Wed 24 Aug 2011
Playstation
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Review
Castelvania: Lords of Shadows, developed by Mercury Steam while having succeeded at making a decent action/adventure game have not exactly hit the hammer square on the head with this one but they didn’t missing the nail completely. The biggest problem with this game is its nowhere near as faithful to the classic Castlevania as its contemporary Metroid Prime was to it. Lord of Shadow is a very linear action adventure game that plays exactly like a Devil May Cry or God of War.
In fact when I was playing it I felt like I was playing God of War only with different artwork, character models and environments. But the developers did do a great job of getting down the fundamentals. Visually, the game looks great, I couldn’t have asked for a better looking game, frankly this is the best Castlevania ever looked, but that doesn’t say much given this is the only Castevania game that’s ever been featured on this generation of consoles.
No, but in all seriousness, the game looks good, even in comparison to contemporary games with a strong blend of calmly lit landscapes, intricately designed and meticulously detailed, creative and believable monsters, visually this game is a distinguished gem. While Castvania isn’t stuffed with the overtop grandeur that God of War permeates, there’s no denying that the new Castlevania is a breath-taking piece of work.
The gameplay is also notably very solid, the combat system, although familiar is incredibly stable and reliable, a noticeably vast amount of synchronized mechanics attribute to the gameplay an unusual amount of depth. There are so many manoeuvres and combos in shadow magic, it really keeps you invested and keeps the game interesting. And even when you’re not fight the game finds other ways to engage you, proving aerobic obstacles that resemble games like Prince of Persia and Tomb Raider.
What I really found cool about this game is it features larger monsters which you can stun and than mount which lets you use certain abilities that allow you to dissipate obstacles or jump across large gaps that you couldn’t otherwise jump across. The game doesn’t feel as big or as bloated as God of War III, but Lords of Shadow moves at the same fast pace that grips you and doesn’t let go.
Despite being a great game, it really drags on a lot longer than it needs to. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it is actually necessary for you to go back and beat old levels because this opens new areas with new equipment that you’ll need to progress, but you’ll also earn new experience points which can be spent on new combat moves and abilities.
The way I see it is it’s better to have too much gaming experience than too little, in fact this really isn’t even a flaw, if it becomes to redundant, you can put it aside and just come back to it another day.
Does Lord of Shadow have a downside? Yes, it does. Some of the battles feel like they drag on for too long, if you want to really nitpick I found some of the instant death traps and hazards that are dispersed across the game to be frustrating and even kind of annoying. Although the camera work controlled by the CPU is for the most part well done, it does have its quirks here and there, the camera system could have been a more refined.
The long narrated stories drag on for so long it’s almost painful, but Patrick Stewart can’t be faulted here. But again these are all minor flaws that I would not otherwise mention had this game been worse. Lords of Shadows is without a doubt the most solid adaptation of the original Castlevania to date. When compared with its contemporaries and the gazillion other God of War wannabes, ie. Dante’s Inferno, Castelvania is king.
My thoughts: At least one game does a good job of copying God of War. This games definitely worth a purchase, especially in you’re a Castlevania fan.
Rating: 83%
Pros:
Visually stunning character models and environments
Solid Combat System,
Cons:
It’s an obvious God of War knock off
The game is unnecessarily long
In fact when I was playing it I felt like I was playing God of War only with different artwork, character models and environments. But the developers did do a great job of getting down the fundamentals. Visually, the game looks great, I couldn’t have asked for a better looking game, frankly this is the best Castlevania ever looked, but that doesn’t say much given this is the only Castevania game that’s ever been featured on this generation of consoles.
No, but in all seriousness, the game looks good, even in comparison to contemporary games with a strong blend of calmly lit landscapes, intricately designed and meticulously detailed, creative and believable monsters, visually this game is a distinguished gem. While Castvania isn’t stuffed with the overtop grandeur that God of War permeates, there’s no denying that the new Castlevania is a breath-taking piece of work.
The gameplay is also notably very solid, the combat system, although familiar is incredibly stable and reliable, a noticeably vast amount of synchronized mechanics attribute to the gameplay an unusual amount of depth. There are so many manoeuvres and combos in shadow magic, it really keeps you invested and keeps the game interesting. And even when you’re not fight the game finds other ways to engage you, proving aerobic obstacles that resemble games like Prince of Persia and Tomb Raider.
What I really found cool about this game is it features larger monsters which you can stun and than mount which lets you use certain abilities that allow you to dissipate obstacles or jump across large gaps that you couldn’t otherwise jump across. The game doesn’t feel as big or as bloated as God of War III, but Lords of Shadow moves at the same fast pace that grips you and doesn’t let go.
Despite being a great game, it really drags on a lot longer than it needs to. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it is actually necessary for you to go back and beat old levels because this opens new areas with new equipment that you’ll need to progress, but you’ll also earn new experience points which can be spent on new combat moves and abilities.
The way I see it is it’s better to have too much gaming experience than too little, in fact this really isn’t even a flaw, if it becomes to redundant, you can put it aside and just come back to it another day.
Does Lord of Shadow have a downside? Yes, it does. Some of the battles feel like they drag on for too long, if you want to really nitpick I found some of the instant death traps and hazards that are dispersed across the game to be frustrating and even kind of annoying. Although the camera work controlled by the CPU is for the most part well done, it does have its quirks here and there, the camera system could have been a more refined.
The long narrated stories drag on for so long it’s almost painful, but Patrick Stewart can’t be faulted here. But again these are all minor flaws that I would not otherwise mention had this game been worse. Lords of Shadows is without a doubt the most solid adaptation of the original Castlevania to date. When compared with its contemporaries and the gazillion other God of War wannabes, ie. Dante’s Inferno, Castelvania is king.
My thoughts: At least one game does a good job of copying God of War. This games definitely worth a purchase, especially in you’re a Castlevania fan.
Rating: 83%
Pros:
Visually stunning character models and environments
Solid Combat System,
Cons:
It’s an obvious God of War knock off
The game is unnecessarily long
