When the original Castlevania videogame was
released on the NES back in 1988, the world was a different place.
People wore curious outfits, the music was awesome, and the Internet
was in its infancy – basically a couple of nerds pinging each other.
In that year I was just eight years old, with
extreme hyperactive/destructive tendencies, and my then guardians
figured out that videogames would keep me quiet - there was no Ritalin
back then...
So being handed the latest videogame in the
series, I was very excited to get into Castlevania: Lords of Shadow,
which reboots the series and gives it a distinct God of War feel. But
more on that later.
The story is a little confusing at first, and
after an awesome intro I was a little dismayed to find out that Simon
Belmont – the protagonist of the early games – and his impressively
dull name were no more. You now play a dude called Gabriel Belmont, who
is at least from the same blood line. Anyways, his wife is dead, and as
a member of the Brotherhood of Light (the medieval version of SAS or
black ops) he is ably equipped to avenge his wife’s death at the hands
of a demon.
The story eventually evolves into something quite
satisfying with a number of moderately intriguing plot twists, but the
first thing that really slaps you in the face like a jilted lover is
the graphics. Visual masterpiece might be going over-the-top in
describing the way this game looks, but it’s not far off.
From the way Gabriel moves, his slow motion
assassination moves are incredible, and especially the 3D environments,
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow has the kind of eye candy that will make
you want to play just to see what fantasy creations will come next. The
level of creativity here is utterly astounding and if nothing else,
this game is worth playing just to revel in its graphical splendour.
Thankfully the gameplay is not too shabby either,
but it’s probably a combination of the graphics and the gameplay that
kept me playing. Viewed from a fixed third-person camera, controlling
Gabriel is pretty straightforward. He’s nimble like a cat, quick like a
fox, and the controls do the man justice, easily allowing you to evade
danger.
A large majority of the game is spent in combat
and there are two main attack buttons - one initiates a focused heavy
attack, and the other is a weaker but area effective assault. The
weapon of choice stays somewhat true to Castlevania lore, and though
it’s not a whip per se, the Combat Cross works in a similar fashion.
Cue awesome 80s song 'Whip
it'.
Ostensibly a retractable chain whip imbued with
magical/destructive juju, the Combat Cross has long range, and
mastering initial combos needed to slay your demonic foes takes about
two minutes. Of course there are plenty of unlockable moves, around 40
new combos in total, to help dispatch stronger, nastier foes, who take
the shape of everything from irritated goblins, to aggravated
werewolves and massive rock golems.
The Combat Cross can also be used Indiana Jones
style, to latch onto otherwise unreachable outcrops, and is regularly
used in puzzle solving scenarios. On top of the button mashing combat
moves, you can also cast spells that can improve your attack or defense.
One of the more tricky aspects of the game is
mastering the blocking system, which you’ll need to do on all but the
easier of difficulty levels. This challenging combat element makes
progression more satisfying as you learn to get the timing just right,
and makes you a more formidable fighter to boot.
Early on in the game you’ll also come across your
first context-sensitive sequence, which are usually boss related, and
are liberally peppered throughout the game. For example the ‘B’ button
may flash on screen for a second or two during a fight with a winged
evil, and you mash the button to initiate an armour-piercing blow on
your enemy, the camera moving in and motion slows down as you inflict
uber pain on your enemy.
These sequences are actually pretty amazing, and
though borrowed from the God of War (GoW) handbook of videogaming, they
give the game a truly epic feel. From the very start you’re faced with
action and for the most part the game has good pacing, with plenty of
variety in the gameplay to mix things up, including horseback combat
and puzzles galore.
Some of the boss monsters in the game have the
same sense of massive scale seen in the GoW games, and even though it’s
not particularly original to have such fights, they are nevertheless
some of the best boss battles you’re likely to participate in. The
number of times I creamed my tweeds in the latter half of the game
during boss fights was equal parts awesome and unfortunate.
The gameplay is easy to get into and, and though
sometimes repetitive, Lords of Shadow has the gore factor in its
favour. Gory as in blood letting, head chopping, giblet bursting fun.
The special effects are extraordinary and some of the slow motion
context-sensitive stuff will leave you slack-jawed in their brutality.
Puzzle-solving is fairly common in Castlevania:
Lords of Shadow, and helps break up the skull smashing and limb tearing
action quite nicely. You’ll be faced with everything from jumping
puzzles (though to call them puzzles is insulting), to balancing tasks,
to moving objects in the right direction. There’s even a handful of
true brain-teasing situations but sadly most of the puzzles are
accompanied by hints, which kind of drain away any reward you might
otherwise find for conquering a tough puzzle. On the other hand, I
suppose it does keep the pace of the game consistent.
All told, there’s a solid 20 hours of gaming on
offer in this installation of the Castelvania games, and though the
story is fairly run-of-the-mill, the way it’s told is pretty intense at
times, with the film-like production values helping draw you in. Robert
Carlyle voices the main player Garbiel, while Sir Patrick Stewart
voices your enigmatic mentor, Zobek. The way that the game engine is
used for the cut-scenes should also speak volumes for the stunning
graphics engine. In a word: stunning.
There’s no multiplayer to speak of, neither local
or online, but with a game as action-packed as this, you don’t really
miss it. I’m not sure if I’ll be playing it through for a second time
on a tougher difficulty level, but let it be said that this is a very
impressive reboot of the Castelvania series, one that will spawn some
incredible sequels.
If you had a good time playing the God of War
games, or even if you’re like me and want to relive your misspent youth
playing NES, this game will not disappoint. Well worth a look.
Game: Castle: Lords of Shadow System: Xbox 360 Developer: MercurySteam
Distributor: Konami
