Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

Blood is family. Blood is power. Blood is everything.

NA release: 25th February 2014
EU release: 25th February 2014
JP release: 25th February 2014
Developer: MercuryStream
Publisher: Konami
IGN Review: 6.5/10
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Version Played: PC

The third, and final, Lords of Shadow game starts with a lengthy recap of Mirror of Fate – a lot of people playing the HD console version would not have played it on the 3DS and would of have missed one on some vital plot elements, like Gabriel becoming Dracula and turning his son, Trevor, into Alucard (although I am slightly baffled as Gabriel calls himself Dracul). It starts with a massive assault from the Brotherhood of Light on Dracula’s Castle, ending with him using a magical cross to wipe them all out, along with his castle.

We then cut forward a few centuries, with Dracula being woken up by Zobek to recruit him to stop Satan, who was previously avoiding Earth because he was scared of Dracula. It’s a modern day setting, although with a gothic slant on the city you live in, called Castlevania City. You’ll encounter some interesting allies and enemies (including a Belmont named after one from a cancelled game), and the plot is good, even if Dracula never feels evil during the events we see.

The combat is similar to the first, with Dracula using a “blood whip”, although this time the light/shadow powers have been replaced with a void sword and chaos gauntlets to mix the combat up with some new weapons. They still charge in the same way, but the different ranges and speeds do add variety.

Now that you’re playing as the all powerful Dracula, you also have to complete stealth sections against enemies that you have no hope of defeating. They’re more like little puzzle segments, bad you’ll have to transform into a rat to get around. They’re all annoying and it makes Dracula feel weak, and there are even some towards the end of the game. The worst thing is that you never actually get to fight the gun-wielding enemies, so you never get to feel like Dracula regains his power, and with the pathetic final fight, making Satan feels like no threat at all.

Parts of the game take place in Dracula’s Castle, with the game initially being cryptic on if these sections are a dream, or if the Castle exists in another plane of existence, similar to Aria of Sorrow. You’ll encounter Dracula’s minions, who have been corrupted by an evil sentient blood, plus Dracula’s imaginary family with his wife and a young version of Trevor.

There’s DLC regarding Alucard, but there’s pretty much no plot. It’s set just before the beginning of the game, with Alucard gathering Dracula’s weapons to put them back where they belong so Dracula can reach them. Alucard has a sword and some of his own abilities, such as teleporting as a bat, rewinding time on certain objects or turning into a ghost wolf. It all just feels entirely pointless.

The best thing about Lords of Shadow 2 is they it doesn’t drag. Although the first 60% of the game will have you concerned as it feels like just the beginning before you’re suddenly nearly finished, as though they ran out of funding. The combat still makes it enjoyable, but the games is quite bad at telling you what to do and there’s a lot of frustration.

Fun

Lords of Shadow 2 may have gained an open world, but a poor story, uninteresting enemies, and a bland cast of characters came with it. Combat might be improved, but forced stealth sections cause nothing but dismay and frustration. The end result is something that doesn’t come near the level of overall quality found in the original Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.
Colin Moriarty, IGN

Remake or remaster?

The PC version is good.

Official Ways to get the game

Lords of Shadow 2 is available on Steam and the Xbox store.