Preview: Castlevania - Lords Of Shadow

Written by Saky G on 11 October 2009.

Konami reboots Castlevania, and it's turning out to be the most impressive 'Vania to date.

Castlevania's history in the third dimension has always been a rough one. And after the disaster that was Castlevania Judgement it seemed that Castlevania would never make it into the third dimension

Now a new team of developers have taken their shot at resurrecting Castlevania for the new generation. Spanish developer Mercury Steam has been given the honor of rebooting Castlevania , and they are doing it with the help of Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima.

Castlevania has been reborn, this time in the form of...

 

Hit the jump to find out more about the next entry in the epic Castlevania saga.

 

Despite Castlevania's success in the 2D realm Castlevania has always struggled to make it into the third dimension, and after the disaster that was Castlevania Judgement, it seemed that Castlevania would never make the transition into the 3D realm.

Fortunately Konami has put it's faith into the hands of developer Mercury Steam and Kojima to reboot the franchise and create what looks like the biggest Castlevania to date.

Castlevania Lords of Darkness is set during a period known as the End Of Days, with the Earth's alliance with the Heavens has been threatened by a dark force known as "The Lords Of Shadow", while the souls of the dead and the creatures of the night start attacking the living people.

Lords of Shadow casts players as Gabriel Belmont.

Gabriel is a member of the "Brotherhood of Light" a group of holy knights who protect the innocent from the supernatural threats of the dark. Gabriel's wife, Maria is brutally murdered by one of the lords of shadow  and her soul is trapped in eternity, meaning that she is neither dead or alive. Maria realizes what is at stake and guides Gabriel to his destiny.

Gabriel travels the dying land meeting characters such as Claudia, The Sword Master, The Lady of The Forest and Zobek, and searching for the three factions of the Lords of Shadow to defeat them. Central to the plot are two mysterious masks the "God" and "Devil", which one of them is said to have the power to resurrect the dead(Gabriel might try to bring Maria back to life, but this is unconfirmed and Konami has yet to reveal how this will affect the plot ). Lords of Shadow is intended to be the most cinematic and story driven entry in the series.

Tell me this doesn't look epic

Lords is running on the proprietary Mercury Steam Engine and has been described as a third person action game focusing on platforming, combat and puzzle elements. Gabriel's weapon of choice is the retractable pyrotechnic whip called "The Combat Cross" which players will control via the Analogue stick. The cross will not only be used for combat  but for exploration purposes, for example Gabriel can use the whip to scale a wall, swing across gaps and even God of War - style moves.

I feel bad for the guy, after all laser eye surgery wasn't invented until the 20th century.

Although Lords of Shadow plays different than previous Castlevania games, Mercury Steam hasn't forgotten about die-hard 'Vania fans. Aside from the combat cross Gabriel will be able to use knives, stakes, Holy Water and other items to fight against the creatures of the night.

The cross is a great idea and all but i'll miss the Vampire Killer

And speaking of creatures of the nights two recurring enemies in the game will be Werewolves and Vampires(fans take note if a vampire appears in broad daylight). Other enemies include Trolls, Spiders and creatures that resemble goblins.

I'm not really sure if that's a werewolf or Anthrax member Scott Ian, that goatee has me confused.


The game will feature interactive large scale boss fights, and by large scale i mean epic Shadow of The Colossus style boss fights. For example the trailer showed a large Ice Titan(unofficial name) preparing to fight Gabriel.

Pro tip: His weak point is obvious, aim for the head.

Also, Mercury Steam is focusing on breaking Castlevania's trend of repetitive level design, and by the looks of this screenshot they will.

Now, I'm sure that all of you are wondering about this, Gabriel is a Belmont and the greatest enemy of the Belmont clan is obviously Lord Dracula. Well let's just say that chances are pretty high that Dracula is one of the Lords of Shadow. Note that this was mentioned only once by Konami and they have not confirmed anything regarding Dracula. But hey what is Castlevania without Dracula(or Death)? I'll leave the answer to you.

For the seventh time Gabriel, you are not Batman

The musical score for Lords of Shadow is being composed by Oscar Araujo in the style of a spanish orchestra but fans shouldn't worry because it has been confirmed that previous Castlevania themes will be used, obviously Vampire Killer and Bloody Tears are part of them. Voice work will be provided by a star studded cast such as Robert Carlyle will voice Gabriel, Natascha McElhone will voice Maria and Patrick Stewart will voice Zobek. Jason Issacs will also be in the game but which character he will voice has not been confirmed, although he will probably be the main antagonist(Dracula?).

It looks like Castlevania: Lords of Shadow will become the next great game in the franchise, if not in the whole genre.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is 60% complete and if all goes well the game will be released in 2010.

Here's the trailer:

And if that is not enough to fill your hunger, go to page two for more screenshots.

 

 

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