is a great game. I have played it twice, and I have enjoyed every moment of the game.