REVIEW -- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is an action-adventure game, the sequel to the 2010 game Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, and part of the Castlevania franchise. The game was developed by MercurySteam and published by Konami. It was released late February 2014 in both North America and Europe and on March 2014 in Australia. A Japanese release was released on September 4, 2014. A downloadable chapter has also been released in March from the same year.

The story is set in both medieval and modern worlds and follows a weakened Dracula who is on a quest to defeat his former enemy, Satan. Gameplay takes after the original Lords of Shadow but this time through an open world. The player controls Dracula who uses multiple powers and weapons to achieve his goals.

The Plot: (FULL Spoilers)

The game starts out with a recap of Lords of Shadow and Mirror of Fate, detailing Gabriel Belmont's (Robert Carlyle) transformation into Dracula and his encounters with his son, Trevor (Richard Madden), whom he kills and subsequently resurrects, and grandson, Simon. The game starts proper with knights attacking Dracula's castle. He swiftly dispatches all of them before being confronted by the revived Trevor, now known as Alucard.

A thousand years have passed and Dracula awakens in a cathedral in modern times, weak from starvation and with no memory of the circumstances that led him there. He is warned by his former enemy, Zobek (Patrick Stewart), of the return of Satan, who until then was deterred from doing so by Dracula himself. Zobek offers him his old weapon, the Vampire Killer, the only relic capable of ending his cursed existence, in exchange for him vanquishing the people trying to bring Satan (Jason Isaacs) back, his acolytes. The key to him regaining his power lies in his castle, which the cursed blood that kept it alive for centuries attempts to deter Dracula of his quest. Throughout his journey, Dracula is aided by various allies, including Zobek's bodyguard and specters of his deceased wife Marie (Natascha McElhone) and a younger Trevor. He also encounters the Brotherhood of Light and its current leader, Victor Belmont (Anthony Howell).

Having destroyed two of the acolytes and tracked down the third, Dracula prepares to ambush him but is stopped by the bodyguard, flashbacking to his last encounter with Alucard. It is revealed that centuries ago, Alucard had come to Dracula with a plan to destroy both Zobek and Satan, using his sword, the Crissaegrim, on him to induce a deep sleep and thus setting the current events into motion. The truth now known, the bodyguard reveals himself to be Alucard. Zobek discovers their treachery and angrily confronts them both. Dracula kills him just as the third acolyte summons Satan, who proceeds to summon a flying monster to destroy the human world. Dracula and Alucard are able to kill the beast, only for Satan to possess the latter, forcing father and son to battle. Dracula gains the upper hand and prepares to stake Alucard with the Vampire Killer, despite Satan's insistence that he would not and forcing him to vacate the body. Having anticipated this, Dracula kills Satan once and for all while saving his son. Dracula then destroys the Mirror of Fate and walks back inside his cathedral with Alucard as the sun rises on the city.

The Verdict:

Those of you who know me personally should know that the original Castlevania: Lords of Shadow was definitely one of my personal favorite gaming experiences from 2010 and I thoroughly enjoyed the follow-up Castlevania: Lords Shadow - Mirror of Fate. You can revisit and experience BOTH of those games (along with the Reverie and Resurrection DLC) as part of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow's Ultimate Edition for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC if you would like a refresher on this universe before jumping into this game.

Lords of Shadow 2 expects you to be familiar with this universe right off the bat and does very little to instruct you on Dracula's abilities. The introduction tutorials only serve as helpful reminders on your abilities from the previous title that will be expanded upon in this game.

Narrative:

Lords of Shadow 2 builds onto the solid foundation that the original Lords of Shadow established and continued in Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate. I felt a little sorry for players who skipped over the original Lords of Shadow's DLC ("Reverie" and "Resurrection") and Mirror of Fate (remember I reviewed that game as well...) as they might be a little lost jumping into this game immediately following the events of the original game. Konami/Mercurystream could have given players a brief Cliff Notes-style recap on the events between games. I'm sure that small gesture would have been appreciated.

Too bad we don't get any filler on the other Belmont family tree other than Gabriel (now Dracula), Trevor/Alucard, and Victor. I wanted to know what happened to Simon Belmont after the events of Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate.

Superb voice acting cast doesn't disappoint in the least.

Gameplay:

I suggest installing the game to your console's hard drive right off the bat. The load times (especially on Xbox 360) are INSANELY long upon booting up the game and between retries after dying.

Combat:

The Void Sword and Chaos Claws replace Light and Dark magic from the original Lords of Shadow, while the Blood Whip functions just like the Combat Cross.

The use of projectiles are a welcome addition in combat and it adds a new layer of depth that was needed in the original Lords of Shadow's combat.

I HIGHLY recommend that veterans of the original Lords of Shadow to start the game on Hard right off the bat. Otherwise, the game won't be much of a challenge. That being said, players are able to disable/turn off Quick Time Events (QTEs). I remember laughing at my older brother when I let him try out the original Lords of Shadow only to see him throw his controller in frustration at the QTEs in the original game. I'm sure players like him will be relieved to know that this feature can be turned off right off the bat here. Players can also move the camera in this sequel as that was my biggest gripe with the original Lords of Shadow. I'm glad that issue was remedied here.

Lords of Shadow 2 improved on my gripe with the original game - not enough bosses. LoS2 is littered with climatic encounters that makes about almost every enemy type a dramatic affair to have players on the edge of their seats. Too bad the last boss was a bit of a letdown, but the ending gives hope that Mercurysteam might not be finished with Dracula's journey just yet. If it ends here then I'm fine with this trilogy. It was the welcome breath of fresh air that the Castlevania series needed in this console generation.

(Whistles) The game literally FORCES you to finish the game as the endgame enemies on the map won't allow you to get much backtracking done until you face them head on. That being said, the game's enemy AI is already aggressive and ruthless enough with their ozikeme (attacks on players while rising from the ground) techniques and WILL take advantage of your moments of weakness. The enemy AI will force players to play smart and be on their toes at all times. I highly recommend learning how to quick recover from knockdowns and the three methods of defense (blocking/just guard, dodging on the ground, and air dodging).

Stealth Sections:

These portions of the game are the source of the negativity geared towards this game, along with the sections where Dracula has to transform into a swarm of rats to maneuver around obstacles and potential hazards. Sounds like those critics were fans of Twilight's version of vampires instead of the "real" deal here.

I personally found them to be rather hit or miss. They are a matter of trial and error that will have you replaying that section a few times until you have an eureka moment when you figure out what you have to do and where you have to go. I found almost all of these sections to be more annoying than enjoyable. Let's be serious here, why would you introduce Metal Gear Solid-esque gameplay elements into a game that is commonly known for it's action-oriented gameplay? C'mon, Hideo Kojima, you have to get Metal Gear Solid off your brain eventually...

As for that Argeus stealth section that EVERYONE loathes, I suggest watching a video of it on YouTube. Keep in mind that you can use the Mist ability to hide from Argeus when he is alerted to your location. Stay away from the leaves at all costs. That was one HUGE oversight in terms of game design that the game didn't even inform players that you could use the Mist ability in this section.

Misc:

The game is praised by critics for having an "open world" but I have a problem with that statement. It's not as much of an "open world" than any other Castlevania game to date that you may have played in this franchise's history. Sure, you can always venture off and do something else other than the main story, but given the difficulty setting and what abilities you have, you can't do much exploration and venturing on your own period without the abilities you acquire towards the halfway point and towards near the end of the game. To be fair, the game is an "open world" in comparison to the original Lords of Shadow's linear episodic gameplay. You're still guiding Gabriel to main mission objectives throughout the city and castle environments without the episodes themselves slowing you down nor hindering your means of exploration.

I desperately crave and miss the ability to leave notes on the World Map for secrets like in Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate HD. That would have made backtracking and hunting for secrets less of a hassle without a guide.

The Map Rooms helps somewhat but backtracking is a complete chore than it was in Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate.

Keep in mind that you are free to explore the city at your leisure in post-game to acquire collectibles, complete challenges, and acquire upgrades before moving onto New Game+ or higher difficulties (Prince of Darkness).

The Upgrades/Skill Tree is a much better replacement than the Skill Tree from the original Lords of Shadow. Here, you can afford the flashy and more powerful attacks early, yet have the means to upgrade them even further. This also gives players the means to experiment with what works for them in combat as you have to use particular attacks frequently to truly "master" your weapons, so players will be encouraged to experiment and find what works for them in combat in terms of preference.

Rent It? Buy It? Or Don't Bother?

If you enjoyed the original Lords of Shadow, there's more to enjoy here, so there's no harm in buying it. Some gamers may be turned off by the stealth sections (those are far and few), but at the end of the day, the game comes down to patience - much like the original Lords of Shadow to conquer than reckless abandon. While it's not as long, nor as monumental as it's predecessor, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is another great chapter in this trilogy.

If Mercurysteam and Konami want to end it here, I'm fine with that but I wouldn't mind more from this reimagining of the Castlevania lore.