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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Review for PlayStation 3 (PS3)

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Review for PlayStation 3 (PS3)

This Game Sucks… Blood

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow had its issues. It was basically a God of War clone with broken platforming that was totally sold on its interesting take on the Castlevania plot and outstanding performances of Patrick Stewart and Robert Carlyle as voice actors. It wasn’t bad, it was just flawed, and it was interesting enough to make me want to play the sequel. While I genuinely cared about Gabriel Belmont’s quest to revive his lost love in Lords of Shadow 1 , I find it hard to care about anything in Lords of Shadow 2 . The gameplay has gotten worse and this time the story has suffered along with it. You have to suffer through quite a slog to get to the end of this game, and while the payoff is OK, it’s not enough to warrant all the effort spent to get there.

(Note: this review will contain heavy spoilers for Lords of Shadow 1 , so if you still haven’t played and are planning to, you might want to look away now.)

Let’s start with the combat. Once again, it’s incredibly mashable. However, this time instead of ripping off God of War it rips off the new DMC: Devil May Cry . Gabriel Belmont, i.e. Dracula, has three weapons to choose from: the blood whip, the void sword and the claws of chaos. The blood whip, Drac’s basic weapon, Is a long range medium range weapon. The void sword is much weaker and shorter ranged but incredibly fast and has abilities that let Drac absorb HP. The claws of chaos are the slowest and shortest ranged but also most powerful. Drac can switch back and forth between these weapons at any time allowing for some impressive combos.

Or at least, that is what you’d think. Unfortunately, this system doesn’t work in practice. You see you level your weapons up individually, and you will likely favor one weapon over all others. As a result, you really won’t switch to any other weapon unless the game forces you to, like when you need to use the claws of chaos to break through enemy shields. Then again, even this is a rare occurrence. I used mostly the claws throughout the entire game and barely did anything other than mash attack buttons until my thumb hurt.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Screenshot

The game also has a habit of throwing these random stealth sections at you which just aren’t fun at all. Throughout the game, Drac will fight gods and monsters like it’s nothing. However, if he gets caught by one or two piss-ant mortal guards, holy crap it’s the end of the world! If stealth was an option in these sections, I could forgive them. However, it is not an option. It’s mandatory. The game actually takes away your ability to fight! So all those awesome supernatural weapons you have that are forged out of dark magic and your own blood? Forget them! Sneak around as a rat for a while to avoid being spotted by some dude in a robot suit.

Speaking of robots, why the heck are there robots in a Castlevania game? The enemy design in this game is horrible. These aren’t half robotic Frankensteins or creepy clockwork mannequins. They look like rejects from the Final Fantasy XIII enemy design department. There’s no personality to them. They just feel like the generic sci-fi trooper enemy we have fought in so many other games.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Screenshot

In fact, the whole game feels more generic than the last. Half of the game is spent wandering through modern day city streets and futuristic bunkers in order to fight against an evil organization trying to raise Satan. If that plot feels cheesy, it’s because it is. The first Lords of Shadow was about the fall of a man who tried to do the right thing. This Lords of Shadow is about being an errand boy for the villain from the first game.

You see, Drac’s old friend Zobek has returned, and he has a bone to pick with all these Satanic cults that are screwing up his mojo. He promises Drac that, if he helps him out, he will grant him a final death and release from his torturous immortality.

There are so many problems with this plot, it can make a Castlevania fan scream. First of all, did Drac forget that Zobek betrayed him in the first game? Heck, Zobek is basically the reason why he was cursed into a life of immortality in the first place! Second of all, if all Dracula wants is a final death, why am I fighting against all of these enemies who are more than happy to shoot me in the face right now? Dracula actively goes through a long journey to revive his powers, just so that he can die again? Bullshit! I don’t believe this motivation for a second, and it clashes headfirst with the gameplay. Oh, and don’t give me that “Dracula won’t permanently die from enemy attacks” crap. I say again, he fights the forces of heaven and hell in this game. I’m sure ONE of them knows the key to ending Drac’s life permanently!

The premise of the game feels forced, as does much else in the game. The setting, for example, is set in the modern day. However, Dracula can travel back in time to his classic medieval castle by delving into his own mind. His own mind? You mean the Lord of Darkness is just daydreaming? This de-fangs everything you do in the past! Why couldn’t we, I don’t know, actually travel into the past? I mean we are already talking about vampires and Satan, why not through time travel in there for good measure?

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Screenshot

The game is largely an open world affair, as opposed to the canned stages of Lords of Shadow 1 . While searching various locales for secrets is fun, backtracking certainly is not. The mini-map doesn’t do a very good job of letting you get a feel of your surroundings. The greater world map is really just a painting and doesn’t help you get a sense of direction at all. The game does a poor job pointing you the right way, or any way for that matter, and there are many points in which you just feel lost.

There are some good things to point out about Lords of Shadow 2 . The voice acting is still top notch. The script is also alright, and includes throwback lines to games like Symphony of the Night . The graphics are amazing, especially when you get to wander through Dracula’s castle. Also, the game really did do a lot to fix it’s the platforming problems from its predecessor. Now, bats swarm around ledges that you can grab and jump to, making it much harder to randomly fall to your death.

But despite these small improvements, it’s just so hard to keep playing Lords of Shadow 2 . Lords of Shadow 1 suffered from feeling like a God of War clone with poor platforming. Lords of Shadow 2 , on the other hand, no longer feels like a clone. It just feels like a generic action game. It has a story you don’t care about, a mashy combat system, and generic enemies and locales. The only good thing about this game is its voice acting, but even Robert Carlyle can’t save this one.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.0 Graphics
The game certainly looks amazing. We don’t doubt that. 3.0 Control
The most you will ever do is button mash your way through the game. 5.0 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Robert Carlyle? Sure, sign us up. 1.0 Play Value
The game is a horrendous slog and the story does nothing to compel you. 2.0 Overall Rating – Poor
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 – 1.9 = Avoid 2.5 – 2.9 = Average 3.5 – 3.9 = Good 4.5 – 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 – 2.4 = Poor 3.0 – 3.4 = Fair 4.0 – 4.4 = Great 5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

  • Multi weapon battle system.
  • Incredible voice acting talents of Robert Carlyle.
  • A thrilling end to the Belmont story.

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