[360/PS3] Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Review

[AgtFox]

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Review

Title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Platform: 360/PS3
Developer: MercurySteam
Publisher: Konami
ESRB: M
MSRP: $59.99 (360/PS3), $79.99 (360 LE/PS3 LE)
Editor: Loren 'AgtFox' Halek

What's Hot: Long campaign; some really good graphics; voiceovers are well cast; Combat Cross with combos is quite cool; upgrades and collectibles aplenty; boss fights are interesting, but difficult; many sections well done; excellent fusing of God of War and Uncharted gameplay while also forging its own path;

What's Not: Very tough, especially early on; camera problems will drive you bonkers; some odd level design choices; knowing a good part of the ending far before it comes; slowdown when eliminating a lot of enemies at once (at least on 360, don’t know on PS3); takes a couple of chapters before things start clicking

After finally making it through the 12 chapters of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and not knowing how long it took me to beat (I’m thinking close to, if not over, 20 hours over multiple times playing), I have to say that Konami has finally made a really good 3D Castlevania game. Problem is Konami really didn’t make it, Spanish developer MercurySteam did, best known for games like the good American McGee’s Scrapland and Clive Barker’s Jericho. There could be much arguing about whether this game was originally intended to be a Castlevania or not, but Konami says it always was and they kept it quiet because it was a rebooting of the series itself. That would be an understatement.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow opens up with you controlling Gabriel Belmont, a warrior in the Brotherhood of Light. It seems Gabriel’s wife was killed and his sole purpose, given to him by the Brotherhood, is to defeat the three Lords of Shadow and take their piece of a mask that will allow him to bring his love, Marie, back to life. This is a new kind of world for the Castlevania series. There are three primary Lords of Shadow: a Lycan (werewolf), a Vampire and a Necromancer. When you meet the first one you find out the true story behind the Lords of Shadow are and the story becomes a lot clearer. The nice thing is that each section in the chapter has a backstory that is voiced over by Patrick Stewart, who plays Zobek, another Brotherhood of Light member. As you continue on it becomes pretty clear that although Zobek may go another route that he is following you, keeping tabs on you and boasting about your progress.

Instead of the standard leather whip that has been used throughout the series, this time around you hold a Combat Cross that is used as a whip as well as other things. Along the way you can upgrade the Cross by finding areas that have a Cross imprint. You can eventually use it as a grappling hook and many other things. You will be slicing and dicing enemies with the Cross and it is a very versatile weapon.

This game also borrows from others. It will probably be compared to God of War and Uncharted the most. You get shields as you continue playing that you can use to buy combos like you do with the red orbs in God of War. You will also have a lot of platforming, climbing and shimmying along walls like you do in Uncharted and Assassin’s Creed. Add into this a bit of QTE (Quicktime Events) that doesn’t go too overboard in its use like in other games and things gel into place. This game also creates its own path while using these gameplay mechanics, unlike Dante’s Inferno in my mind. In fact, this game – story and all – is the correct way that Dante's Inferno should have been done.

This is also quite a long and difficult game. I played through the game totally on Warrior except for taking on the first Lord of Shadow, a Lycan that gave me nothing but fits. I had to bring the difficulty down during the second leg of the fight just to continue on. I think it’s rough that you are quite weak at that point. I doubt with how powerful the Cross is later on that I would have had as much problems there as I did. I died many times while playing and I do have to say the restart is always pretty close since checkpoints are plentiful. It is also nice on the several stage boss/sub-boss fights that you often restart on the last stage at the same health/power level you were at.

Along with the Cross there is also magic in the game that Gabriel gets. You have Light and Shadow magic. When Light magic is turned on, any hit you land will replenish your health. When Shadow magic is turned on your hits become more powerful and you can eliminate enemies faster. Along with this you can also buy combos that use each magic to unleash. You only have a certain amount of magic with the Light bar in the lower left and the Shadow bar in the lower right. Later in the game both magic types become valuable as you fight some key bosses. You also pick up some items along the way that can be chosen via the d-pad and unleashed with the B button that will help against enemies. Another nice thing is that your journal gets bestiary additions as you face off against new enemies. Each page explains what items will severely damage them and what they defend well against.

There are a lot of nice things from a technical perspective with this game. The graphics are really good and there are a lot of sections where you just look at the screen and say, “wow”. The soundtrack is well done with gothic music lightly in the background. I was a bit disappointed that “Vampire Killer” wasn’t the theme song or anything, but they did add it in an important part of the game and I was pleasantly surprised. The voiceovers are also well done. The aforementioned Patrick Stewart, but also Robert Carlyle (Rush from Stargate Universe) as Gabriel and a voice that shows up later that I don’t wish to spoil. For the most part, the platform and action sections play well, but there are parts where you miss a jump (although you don’t die, you just lose some health and continue from the last section) or get overwhelmed against enemies. You learn from the mistakes, but sometimes they do get frustrating.

There is a good bit of problems that keep this game from being as pristine as something like God of War or Uncharted. I encountered quite a bit of slowdown later in the game when taking out a lot of enemies in one spot. The game would literally stop animating, but I could hear the death hit of the multiple enemies. A couple seconds later the game would be back to normal. I’m not sure if this only happens on the 360 version, one that is split into two discs that you only have to switch once, but it is very noticeable. There are also some weird level design choices made. Although the game is mostly linear, in some places the continuing path was not easily seen or accessible. There was one near the end where a place looked like a dead end, but if you moved right you’d get to the next section. That frustrated me so much and I really fell upon the answer by total accident.

The major problem in the game is the camera and really the big reason it doesn’t quite reach the height of those truly great and tight games. It will fight against you a lot and given how long the game is it can get insane. If they would have added the ability to move the camera I think it really would have helped the game. There are some boss fights, especially from early on to the rough midpoint there are some big enemies and the camera just does not work with you and really works against you. It is quite sad that a camera is what keeps this game from being one of the top ones of the year and possibly this generation.

Even the camera problems don’t keep Castlevania: Lords of Shadow from being a fantastic game, but it could have been an almost perfect game. I was shocked by how long this game is, there is no doubt it is longer than the games I’ve compared its gameplay with. I have no problem recommending a purchase for this game because it really is special and is a reboot of the series. Be sure to watch after the credits for something extra and hopefully a sign of things to come for this series. MercurySteam has done what Rocksteady did with Batman: Arkham Asylum, make a fantastic game that supersedes the attempts before it for their franchises. Yes, Castlevania still has fantastic handheld games, but this is the first standout 3D game in the series.

Score: 4.5 out of 5 CoGs


Loren says, “A fantastic game that would be a 5 if it wasn’t for the camera problems that will have you wanting to rip your hair out. If you had control of the camera I wouldn’t have a problem saying this game is one of the best of the year and a serious candidate for Game of the Year. It’s a nice long quest with a good story and a re-imagining of the Castlevania series.”

*Note - Review based upon the 360 version of game

[menage]

The PS3 version doesn't have the freezing/animation stutters. At least I didn't see any of it in my playthrough.

Good review, agree on the DI comment as well. They're very similar but this beats the crap out of it on every front.

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by menage

The PS3 version doesn't have the freezing/animation stutters. At least I didn't see any of it in my playthrough.

Good review, agree on the DI comment as well. They're very similar but this beats the crap out of it on every front.

Did you ever use the spinning attack (triangle probably on PS3) later in the game when faced with a bunch of enemies surrounding you? That's where the freeze happened for me when I was "killing" more than two enemies at the same time/in the same move. It's just kind of weird is all.

[Ravenlock]

I'm a bit confused by this part of the text.

This game also creates its own path while using these gameplay mechanics, unlike Dante’s Inferno in my mind. In fact, this game – story and all – should have been what Dante’s Inferno was.

Are you trying to say that Dante's Inferno should have been more like this? Or that this should be more like Dante's Inferno was?

Because in general you seem pretty positive about CV, and the first sentence sounds like you're praising Castlevania for doing something better than Dante's Inferno did, but the 2nd sentence grammatically is saying this game should be more like Dante's Inferno. Seems contradictory.

[menage]

Originally Posted by AgtFox

Did you ever use the spinning attack (triangle probably on PS3) later in the game when faced with a bunch of enemies surrounding you? That's where the freeze happened for me when I was "killing" more than two enemies at the same time/in the same move. It's just kind of weird is all.

Yeah, no issues with framerate/ freezing at all. Never.

Did you do a HD install?

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by menage

Yeah, no issues with framerate/ freezing at all. Never.

Did you do a HD install?

Yeah, I always do an HD install for 360 games.

Ravenlock, good point. I'll reword it, I think that was one of the sections I last edited and forgot about the second sentence.

I replaced it with: "In fact, this game – story and all – is the correct way that Dante's Inferno should have been done."

[Karak]

Originally Posted by AgtFox

Did you ever use the spinning attack (triangle probably on PS3) later in the game when faced with a bunch of enemies surrounding you? That's where the freeze happened for me when I was "killing" more than two enemies at the same time/in the same move. It's just kind of weird is all.

Ya happens on the PS3 version especially when you get 5-7 enemies. However, it seems like some people do or do not have the framerate/freezing issues on both systems unless your talking about the cutscenes which seem to drop no matter what. Sometimes it seems like consoles are a bit like PC's where each has its own little lovely problem.
Doesn't matter though. The game is worth any little issues. Its truly great.

[Hawkzombie]

I need this game. If only I had money

[ElektroDragon]

Excellent review! The difficulty of the game kind of scares me though, but I'll be sure to pick it up when finances are better.

[Kelegacy]

Originally Posted by ElektroDragon

Excellent review! The difficulty of the game kind of scares me though, but I'll be sure to pick it up when finances are better.

Play it on easy like I did. I played Normal for a quarter of the game and realized I wasn't having as much fun. I think they needed a setting between Easy and Normal.

Great game though, solid though definitely not close to my game of the year. Games in this genre seldom are, however.

[Phades]

I think calling this game difficult is a bit misleading. It's not easy, but the checkpoints are plentiful and the fact that even the boss fights have checkpoints make them all very doable. I never died more than 2-3 times on a boss and rarely had to start all the way over. This is the rare game that gives you a challenge but I never felt frustrated. I think it's also important to point out that it never 'cheats' and when you die it's lack of skill rather than an impossible situation. Maybe I just don't suck at games as much as I thought I did.

I just beat it last night. I played on the PS3 and never noticed a bit of slowdown even in large groups doing a variety of magic attacks with tons onscreen. I do agree that the camera was a bit annoying at times, but don't think it was really THAT bad. The thing that I found the weirdest was that it was never perfectly still. Even if you're just standing there it floats just a little bit. I found that a bit jarring.

[EternalGamer]

I agree with Phades. I am certainly no hardcore action game elite uber action game player. In fact I consider myself pretty average and the difficulty on normal seems tomblike a healthy challenge once you get used to the mechanics. You guys are just pansies.

[MrBibbz]

Pretty much a spot on review of CV.. I highly recommend it as well.

[Aggort]

On the 360 version I never really experienced any slowdown. Oddly enough the only slowdown I remember was at the beginning of the game. Fuck was I ever impressed with how good the graphics looked and how they fit together with cutscenes so seamlessly.

First hour or two into this game I was hooked and was very satisfied. I dunno if anyone would call it a sleeper hit, but it is in my book.

[Draconis]

Alot of boards that I have checked on for thoughts of Castlevania Lords of Shadow has reported alot of problems with the Framerate.

Part of me wonders if its due to notoriously shoddy hardware problems with the 360s, or if the system simply can't handle the amount of stuff being thrown at it. My guess is due to the noted issue, but others saying they had problems and others didn't so much....is the hardware itself. Overheating etc.

But yeah, PS3 version had ZERO of those problems. The framerate was butter smooth for me my entire time playing.

[AgtFox]

Framerate was butter smooth for me on the 360 outside of these late game areas where I wanted to take out several enemies at the same time. Never did the game totally freeze up. It's difficult to explain, but outside of that it ran butter smooth.