A long time ago a company called Konami created a game called Castlevania, and it was good. It was linear and had a castle, and you threw a totally sweet boomerang to blow up fish men and eventually killed Dracula. Then a decade later, a dandy fop named Alucard got the title role in a game called Castlevania: Symphony of The Night and everyone got excited because Castlevania had a baby with Metroid, and you could explore backwards and they said “it re-defined the franchise!” The only problem is that game didn’t redefine the franchise. Back in 1988 a little game called Castlevania 2: Simon’s Quest came on the scene to turn it on its head. Now it’s 2010 and Simon’s Quest came out of retirement to have a baby with God of War. A baby that kills werewolves.
Much like the “reboot” (I hate that term) of Friday The 13th, Castlevania:LOS is part of the franchise in name only. Sure, Jason Voorhees is running around slashing teens with a machete, and sure, some guy named Belmont is running around smashing vampires with a whip, but any real connection with the source material ends there. The hero, Gabriel, is a orphan who was given the surname Belmont by the “Brotherhood of Light” who adopted him, based on his stoicism and love of the high mountain ranges. He was also trained by this order to combat evil. Unfortunately, that very same evil murders Gabriel’s wife in the process of spreading across the world, and begins his quest to simultaneously return her to life and take vengeance on the forces who killed her. So we already have a story similar to God of War. However, Castlevania takes a refined approach to story telling rather than a sledgehammer. Gabriel is a morose, guilt-stricken main character who you can feel sympathy for, unlike Kratos who is a one-dimensional asshole wrapped in a sack of douche bags.
The game’s action takes place in quasi-linear fashion. It immediately felt akin to Simon’s Quest because of the way it’s separated into distinct, but incredibly linear, stages and sub-stages that can be revisited over and over to open new areas and collect new items as you gain additional powers. There are also trials to complete for most stages and experience points to grind on your way to getting 100% completion of each one. You can gain xp from various in-game puzzles, which can additionally be skipped at the cost of their point boost should you become stuck. These experience points can be applied to upgrade combat skills and weapons in your travel book. You’ll want to re-visit levels often as they generally don’t take too long to replay and the upgrades you net make the games combat far easier.
Speaking of combat, the basic system in Lords of Shadow has been done a million times before. You’ve see it in GoW, Devil May Cry, and Bayonetta. Controls are tight and I never had a problem executing even the more complex combos to splatter and slice up the legions of darkness. C:LOS does have a few cool tricks up it’s sleeve though. It vastly improves on the quick time event system by replacing specific button strings with a simplified “bulls-eye” system that requires just pressing any button at the right time. This has also been inserted gracefully into some of the cut scenes, which caught me off guard once or twice. There are still the good ole button jammers that pop up when a troll grabs you and is trying to crush you to death, but all in all the QTE’s feel organic and are easy to deal with. Plus it’s fun to snatch a goblin with the whip, yank the pins on his grenades, and throw him back to run into his friends as a green suicide bomb.
As the adventure progresses, Gabriel’s “Combat Cross” weapon gets imbued with more functions than a Leatherman tool. Some are utilitarian such as sawing blocks and trees down that obstruct a path, others are combat-based, such as using the spiked chain as a choke collar to ride larger enemies. Yes, there are mounts. Riding giant wolves, spiders, boars, and even trolls a’ la Lord of The Rings allows you to smash through obstacles and mow down groups of smaller baddies with ease. Unfortunately, these sequences are more like short action-based puzzles and after you’ve punched your ticket for the Warg rodeo the third time, the luster wears off. You also gain access to to “light” and “shadow” magic which allows you to either gain health or output higher damage with attacks, respectively, when it’s activated. On top of that, there is a focus meter which fills as you complete combos and avoid being hit. Once full, enemies will drop “neutral” energy orbs that can be absorbed to fill one or both types of magic. Light and shadow magic have their own moves, and can also be applied to secondary weapons such as daggers, holy water, and fairies who can be unleashed to distract enemies or explode near them. The system is more complex than old stereo instructions, but once you get the hang of it allows for some diverse options to engage your enemies.
Your adversaries themselves look far different than previous Castlevania entries as well. The art style is much darker, and more realistic. None of the “cartoonish” sprites fans of the series are used to. While the characters and animation are excellent, the landscapes and environments steal the show. The games levels are flat out gorgeous. You’ll travel through everything from lush deciduous forests to dark caves leading into an underground city, to an incredible boss battle on a frozen lake covered in blowing snow drifts. There is no real “Castlevania”, but you will be fighting through multiple ruins and eventually in a massive citadel against vampires. Again, this reflects back to Simon’s Quest, where the castles were an afterthought and just scattered around the landscape as you made your journey. These environments are almost too detailed at times, because the game does suffer from some frame rate issues which seem to be from effects such as rain, or detailed lighting. The camera also causes some issues with this. Similar to God of War, Lords uses a fixed camera that pans and utilizes sharp cuts for dramatic effect. However, sometimes when you’re moving and the camera pans or cuts angles you’ll find yourself unable to control Gabriel until you stop moving and begin running in another direction. It’s a minor complaint, but was somewhat irritating. On the flip side, the game also uses a very subtle “shaking” effect on the camera when standing still, like someone is holding it. This actually adds an interesting feeling of tension to scenes, especially during larger boss battles.
Audio is equally impressive, and really adds a lot to the sombre mood of the game. The score performed by the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra is incredible. It’s perfectly orchestrated and works well within each scene. The voice acting is also top notch, especially the narration and dialogue from Sir Patrick Stewart. That’s right, Captain Picard MC’s your journey, and was an excellent choice for the role. Ambient sound is immersing, from the sound of creatures howling in the distance to crumbling pieces of stone as you swing on and scale ancient walls with the cross whip.
At the end of the day, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is a good game. It has flaws, and you could fault it for being safe rather than innovative. The story’s exposition could have been tighter, and for those who care, Kojima’s input seems to have been walking into a room and saying “This is Castlevania now. OK, where is my check?” As a Castlevania fanboy I should probably hate it, but I do not, because it’s simply a lot of fun if you like third person action/adventure games, and the games latter portions contain some great fan service. It sits nicely along with Darksiders as a highly derivative but enjoyable romp to rent or buy at a discount. Also, you can snap a werewolf’s neck by ripping its arm out of the socket for leverage. That’s gotta count for something.
The Good
- Graphics and sound are spectacular.
- Story is engrossing, albeit unoriginal.
- Deep combat system including Light and Shadow magic.
- Those gorgeous graphics cause some frame rate issues.
- Camera can periodically cause some unpleasant loss of control.
- Game doesn’t come into its own until about halfway through the story.
- Why the hell does that horse have a Russian accent, comrade?
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