Blood Omen 2

Kain is back to reclaim the high throne of bloodlust and brutality.

• NA release: 9th December 2002
• EU release: 24th January 2003
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: Crystal Dynamics, Nixxes
• Publisher: Eidos
• NGC Magazine: Score: 72%
• Mods Used: Widescreen Code

With the Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver team busy working on Soul Reaver 2, Crystal Dynamics set up a new team to make a sequel to Silicon Knight’s original Legacy of Kain game. With Soul Reaver 2 being seen as more important, a few aspects of Blood Omen 2 turned out a bit odd.

The opening text of the story tells you flat out that this is an unimportant middle part of Kain’s story slotted between other games, where Kain wakes up in a city that has almost wiped out vampires like him, so it’s up to him to restore the balance and destroy the humans responsible.

Every single part of Blood Omen 2 feels monotonous and clunky. The game features tank controls and a movable camera, which feel like a truly bizarre mix. The lack of movement control makes lining yourself with treasure chests and doors a pain, and the platforming feels no better. Combat is also very simple with one attack and a grab, which does not provide much variety when combat is pretty much the only thing about the game.

There are some puzzles, but most involve pushing a switch then backtracking to an open door. Levels are dull and extremely linear. Kain does have some extra vampire abilities, such as turning into mist, but these are extremely limited – you can only become mist in small parts of the level with mist on the ground. After the overly long tutorial (which still manages to poorly explain the game’s mechanics), things don’t get much better and the best it can do is tedious.

Poor

Other Dark Gift power-ups become available gradually, Metroid/Zelda style. These include the abilities to make huge long jumps, physically control the weak human cattle, and even set people on fire. The thing is, unlike those games, there are no inventive ways in which to apply your new-found abilities. You can’t experiment or return to previously unsolvable puzzles to see what treasures you can uncover – the rigid, utterly liner structure always remains intact. Regardless of the sheer number of dark, inviting doorways, there aren’t really any secrets to find. It’s essentially puzzle, fight, puzzle, puzzle, fight, puzzle, boss, repeat.

Tom Mayo, NGC Magazine #77

Remake or remaster?

If this and the first game can get improvements in a remaster treatment, that would be great.

Official Ways to get the game

Blood Omen 2 is available on GOG and Steam.

Europe

Japan

North America

GameCube Games by Date

2001: Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec

2002: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec

2003: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec

2004: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec

2005: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec

2006: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec

2007: Mar, Jun, Aug

Crystal Dynamics Eidos hack n slash legacy of kain Nixxes