User Rating: 7.8 | Blood Omen 2 PS2
By AndrewN | Review Date:
The Legacy of Kain series has an interesting past behind it. What started out as an isometric hack and slash game by Silicon Knights and Crystal Dynamics, spawned off into the Soul Reaver series by a different team and now Crystal Dynamics and Eidos. But, the original game finally has got its true sequel in Blood Omen 2. Taking place before the Soul Reaver games, Blood Omen 2 places you back in control of the evil vampire, Kain. The story takes place after Kain’s assent to power. A group of powerful vampire hunters, known as the Sarafan, has risen up to face Kain’s growing army. Surprisingly, the vampires are defeated and Kain falls to the Sarafan Lord’s blade and thus the game begins. When Kain wakes up from the battle, he finds that he has been recuperating for the last two hundred years with the help of the Cabal, the vampire resistance. The Sarafan are back in power and Kain must seek revenge on the Sarafan Lord. Now wipe the blood off your face, and read how Kain’s journey has turned out. By running through the mandatory tutorial at the beginning of the game, Kain learns the skills that he has at his disposal. While most of these skills may seem standard for many action gamers, Blood Omen 2 tries to gives every move a distinctive vampiric twist. For example, Kain can leap much higher and farther than most action characters, which is because vampires have traditionally had this superhuman capability. Kain can also land silently from jumps, which proves handy with trying to surprise or hide from enemies. The tutorial also runs Kain through many of the kinds of puzzles he will encounter throughout the game. Now don’t expect to be challenged by most of these puzzles, as many of them are essentially just throwing switches, turning levers, and pushing blocks. But, the game does try to make things a little more complicated by forcing Kain to activate the power to a switch by activating the nearby Glyph energy, or by throwing another switch. Later in the game, Kain will find himself having to hit multiple switches either in a certain order or with proper timing. Kain will also get some powers that allow him shoot projectiles to hit switches. But probably the only significant twist in the puzzle solving comes in his mind control ability, which allows him to have citizens of Nosgoth do the dirty work for him. While some people may find these puzzles enjoyable in their simplicity, I’m left just wishing they did more to mix up the combat. On that note, combat is where the core of the game takes place, and Kain does have quite a bit of options available. The basic combat system allows Kain to lock on to enemies, toggle between them if he chooses, dodge, and block. Depending on which blocking scheme you chose at the beginning of the game, blocking can be as simple as holding down the block button until you decide to attack or having to block each swipe the enemy takes at you. While simply holding down the button might dumb down the game a bit, the developers have given some enemies powerful attacks that can not be blocked. However, there are distinctive visual clues as to when these attacks are coming, at which time Kain can dodge or leap out of the way. Fortunately, the battle system has a few more tricks up its sleeves to keep things interesting. Probably the most significant addition is the Dark Gift abilities. Depending on which of the seven skills he has selected, Kain can either use these attacks as powerful blows to his enemies, or in the case of Mist, to perform one hit stealth kills. The stealth kills are probably the coolest visual treat in the game, as the change depending on which weapon Kain currently has in his possession. However, these Dark Gifts can almost make any battle ridiculously easy. Even in the skilled blocking scheme, Kain can just block the enemies until his Rage meter, which is basically his magic meter, fills up, and then unleash these Dark Gifts to almost always instantly kill them. But of course, this won’t work against the tougher boss characters. The other distinctive trait about the game comes in the way it handles health and experience. Since Kain is a vampire, he constantly is going to need to feed on the blood of the living. Any enemies that Kain kills or any citizens that he attacks can become fodder for Kain’s blood sucking ability. If Kain drink more blood than he needs, then his Lore meter will rise slightly. The Lore meter functions essentially as an experience point meter. By filling it up, Kain’s life bar increases, therefore making him stronger. Unfortunately, his Lore meter also increases. But, Kain can also find Lore chests, which will increase the amount of lore he possesses. Kain also must be concerned with how much damage his weapon has taken, as they can be shattered after repeated use. Fortunately, Kain can use any weapon he finds laying about or in his enemies’ hands. If Kain is unable to find a weapon, he can always use his claws, which are slightly weaker but significantly faster. I actually found the claws to be one of the better weapons in the game, since their speed is better and I don’t have to worry about them breaking. But while the claws can not be powered up, Kain can find chests that will temporarily enhance the weapon he currently holds. Now while the enemies throughout the game can be dispatches using the same block, dodge, and unleash a Dark Gift strategy, the game’s bosses prove to be a much more inventive and formidable challenge. Usually, the bosses require Kain to use some puzzle solving skills in addition to dodging his opponent’s attacks. For example, the first boss require Kain to enter Mist and hit switches to burn the boss with flames, while avoiding his projectiles and racing before the boss moves again. Yet another boss requires Kain to use mind control in the midst of combat. All of this is quite refreshing, but some gamers will find that the bosses are quite a bit tougher than anything the game threw at them with any other enemy. A little more balance in difficulty could have helped, but after you figure the bosses out, they aren’t that tough. Graphically, Blood Omen looks fairly good, but certainly nothing special. The character models don’t look jaw dropping, but they get the job done. I found myself wishing they looked as good as the character models in Soul Reaver did. Similarly, the environments are generally pretty bland. All of the portions of the city, whether Kain is running through the slums or the nicer areas of the game, look the same, which isn’t good since they are pretty plain anyways. But, the animation fairs a little better, as the game’s characters all move rather smoothly. My big qualm about the graphics is the slow down in the frame rate when I enter a new area. This should have been caught in the testing phases, and I don’t see how they could have missed it. While the slow down doesn’t really effect the gameplay, it is very noticeable, and keep the game from feeling polished and smooth. As far as the sound goes, Blood Omen 2 keeps the series tradition going with superb voice acting. This is some of the best voice acting you will here in any video game. Simon Templeton, Kain’s voice actor, once again steals the show, and brings Kain’s character to a new level. The music also does a good job of setting up the mood, and it does switch pace depending on the situation. The sound effects are less memorable, but they serve their purpose. But once again, bugs have spoiled the game from being as good as it could have been. I have noticed of a few occasions a bug that I dub as the “crying baby” bug. While running through the game, the sound sometimes trips up, and plays a looping sound that sounds like a baby’s cry. The major issue is that when you run into this bug, it continues for the entire chapter. This simply is inexcusable. It makes the game almost unplayable, since the sound is extremely obnoxious and audible. Crystal Dynamics, do a better job bug testing next time. Although the game features eleven chapters, it isn’t a lengthy game at all. The game can be beaten in around ten hours, and without breaking much of a sweat. Fans of the game’s story are in for a treat, and should be able to enjoy the game despite its faults. However, those to new to the games may want to try out the Soul Reaver games first or perhaps the original Blood Omen. Unless you are a big fan of the series, I suggest you rent this game first. Because after you beat it, there simply isn’t anything to go back for.

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