Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - A Review

So, I just finished Castlevania: Lords of Shadow... and what is my prevailing impression of the game?

Eh... it was okay.

~ Visuals and Sound ~

The high point of the game is definitely the visuals. Parts of this game are jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Character models are unique and look great, environments are spectacular and brimming with detail, and the atmosphere is fantastic. The game world looks and feels big. Actually, to say this game is “big” is a bit of an understatement. This game is absolutely HUGE. The stand-out visual parts of the game have to be the first glimpse of the Vampire Lord’s castle, and the Baba Yaga’s swamp.

However, as great-looking as this game is, I did have a few minor instances of frame-rate drop when there were a ton of enemies on screen, and a few times when using finishing moves. And there were a few times when close-ups of character models made them look a bit bland and over-exposed, but this very rarely occurred. 

My only other complaint about this game’s aesthetics is the music. The music isn’t bad, and it DOES do a great job of adding to the game’s great atmosphere, but it doesn’t sound like a Castlevania game to me. Maybe I’m nitpicking too much, but this game didn’t leave any lasting impressions on me music-wise. Classic Castlevania games had me humming for days… so, why doesn’t this game have a great, memorable soundtrack? It’s just kind of… bland.

~ Gameplay ~

The gameplay is the second best part, though it is pretty much just a God of War clone, with a few simple puzzles and Shadow of the Colossus bits thrown in. As a God of War clone, it comes out feeling pretty solid. If you love the gameplay and puzzles of God of War, this game should be a ton of fun for you. Gabriel Belmont is more or less a duplicate of Kratos, with an almost identical fighting style, platforming abilities, and even powers. Hell, even the button-mapping on the controller is nearly identical to God of War!

I do have a few qualms about the gameplay, though. First, you never really have to change your fighting strategy the entire game. For almost every boss, the pattern is the same (slash slash slash, dodge, slash slash slash, jump, slash slash slash, dodge...). Even when you have certain secondary weapons on your person, you will probably barely use them, as this pattern works with most common enemies as well (except for the Holy Water, which you’ll probably be using the most once you obtain it).  Secondly, you will almost never use the high-level combos, since some of them require a bunch of complex button mashing, or require you to use valuable magic reserves.  This game does a good job of illustrating the idea of “dominant strategy" in game theory; if you are given a strategy that always works well, you will only ever use that strategy. Therefore, powerful moves you obtain late in the game pretty much become obsolete. Lastly, some of the camera perspectives make platforming more difficult than it needs to be. It would have been better to have control of the camera at times for platforming purposes. Hell, there were even times when I somehow got stuck INSIDE of platforms. Because of these reasons, platforming was actually the most frustrating part of the overall gameplay for me.

This game does NOT play like a typical Castlevania game. It plays like God of War. This doesn’t make the game BAD, but I can’t guarantee that it is going to please hardcore Castlevania fans. This game is more appealing to those who enjoy games like God of War. If you’re looking for something akin to classic Castlevania or Symphony of the Night, this is NOT the game you’re looking for.

~ The Story ~

The low point of the game is definitely its story. Whoever wrote the script for this game needs a good flick on the nose. Granted, the PREMISE is fine, if a bit predictable. But this game completely ignores one of the biggest rules in writing a good story: SHOW, don't TELL.

All of the story in this game is told through exposition. All character development happens through narration, and we NEVER see it on screen, so the main character pretty much seems to remain flat and unchanging the entire game. The bad guys spout expository oratories that can go on and on for minutes at a time. No, no, NO! That is NOT how you tell a good story! It isn't believable! Why would a villain stand there and tell the hero a bunch of stuff the hero already knows? Or, why would the villain stand there and tell the hero his entire master plan instead of just outright killing the poor bastard and getting it over with? We all know how it's going to end; the hero's just going to get up and kick your ass! This is so clichéd, it’s almost laughable. One of the bad guys even says something along the lines of, “You are evil! Search your feelings; you know it to be true!” Seriously, game? Seriously?

And listen game, I know you had Patrick Stewart on board, and he has an awesome voice, but don't make him speak about 80% of the dialogue WHEN HE'S NOT THE MAIN CHARACTER! How many lines does Gabriel get? Like, maybe 20 lines total? I can't connect with a main character who is unable to express himself! You can't build a connection between the player and Gabriel by making Patrick Stewart narrate something like, "Gabriel was very sad," when we never SEE Gabriel feeling sad! Gabriel's face looks the same almost the entire game! We don't SEE him suffering the consequences of his actions, we don't SEE any internal struggle, we don't SEE any goddamn emotions on his face, so why should I, as a player, feel sympathetic for Gabriel when Patrick Stewart comes on and says something like, "Gabriel felt a bitter sorrow growing within himself." Even Kratos in God of War showed emotions! He was sympathetic because the game SHOWED us his struggles and the consequences of his actions, and how it affected him, it didn't just TELL us about it in a loading screen. 

So, basically, Kratos is a more three-dimensional character than Gabriel Belmont. In fact, I'm inclined to believe that Simon Belmont in the original Castlevania is a more three-dimensional character than Gabriel...

But, even in light of the awful character development and glaringly clichéd villains, we haven’t even gotten to the worst part! The game’s biggest storytelling no-no of all: several of the game’s most important plot-points are thrown in at the very end, without having been built-up, or really even hinted at, the entire game. The final boss literally comes out of NOWHERE, spouting some expository trite to explain why he’s there. The ending feels incredibly anti-climactic, because Gabriel never even fights the villain that has been built-up the entire game. Instead, we get to fight this other guy who just kind of wanders in at the last second. Maybe it seems like I’m being harsh on this final boss. But when I started up the last level of the game, entitled “The Final Fight” no less, and discovered this new boss who was supposedly more powerful than any other foe I’d fought the entire game, I actually got a bit excited… and then I was let down when he turned out to be one of the easiest boss fights in the game. So all-around, the end boss ended up being incredibly lame...

I only have two other minor complaints about the game’s plot. First, I couldn’t stand the forced pop-culture references. Why would you try to force a “the cake is a lie” reference in your game if it doesn’t make any sense? All it succeeded in doing was making me groan aloud. Way to break the good atmosphere you had going… And second, I found it a bit lazy that character names from previous Castlevania games were tacked on to new, secondary characters. Why not come up with new names? I guess that would take up too much time and imagination. Come to think of it… “Brotherhood of Light…” battle between light and darkness, Heaven and Hell… yeeeaaah, there may have been more lazy writing going on here than I first thought…

~ The Final Verdict ~

So, overall, is this a BAD game? …well, no. From a plot standpoint, it’s lazy, clichéd, predictable, and the story is basically told in bursts of exposition and narration. And there is basically no connection between the end of the story and the epilogue; we just end up getting sequel fodder after the credits roll. However, the gameplay is good, the design is fantastic, and the game’s overall atmosphere is great. The best chapters in the game are definitely five through eight, which focus on the Vampire Lord, the lands surrounding the Lord’s demesne, and the Lord’s sprawling castle. This part of the game comes the closest to feeling like a true Castlevania experience, and I really had the most fun with this particular part of the game. Seeing the Vampire Lord’s castle looming in the distance… it honestly got me really excited. 

Is this a game I can recommend to others? Of course it is! However, I would recommend that you either get it at a fairly cheap price, or just give it a weekend rental. I wouldn’t recommend it to classic Castlevania fans, as this reboot is very different from its predecessors. Hardcore fans might enjoy this reboot to the franchise, however, if they keep in mind that this game is a lot more like God of War than it is like Castlevania. 

Will I play the sequel when it comes out? Do I think this reboot series will go in a good direction? If this game is used as merely a springboard for the plot of future Castlevania: Lords of Shadow titles, I can see this series being at least interesting. I think I might rent the sequel when it comes out, as I am interested in where the plot will go, now that we have Gabriel Belmont’s backstory out of the way. However, the storytelling of future games in this series MUST improve. The way this game’s story was told was unforgivably sloppy. If future entries in the series continue to push the idea of telling over showing, I will probably lose interest very quickly. We have a good foundation set here. Please, don’t let the sequel’s plot fall into the same traps.

So, what’s my final verdict on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow? To me, I think the game sits at a solid 6 out of 10. This game is a little above average, and I think you should give it a try if you have time to burn. Is it the epic I thought it was going to be? No, but I’m still glad I gave it a try. Let’s hope the sequel comes out even better.

Final Score: 6 out of 10

~ Oliv ~