Console: Playstation 3
Date Released: 5/10/2011
Date Reviewed: 01/10/2012
Reviewer: Rob “theduke” Carter
Pros * Castlevania in 3D with amazing graphics and cinema-like feel * Simple controls and decent camera angles make combat fairly basic to learn * Boss battles in epic style and decent difficulty. Cons * Fresh take on Castlevania story that seems to go in a very odd direction (watch after end credits) * Felt really short and had no true replay ability to it other than new DLC * Story was done well but fairly predictable
Presentation : A
Graphics / Animation / Sound
Right off the bat this game has phenomenal graphics and is a very beautiful game to play through. All the colors seem to meld very well and the darkness of the Castlevania franchise was captured greatly. It was ridiculously fun killing creatures in full HD graphics and beating werewolves to a bloody pulp with your cool chain whip was satisfying. The boss battles felt epic and challenging and reminded me a lot like a God of War style. They did a great job presenting the Castlevania franchise to the new age gamer as well as the Old gamer in all of us. The musical score was incredible and definitely fell in line with the way Castlevania was supposed to feel. The music is very gothic feeling but you still like the action melodies to invigorate your maiming of undead creatures.
Single Player : B
Game mechanics / Length / difficulty
I have to say this game was very easy to pick up and play, it took me very little time to adjust to the controls and start killing things all around, who doesn’t want to kill waves of werewolves and vampires? I know I sure love to do it! Your chain whip gains upgrades throughout the game and becomes more powerful which is very reminiscent of old Castlevania games. You think your chain whip looks cool now? Wait until you get spikes on the chain! It made me giddy to see some of the upgrades with the weapons and pull off cool chain whip maneuvers. But every good thing has a price, the combos were great but you tend to use only the easier ones since all the others seem to neglect the fact that you are fighting hordes of badies, not just one. Combos that attack all around you are the best ones so there really wasn’t much of a point to it all.
The story to the game was fun to play through and had some great narration but the basic kinda left me desiring a bit more. I mean the guy loses his wife and is trying to save her. This is Castlevania but that story has been used in Vampire lore so many times it is sad. Just redoing the plot slightly doesn’t make it better.
It is like some people sat down in a room and said:
“Hey we decided to make a new Castlevania game what should our story be?”
“I know! The main character’s wife is in trouble and he needs to save her!”
“Wait didn’t we do that in a previous Castlevania?”
“Yes, but this time she’s dead and her SOUL needs saving!”
“Brilliant!”
Other than the common main story line there are still some plot twists and interesting side story to the game. The voice acting is done fairly well compared to some other games that I’ve played.
All in all the Game itself is very well presented, has a small to medium length and is mildly difficult in some areas.
Multiplayer : F
Game mechanics / features / Online features
Absolutely a single player game, no online modes here. There is some DLC though.
Replay Value : C
Lasting appeal / Bonus Content / DLC / (If retro does it stand the test of time?)
Castlevania Lords of Shadow has great game play but seems to be more of a single play kind of game. There really isn’t much replay value here and most likely you will play through it and sit it on your shelf until the next DLC comes out. I really didn’t feel like they put much effort into giving it that replay value that a few of the previous games are going for. There are some hidden secrets that you can find that give you some extra powers but they aren’t needed to beat the game. New DLC has come out since the release and is fairly decent to play through but gives the game it’s only true replay value at all.
Overall : B
MOOORE SCREENS!