Game Review - Castlevania: Lord of Shadows

Gabriel... The Vampire Hunter on the prowl for the Lord of Shadows

I know this game has been around for quite some time but since Konami already announced the Lord of Shadows 2, I decided to look for this classic game and take a shot at it.

I don't normally make videogame reviews so you must forget about the all, graphic, animation, plot and gameplay scene here. My review will be based (as on my movie reviews) on the atmosphere, expectations and overall fun experiencing the game. Nothing more... nothing less!

So... you must remember this was the first try of a new Castlevania Action 3D game and with the help of the new and improved Fox Engine by the all time great Kojima Productions. When the game came out it was very hard to pay attention to it. I mean we had we had the last issue of the Metal Gear Solid franchise out and the this game was being made by a almost unknown company Mercury Steam so yeah, didn't quite impressed any one. Except me!

I mean, for starters the game looks and feels great. I mean you just have to see some of the concept art to know that therese guys took a lot of time to make the best damn looking sets they could. Then we got the creatures and combats. Ok some combats are pretty difficult to figure out at first but when you get the hand of all the controls... Man you'll have a blast! I specially enjoyed the combination of the powers you can use during the game. Sometimes it's hard to gather the souls while your fighting but if you get the hand of hit it's quite awesome to like energize a power and then let it all out in one single blow wiping an entire screen.

Now for the downsize of the game. Some of the puzzle solving and exploration is not all quite well versed. I mean you cant control the camera... Ever! That's a big nono and most of all you have no map, of anything. You enter a site or place that you've already visit and you have to memorize the entire course if you wanna find out the hidden treasures or objectives cause... you don't get no kind of guide or map of that. It's a real pain because sometimes you wanna go to a specific site to do maybe a task or find a prize and... well you have to enter it and see what comer to mind!

So I loved the powers, the combat, the universe and even the controls to some extent. I didn't like the no free camera no map policy, the little exploration and some of the platforming (you'll die my friend, you'll die multiple times). But all in all the beautiful lush sets and the combat and also great story (narrated by none other than Patrick Stewart) kept me going throughout the entire endeavor.

I loved it... Can't wait for the next one! A great 4 out of 5!