Review: Castlevania Lords of Shadow (PS3/360)

Castlevania: Lords of shadow is the new iteration to the long running Castlevania franchise. Released for both 360 and PS3. Published by Konami, developed by Mercurystream and Kojima Productions.

This is a 3D Castlevania, which would usually make me not want to touch it AT ALL. However, Mercurystream hit gold with this 3D Castlevania. The only way to describe this game with other game names would be “Uncharted Colossus of War-Vania” Which, in itself is a pretty awesome name.

The basic gist of this Castlevania game is not connected to the rest of the franchise, but despite what the devs say, there are always theories. You play as Gabriel Belmont, a man who is grieving over the loss of his wife who was killed by creatures that are invading the 12^th Century Earth.

This sets up the rest of this game's story. The ending is simply one of the best game endings I have ever witnessed. It's a pretty solid story overall and is a fantastic addition to the strengths of this game, also it's narrated by Patrick Stewart, which makes it awesome in it's calibre.

Graphics in this game are simply sublime, the textures feel very high quality, amazing in action and I could not believe my eyes, this game is also chock full of FMV's which are movie quality and shows that those 2 discs on 360 are there for a reason. However, the framerate suffers for this quality, there are visible drops and the game does not “flow” properly, although it gets better in later chapters in the game. This is a letdown and I feel that they could have pushed for a stable over 30 FPS for the entire game.

The actual Gameplay of this is a hybrid of sorts, this game is pretty linear but leaves things in each stage so you can return to it and reap their rewards. The main “battle” system in Castlevania is pretty standard action adventure fare, God of war style but you unlock various moves throughout the game and the action flows very nicely. In addition to this is light and dark magic, which serve their own purposes such as restoring health, solving the surprisingly good puzzles and others within the game. The Platforming is pretty solid, and reminiscent of the Uncharted series, although the glaring “JUMP HERE” shiny tiles are pretty distracting, maybe on an easier difficulty that would be appropriate, but for me. Not on a normal difficulty.

Overall, Castlevania: Lords of shadow Is a solid game, it has good, but not memorable music, progressive gameplay that feels satisfying as you go along. The production value for this game is noticeably high and it shows. Although it has it's downfalls such as the framerate issues and the condescending platforming. Castlevania: Lords of shadow deserves attention. It's has solid mechanics, simply beautiful graphics and it's a shame that this will be forgotten in the coming months.