Lords of Shadow proves it is not just another God of War clone, offering the best 3D experience in the franchise.
Pros:
+ Great story
+ Memorable moments abound
+ Sensibly violent in a not "over the top" kind of way
+ Perfect length
+ Immersive and finely detailed environments
+ Fun and challenging puzzles
+ Superb sound design and voice acting
Cons:
- Instances of poor level design
- Trials feel tacked on for added replay value
- Replay value is lacking
- Difficulty is like a workout rubber band
Fans of Castlevania have been awaiting a 3D entry in the series that does the franchise justice since the inception of 3D gaming. Lords of Shadow not only brings aforementioned fans a game worthy of their attention, but also the Castlevania name and nostalgia that console gamers have swooned over for two decades.
You set forth on this journey of revenge, love, and betrayal as the founding member of the Belmont clan and a member of the Brotherhood of Light: Gabriel Belmont. Gabriel's beloved has been taken from him forcefully by the demons and monsters roaming the lands. These creatures came and stole what was dear to Gabriel after a great war between the dark monsters and the humans' heroes and titans. He has vowed to bring her back using whatever means necessary, which ultimately leads him to pursue the God's Mask. This mask has the power of reviving the dead and is fragmented, with each of the pieces residing with the three Lords of Shadow. Gabriel sets out with his trusty Combat Cross and a determination that not even God himself could stop.
Those who say this sounds like more of a hack n' slash clone or a reboot than a true Castlevania game fear not, Kojima and Co. have taken proper care to keep the faithful happy. All of the nostalgia is here: the array of secondary weapons, quintessential monsters and oversized bosses, and all of the traditional Castlevania locales. These categories span the original Castlevania through Super Castlevania IV, which covers a lot of content. Instead of just mashing elements together as other 3D games have in the past, Kojima took a much different route this time around. Lords of Shadow is able to mesh and include all the critical elements of Castlevania's past as part of a deep and dark story that gives gamers insight into the start of the Belmont clan and legacy of the Vampire Killer.
Those familiar with the Castlevania games will definitely recognize the subtle cues to the game's 2D heritage that Kojima and his team have seamlessly interwoven. The greatest example of this method is executed in the form of the 3D environments zooming out and creating a 2D point of reference. Pinnacle moments that are in every Castlevania game and utilize this gameplay facet in Lords of Shadow are the climbing platform sequences and running up the castle chains to reach the Castle towards the end of the game.
One of the main issues Lords of Shadow suffers from is not the 2D platforming, but in the areas when you need to navigate jumping, climbing, and shuffling in 3D. Scaling massive walls and leaping across huge chasms proves to be some of the most visually breathtaking, yet oddly infuriating experiences in the game. These sequences usually result in a trial-and-error experience that can drain your health bar and patience alike, much like the original 2D games did. This subtle nod to the classic games (while appreciated) should have been remedied for this series reboot instead of forcing gamers to suffer through the frustration of design and control issues from the 8-bit and 2D iterations that are present in Lords of Shadow.
These glorious and nostalgic moments are not the only similarities the game shares with its 2D predecessors. The difficulty of the game is that of the lore of original game's legacy. Sections of the game can ramp up and prove to be exponentially more difficult than the previous sections just passed. This can also result in a forced checkpoint restart during a boss fight or replay long sections of the game due to a moment of weakness or ill-timed quick-time-events (QTEs). The most frustrating of these restarts prove to be the QTEs, especially the ones where you have to time a button push almost perfectly to defeat a boss at the end of the fight. If you miss once, it ends in an instant death and you must start the fight from the last checkpoint. The only good news regarding these punishing defeats is the death animations are entertaining, but having to fight a battle three or four times gets frustrating.
The QTE system is not new to the genre, but is handled in a different manner. There is a small circle around where the event will take place on the screen and a larger circle will quickly zoom in on the smaller circle. The goal is to get the zooming circle into the smaller circle to trigger the event. This is an example of a new approach to an old concept and it works really well in this capacity. This is much appreciated as opposed to the button-mashing used in most games, and the timing changes based on the animations and situation Gabriel is in.
Lords of Shadow doesn't innovate within the genre, but rather focuses on refining elements already found in the genre in ways not usually found in a hack-n-slash game. The controls are a superb example of this, as they feel disjointed and awkward at first. However, once you get used to them they become more natural than the typical control setup you are used to from games in the genre.
Another refinement is the use of magic in Lords of Shadow. Gabriel now has a slew of attacks and abilities that can be drastically altered via light and shadow magic. The initial moves and commands at Gabriel's disposal are purchased and upgraded via experience points and when used in conjunction with magic. This may sound familiar to those who are fans of the God of War series, but it is executed in a much different way. Instead of having certain abilities or spells available, different attacks are used in conjunction with light/shadow magic will yield vastly different results. This can vary from Gabriel gaining health back based on damage dealt, or turn an ordinary dagger into an explosive projectile.
There are also areas where Lords of Shadow suffers when compared to other games in the genre. This includes a pacing issue present for the first quarter of the game. Certain areas take too much time while others are a chapter that merely consists of walking through a passage and fighting a boss. This creates a feeling of unease and leaves the player confused as to how much time to block off when playing the game to get an adequate session in. This pacing issue is remedied throughout the final three-quarters of the game, but the pacing in the first quarter could be significantly improved upon and has caused many players to quit the game altogether.
Lords of Shadow is not a perfect game in any sense, but is a surprisingly good (perhaps even great) game. There are issues with level design, difficulty as unforgiving as a 50-lb rubber band from the gym, and sections of unforgiving platforming. In light of this, the game does more right than wrong and offers gamers something that has never been done before: a legit 3D Castlevania game WORTH PLAYING. Lords of Shadow provides hack-n-slash and Castlevania fans an experience that may start slow, but picks up steam and offers one of the greatest denouements of any 3D action/adventure game offered to date. With a little polish and shine and a few squashed bugs, the game would have easily been a game of the year contender despite the strong showing of games released in 2010.
Those who choose to miss this Kojima rendition on a classic series will miss one of the best illustrations of how to keep a long running franchise's nostalgia intact while bringing it into the current technology of gaming. Lords of Shadow is a showing of the great things to come and provides some insight into the future direction of Castlevania for fans of the franchise and the hack-n-slash genre as a whole.