Gabriel Belmont will have his revenge upon the Lords of Shadow, venturing to the very depths of hell to find retribution against those who have corrupted the ideals of the Brotherhood of Light and murdered his wife.
While this Belmontâs fight against the forces of evil may sound somehow familiar, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow bears little resemblance to the other games in the 24-year-old series. Developer Mercury Steamâs take on the Castlevania franchise, famous for its whips and vampire slaying, uses a different approach. Call it a reboot, if you want, because Lords of Shadow looks more like a Ninja Gaiden or God of War action game, full of violent battles and gruesome boss monsters that require great dexterity, patience and skill to defeat. Expect vampires aplenty, just donât count on Lord Dracula himself showing up for the zillionth time.
Ideal Player
The player who views Super Castlevania IV, not Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, as the seriesâ high point. The God of War super-fan hungry for something new to play after finishing Danteâs Inferno, who may not like the quirky attitude of a Devil May Cry or Bayonetta.
Why You Should Care
Lords of Shadow is Konamiâs most serious attempt at making the Castlevania seriesâwhich has played best in two dimensionsâwork elegantly in 3D. This ambitious action adventure game charts its own course, opting for combat and storytelling instead of extended exploration, bearing little resemblance to the âMetroidvaniaâ template of past games. Also, Patrick Stewartâs in it.
How is this a Castlevania game? Largely in name, really, as players are introduced to a (mostly) new cast of characters and wildly different gameplay mechanicsâfor a Castlevania entry, anyway. There are fan service nods and winks, but things have changed substantially. You still have a whip-like weapon; you can upgrade your character with new weapons, attacks and spells; and youâre vanquishing evil in various spooky settings while fighting vaguely familiar foes, but Lords of Shadows is heavily inspired by God of War and action games of its ilk. Heavily.
Patrick Stewart voices your sometimes helpful comrade Zobek, doing his best with Lords of Shadowâs oft pleonastic dialogue.
Is it fair to call this a God of War clone? Not really, because the borrowing doesnât stop there. Lords of Shadow blatantly lifts some of its boss battles from games like Shadow of the Colossus, its wall-climbing and platforming from Uncharted. That makes this Castlevania feel incredibly derivative, but, hey, some of the best games in the series lifted their mechanics directly from Nintendoâs Metroid. Longtime Castlevania fans shouldnât act too surprised. Fortunately, Lords of Shadows is borrowing from some of the best.
Howâs the combat? Perhaps the gameâs strongest suit, actually. Early on, it feels like something weâve played many times before, a mix of light and heavy attacks amid quick dodging and blocking. But Lords of Shadowâs fighting system opens up when the player unlocks Light and Shadow Magic powers. Battles become more fun and less repetitive when the player is forced to balance health-granting Light Magic attacks with the attack power-boosting Dark Magic against the gameâs impressively challenging foes. Combat eventually shows its depth and pleasures, so stick it out for a while if you initially find it dull.
What could be dull about a game that looks this amazing? Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is visually spectacular. Players will explore wintry castles, fight lycanthropes in the rain, creep through overgrown poisoned bogs and visit wondrous, hellish lands. Youâll be drenched in rain, sunlight and color. The diversity and attention to detail in this game is simply astounding. Unfortunately, some of that graphical splendor comes at a cost. Levels are tightly linear, strict about where you can and cannot explore. Furthermore, Lords of Shadowâs frame rate takes many hits, something action game aficionados will rightly take issue with.
Any other problems? Unfortunately, yes, Lords of Shadow has a handful of technical shortcomings. During my playthrough, which lasted more than 15 hours, I experienced the odd graphical bug and was confounded by one late-game moment in which the game played in slow motion for a few minutes. The gameâs fixed camera is also a source of frustration. Itâs confusing during labyrinthine exploration levels (there is no map system), which makes it a hindrance during platform jumping. It occasionally obscures important thingsâlike enemies, projectiles and your character during some fights.
That sounds like it could be aggravating. It is. So are some of the gameâs puzzles, which are occasionally quite clever, but more often obtuse, and sometimes simply dumb. Also bothersome are these little Chupacabras that steal your powersâthe fun part!âat certain intervals. Their only purpose, it seems, is to annoy and lengthen the game by another hour.
Last question. And this is very important. Does it suck? Absolutely not. Lords of Shadow is quite good. And not in a âquite good for a 3D Castlevania game,â itâs just good. The combat mechanics are fun, the visuals gorgeous, the music appropriately epic and the other stuff a mix of tried and true. If you donât mind playing through lesser versions of Colossus battles like this, youâll have a blast.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow In Action
The Bottom Line
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is an impressive, if derivative, effort from young developer Mercury Steam. While this Castlevania game may not deliver depth in its upgrades or weapons or bestiary, sometimes venturing into tedium, thereâs plenty to plumb from the gameâs rock-solid combat, diverse environments and lengthy, well-told story. Thereâs plenty of challenge and content here for even the seasoned action game fan. If youâve never been too fond of the platform-based exploration of more recent Castlevania games, Lords of Shadow may make you an admirer of the Belmont clan.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow was developed by Mercury Steam and Kojima Productions and published by Konami, released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on October 5. Retails for $59.99 USD. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played game to completion over the course of about 16 hours on Warrior (Normal) difficulty on Xbox 360. Attempted a dozen Trials.
