Legacy of Kain: Defiance : Games : Web Wombat

The Legacy Of Kain saga has engrossed many fans for numerous years and with the constant improvement of the series the 5th instalment, Legacy of Kain: Defiance, will have many more fans jumping on the bandwagon.

Defiance is based upon two characters, both of whom are playable throughout the game, Raziel and Kain.

Raziel, a soul reaper, is the creation of Kain, a vampire. Kain must pursue Raziel for not only their own survival, but for that of their entire race.

The main storyline for this game is the common vampire-human battle with the fight for the survival of a species.

Raziel and Kain, together with the elder god, struggle it out for the control of the world, which is to be won by either Vampires, Humans or Hyldens. A somewhat similar scenario to The Lord Of The Rings, I suppose.

This game can be a confusing affair if you play it with no prior knowledge of the Kain series. Defiance offers no history of the characters and situations, so to better understand the game, previous games in the series should be played first.

Flaming cadavers are always funny

Getting to gameplay, and from 'misting' through walls, to enormous leaps over chasms and pits, Defiance has an original feel to it, and one that has been lacking with many games of late.

Both characters have unique moves: Kain can transform to bats, turn to mist and has a giant leap, whilst Raziel can move through walls, and can swim and fight underwater, just like Ian Thorpe.

The health of both characters not only decreases through battle, but decreases when they are not receiving constant dietary intake, whether it is via human blood, or human souls.

A soul reaper needs souls to survive, and everybody knows what a vampire needs - human blood. And apparently sacrificial blood tastes better, so expect to see plenty of sacrificial killings of humans in this game.

Graphically, this game is very, very good, with almost every minor detail superbly defined.

The snow falling at criss-crossing angles looks fantastic, and makes the environments feel realistic, even though a vampire is present during the scene. Kain's garments, along with his long white hair, flow smoothly against the breeze and more wildly as he runs to make his next sacrifice.

He blew a circuit. No wait, he had an electric
personality. How about this - it wasn't my volt...

The camera angles work well with the movement of both characters, as it rotates around the character as he moves, and in fighting scenes you get a good view, making it more pleasurable when beating your opponent to a pulp.

The sound is good, but not great, and it could have been better overall -- the atmosphere surrounding the vampires could have been spookier with a more deathly sound system.

Although at times it is scary and does send some shivers down the spine, the sound is at its best when fighting scenes are taking place, and the reaper blade, or wraith blade is being used.

Legacy of Kain: Defiance is an easy game to control, with the technique easy to understand within minutes of playing the game.

Fighting styles are easy to learn, and throughout the game special moves are unlocked as you advance, by both Kain and Raziel, which make the games more appealing in the long run.

Defiance is worth a look, although background knowledge of the game will make it more interesting, and you won't play half the game wondering what is happening. The storyline can get pretty slow at times, but flashy graphics and cool fighting scenes make for a pretty good game.

Game: Legacy of Kain: Defiance
System: PS2
Players: 1
Online: No
Developer: Eidos
Distributor: Atari

Rating: 70%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)

Legacy of Kain: Defiance is on the shelves now.

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