Castlevania Lords of Shadow followed the tragic story of Gabriel Belmont, betrayed by the Brotherhood and God it ended with the revelation that these events would lead to him becoming the Prince of Darkness himself. After 1000 years of sulking Dracula has had enough and after a little chat with his old mate Patrick Stewart, his mission is to stop Satan from returning and in return Zobek will end his immortality. So thats pretty much the story, how about the actual game?
Firstly let me start by saying Castlevania Lords of Shadow for me is one of THE most under rated games of this generation. Unfortunately Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 has now been added to that list, I seriously do not understand all the negativity surrounding this game.
Lets get straight to the point and I cannot stress this enough, the stealth sections are NOT as bad as all the reviews make them out to be. They are a couple of minutes long unless you're really bad at games, Ive not seen a review mention that you can in fact sneak up behind a Golgoth Guard and possess it, possession kills any enemy! I was expecting these stealth sections to be a full on Metal Gear type Solid Snake style espionage! I know people will argue that the almighty Prince of Darkness should absolutely not be sneaking around disguised as a pack of rats. Well I say why not! After all Dracula in the Castlevania series is based on the character created by Bram Stoker, who could obviously turn into a wolf, mist, a bat AND a pack of rats. Dracula is a powerful being with supernatural powers, he has never been invincible. This is shown when he was defeated in Mirror of Fate and countless other Castlevania games when you face off against him and then he inevitably returns for the next Castlevania game. Also Dracula doesnt just turn into a pack of rats to sneak by some enemies (like a big wimp as some have said) he uses them to be sneaky and cunning, such as getting to places he cant get to as a man, he also uses the rats to bite through electrical wires to open locked doors etc, so the rats arent as bad as some other people have said, Dracula is smart, turning into a pack of rats is just another weapon at his disposal, I actually find exploring as a rat pretty fun and a good little break from fighting. My last point on the stealth section is the dreaded section where you have to sneak by a boss type enemy without stepping on leaves on the ground, it took some reviewers of this game a couple of hours to complete this section, one reviewer even said it took him 4 hours! It took me around 10 minutes and 3 attempts. Some of these guys need to seriously consider their career choice, Not long before this section you unlock the ability to turn into mist, you use a combination of MIST and plat forming during this section. Its simple Zelda style gaming, unlock new ability, use new ability to defeat boss or to get past the next few areas. Simple gaming tactics that go back to the early 90's 16 bit era ... yet people who review games for a living couldnt figure that out.
Stealth aside LOS2 offers open exploration as opposed to the linear chapters offered in the first game, the open levels are limited to how far you can explore until you unlock the required ability to pass a certain section. This means back tracking to find collectables that weren't obtainable the first time round, sort of in the style of Castlevania Symphony of the Night. Ive never felt like this was a chore as the environments are often so beautiful that getting to see them more than once is really kind of cool and the combat is so fun that you wont mind a few challenging fights along the way. The only downside to this exploration is the map, the map is terrible and hard to follow, there are map rooms which allow you to fast travel but unlike previous Castlevania games where youll open up the map and see where the fast travel has just taken you, if you did this in this game, youd still be clueless as to your whereabouts until you exit the room. Youll soon learn all the routes of Castlevania City and The Castle in the past but a simpler map where you could maybe mark down where youve spotted an unobtainable upgrade, or be able to see clearly where you are and how far away you from the next map room etc seems like a simple idea thats worked so well in past games that they left out this time, if you're going to have an open world then a good map system is a must!
The story of Lords of Shadow 2 takes you to the past and the present. In the present youll carry out missions for Zobek infiltrating a Science Lab or a factory. Then the ghosts of Gabriel's past will take you back to the old Castlevania in the past, often to retrieve some sort of forgotten ability, this new ability will usually result in your progression in the present. Admittedly the environments in the past stand out and have some of the best surroundings ive come across in any game on my Xbox 360, especially when you go out onto the balcony on Bernhard's Wing for the first time .... wow! But the present still has the same Gothic appeal as the past, the present day city is built upon the remains of the castle. When I say remains, the castle is still very much there in all its gigantic Gothic glory except the odd skyscraper is there along with it, but the old Castle still stands tall dominating the skyline. Dont be put off by the present day settings of LOS2 as the castle and all those lovely Gothic statues are still a very big part of the the modern day Castlevania City. Youll come across the odd drab corridor still but these moments are a heartbeat in comparison with the rest of the eye candy.
Ive been running through the game so far on Lord of Shadow difficulty, which is the hardest setting you can select on your first playthrough. At first I took a bit of a beating, but i soon learnt that the hack and slash technique I was used to wasnt going to cut it in this game. Lords of Shadow 2 makes you think before you attack, often using a combination of blocking and either the Shadow Whip, Void Sword or Chaos Claws to annihilate your enemy. Also mastering each weapon ensures you dont just repeatedly use the same move over and over, each move or combination of moves increases in percentage each time you use it, once this move reaches 100% you can power up your weapon, this goes for all moves with the Shadow Whip, Void Sword and Chaos Claws. So youll be using all kinds of fighting techniques and be more encouraged to use a wide variety of attacks and even take your fights into the air, which never happened much in the first game for me. The focus bar also makes a return in LOS2, just like the first game repeated successful hits on an enemy means new orbs to suck into your desired power (Void Sword / Chaos Claws). Certain bosses or enemy types require you to use these powers to defeat them, so youll find yourself paying much more attention in combat to ensure you dont get hit and you can power up whatever weapon you need. Ive always loved the variety of enemies and boss battles in Castlevania games, LOS2 doesnt disappoint. The enemies are varied and detailed, theyre also challenging and each type has an unblockable attack that will keep you on your toes, especially when up against a crowd. The boss battles as always are where Castlevania shine, youll fight boss battles both in the present and the past, from a giant Gorgon to Satan's elite demons in the present.
The bottom line is, if you enjoyed Lords of Shadow, dont be put off by the reviews for this game, it is definitely just as beautiful and enjoyable as the first game. Some may not find the stealth sections much fun and others might say they dont have any place in a Castlevania game, and they may be right! But they are few and far between and a few minutes long, simple puzzles for most gamers. Once youve done them once, when you return to that location the Golgoth Guards are gone. So dont let the negative comments about the stealth sections put you off playing what is truly an amazingly beautiful and fun game.