Official Site: http://www.konami-castlevania.com/castlevania-lords-of-shadow/
Source: Youtube Channel IGN
Developer: MercurySteam, Kojima Productions
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: [PS3], Xbox 360, PC
Release Date: October 5, 2010 (PS3, Xbox 360), August 27, 2013 (PC)
Genre: Action-Adventure
Pros:
+ Does a lot of things right that other Action games do wrong
+ Controls are tight, responsive, and well designed around the game
+ Aesthetics are quite beautiful with a cinematic-like atmosphere
+ Puzzles are present, but they're never too complex to hinder progress
Cons:
- This games has a serious case of identity crisis
- Despite having well crafted aesthetics, the themes are painfully generic
- Although levels are separate, there's still a LOT of running around to do
Recommended: Maybe, Action-Adventure fans will like it. Castlevania fans may or may not be able to enjoy the game.
I've played games where they've had good ideas but executed badly and I'll feel only a little indecisive about whether I liked the game or not. But never have I been so conflicted with a game because it's well developed but doesn't live up to the expectations of a franchise. I try my best to be as unbiased as possible when playing a game and I do not like fanboyism, yet every little aspect that takes ideas from other games and the factors that take away from what makes a Castlevania game disgusted me and clawed at the back of my mind as I dredged my way through the game. I enjoyed playing the game, but I also didn't like it at the same time. Do you see how contradictory my thoughts on the game are? The exploration has some linearity in it to prevent the player from getting lost yet it's opened enough for them to find secrets and replay levels. The combat is well thought out and addresses many problems that other Action games suffered from such as camera angles, blocking, enemy AI, platforming, and even the dreaded Quick-time events. The graphics are beautiful with colorful landscapes, huge boss battles, and well crafted level designs. Despite all this, the game suffers from a serious case of identity crisis. The combat is like God of War, some of the boss fights is practically Shadow of the Colossus, the exploration is Uncharted, and the themes of levels are very similar to games like Garshasp: The Monster Slayer. Although the music works really well with the atmosphere and has won a few awards, it's incredibly cinematic and overly dramatic on parts where it's not even that important as well as being forgettable and generic. Gabriel Belmont is such a cool looking characters with intricate designs on his armor with one heck of a skill set utilizing his whip and sub-weapons, yet he still manages to be a boring character with a personality of a brick. To sum it all up in one sentence: It's not a Castlevania game. It's a reason that even I find dumb to even down-grade such a well developed game, but it's how I felt and still feel when playing through and finishing the game. Had this game been presented as a new IP and be simply called Lords of Shadow with no ties to Castlevania, I might feel differently about the game and perhaps accept it lovingly a lot more. But the fact that it's much more widely accepted than the older 3D Castlevania games hurts my pride as a Castlevania as the previous iterations of the series has always stood out as unique and original while this version screams of generic themes and cliché tropes of medieval fantasy despite being such a solid Action-Adventure experience. I don't think I'll ever be able to get over it and so I'll say that I liked it as a game but not as a Castlevania game.
Aesthetics
Art-Style: 3D Medieval Fantasy
+ Great scenery in landscapes, atmosphere and environment
+ Despite no installation required, load times are short and textures are nice
+ Well crafted enemy designs, especially the bosses
+ The effects, slow-motions and color worked well with the game mechanics
+ Sound effects and animation delivered a visceral combat experience
+ Cues for QTE and exploration were subtle yet effective
- The whole medieval fantasy theme was a bit too generic and didn't stand out
- Music was very cinematic and forgettable
- Some of the "epic" music was just so exaggerated that it felt comical
Aesthetics: 8/10
Buttons
Controller: PS3 Controller
+ Tight controls that are responsive and designed around the game well
+ Perfect blocking is utilized much better than most games I've played
+ Platforming is pretty spot-on
+ Combat is free-flowing and feels really good
- Some jumps and wall collision aren't very solid in some levels
Buttons: 8/10
Concept & Content
Core Concept: Fight, climb, and fulfill objectives to progress to the next chapter
+ A solid combat experience that's both challenging and enjoyable
+ Exploration is generally easy to navigate through and offers re-playability
+ Boss fights usually have multiple tiers to fight through adding depth
+ Although there is a predictable outcome of the story, there is a surprising ending
+ Puzzles are interesting but usually not too complicated to hinder progress
+ Some levels had interesting solutions to progressing such as riding on enemies
+ There were a plethora of abilities and skills for gain
- The story starts off okay, but quickly becomes predictable and uninteresting
- Gabriel Belmont can't decide whether he has an accent or not and has a personality of a brick
- Nothing in the game is innovative, they're just really good mechanics of existing ones
- One particular puzzle was too esoteric and confusing to make any sense
- Most of the skills were useless in combat and only a few were practical
Concept & Content: 7/10
Duration
+ A good length of gameplay provided with a nice steady flow
+ Revisiting levels and multiple difficulties provide a decent amount of replay value
+ I liked how lengthy and challenging some of the boss battles were
+ Combat definitely was the highlight of the game that made up most of the game time
- I hated certain puzzles that involved nothing but running around everywhere
- A few levels made no sense in terms of pathing and involved getting lost
Duration: 7/10
Fun
+ I liked how it addressed and resolved every problem I've had with 3D Action-Adventure games: Camera Angle, multiple enemy combat, Quick-Time events, platforming, puzzles, etc.
+ Although an idea rip from other games, I did enjoy the boss battles
+ Combat is a lot of fun and there are lots of skills to use and gain
+ I'm not too fond with most of the puzzles, but platforming was okay
- Honestly, my first reactions were "It's God of War..."
- Ugh, Quick-Time Events, though it's done a lot more elegantly
Fun: 7/10
Overall
To put it simply, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is a solid Action-Adventure game. It's not inspiring, innovative, or original as its own, but it does improve and utilizes the same game mechanics much better other in its genre has done in the past. If you're a long time Castlevania fan, forget everything you know about Castlevania or better yet don't even think of it as a Castlevania game and you'll be able to enjoy the game a lot more. It's a lot to look past, but at its core Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is an enjoyable experience. Overall: 7.4/10
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