Reviews

Review | Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 “Mighty Darkness..”


gr review 2013Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 developed by Mercury Steam and Published by Konami simply a better game when compared to the first installment when we speak of graphics, effects and nothing beats this! “Story” the main reason why I would play this game is definitely the Protagonist and the story of the entire game which is pretty much mixed with every little bit.

Story & Gameplay

As the game goes on..you feel the need of playing a little more which means 5 minutes more is simply few more hours..Interesting set of genre’s because the game changes the way you play and see the story immediately when you think it is what it actually is. sometimes you might be able to transform to a rat just so you could escape tricky situations.. Open world addition plays a vital role in changing the way you play the game.

Starting of the game, the player is “The Dracula” who is or can defeat anyone or anything that steps in his bloody way begins with tutorials on how you play or fight with the enemy’s army or performing a right combo but for sure, some combo’s are meant to be unlocked throughout the game [Trust me, the combo’s in the game are such appropriate! not that you will start flying but yeah it does work perfectly.] when you finish learning the way you fight or perform combo, the game takes you back to God of War style “Finish-it-off Accurately” you encounter the Knights and their ultimate giant, who you have to take down..[One Man Army] as the game follows the game provides the gamer with many different types of gameplay style whether its stealth with a blend of RPG, This game is the best in its franchise because the game offers amount of great fighting which spills the blood here & there. Speaking too much of Plot would be a massive spoiler, I’d rather not say it all..but a glimpse at what you are going to play.

Speaking of Game directions, the most animated cinematic experience yet in Castlevania franchise. seems like its an anime series that is extremely interactive! by saying “interactive” castlevania: lords of shadow 2’s every corner is interactive from chandeliers that allows you to move and jump over to other end or maybe a pain box which unlocks crystals. As I said, every single corner of the game allows you to interact.

Brain Power! Walkthroughs are usually found on YouTube this days but I reckon a few spend hours trying to get through the level, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 has various levels where you actually get stuck and you have no option but to stress yourself. most of the time, Castlevania themed “Bat-Indication” allows you to spot the point where you have to Freeze, Jump, or Enter.

The Independent Camera angle improves my experience as I always like to see 360 degrees around the character and its surroundings..also, this is the first time they have added this feature to a Castlevania game.

In Addition, they have literally used Deep English to suit the scenario of the game and its character, only thing that could’ve been improved is “Dracula’s voice” perhaps a less british, less manly. I Hope he doesn’t hunt me for the dinner.

Graphics

The Game’s design is Work of Art! Minus point of this game would be “Graphics” and second, it’s not going to be released on Next-Generation console such as Xbox One or PlayStation 4. To anticipate that Mercury Steam and Konami would publish Remastered Next-Gen version of the game like Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition? Possible but Not exactly going to happen anytime soon, why? it’s going to be last game by Mercury Steam in Castlevania Franchise.

Character models could have been more natural as previous generation consoles still had a lot of juice to give, only if Mercury Steam took a little more time to finish the perfect Render of characters. Not to forget, after Dracula wakes up..you meet your old enemy “Zobek” who looks identical to Sean Connery’s Videogame version.

Graphics are something that’s not really taken care of in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, when it comes to high detailing as a result pixels are somewhat visible, smoothing of objects, environments and characters could have looked way better, if you notice the physics of Dracul’s Hair the pixels are easily visible once again. I Still Like the way they took time to detail the little objects and flow of Liquid.

Orchestra Music

The Music composed for this game offers a bit more than just setting the mood for playing a very dark-bloody game especially when you are playing as Dracula..The Epic Orchestra music mixes the blend of a little Mystery, Darkness, Evil, and Kingly. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2’s music was composed by Oscar Araujo.

I Honestly have a big issue when it comes to soundtracks or music of the game as I always like to play my video games alone in the dark with no one interfering which basically means, I try to deepen my personal experience of game!

Gameplay w/Review commentary

Final Thoughts

Story 95%
Gameplay 88%
Graphics 70%
Music 95%
Final Thoughts

Dramatic Orchestral Music, Interactive Detailed Objects and Dracula's Story created One Hell of a Mesmerising Experience. No Videogame is perfect, but this is a close-call. Offers a very distinct gameplay experience to the lovers of Action-Adventure Genre who prefer lot of blood and Evil Fighting.

Overall Score 87%