Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Demo Impressions

Serde's impressions

Game: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Demo
Format: PlayStation 3

So this game has been getting a lot of pessimism for it's tendencies to be "God of War". After all, nothing is worse than having one of your favorite classic series rebooted into a hack and slash game. All the long winded exploration from previous entries in the series has seemingly been dumped for functional, but none the less, dull combat. I mean, you've just seen it all before... There's a weak attack button, there's a strong attack button, there's a block button, a dodge button etc. It's all there, and none of it is new territory.

Of course, where would Castlevania be without it's story? Well, it'd pretty much be Castlevania, but hey ho, lets delve in anyway. Our main character, Gabriel (played by Robert Carlyle) has lost his Mrs. to evil things. Guess what? He wants her back! Getting her back is an epic 20 hour long journey that involves jumping, climbing, and lot's and lot's of combat! Essentially, the story seems to be there for the sake of it. However, it is presented nicely and may be enjoyable in the full game.

This demo is split into two sections: a combat segment, and a horse-back riding segment. Both of which have a heavy focus on "dropping dude's" you'll be hacking and slashing away at were-wolves one minute, and hacking and slashing away at boars (WHILST ON HORSE-BACK!!!) the next. Although the attack animations are very nice, and the satisfaction of taking foe's down, one in particular where you put a stake through it's torso, is brilliant, it's very... Simplistic, and you'll have played all the demo has to offer within 5 minutes.

The graphics in Lords of shadow though, are very very good. I mean, there's nothing to complain about here. Gabriel looks like a down-trodden knight, the were-wolves look fierce, some villagers look scared. But what really looks cool is the rain effect in the first battle area. I mean, it's really just pissing it down, and you can feel that. Essentially, that little village is currently not a nice place to be, what with the horrible weather. Oh, and the regular were-wolf massacres, of course.

Which reminds me. When you are physically in the air and someone below you punches the air beneath you, you don't feel that hit. I mean, if a punch doesn't connect. It doesn't connect right? Well, in Castlevania terms: wrong. There me and Gabe were. Happily jumping around like victims of prozac. Me mashing away at my square and triangle buttons, and him flailing his whip around like nobody's business when I jump to start an aerial combo, and a werewolf punches the air beneath my feet and I get knocked back like a man who just got hit by a bus. I vocalised concern for this atrocity, I mean... What the fuck? How does that work? I mean, I know there's that phrase "all is fair in love and war" but... REALLY? I mean... Why can't I do that? If I flail my whip around above a werewolf's face he doesn't just suddenly keel over and turn into salami. No, he sits and punches the air and knocks me down. Why does this happen? Is there some kind of upward trajectory only rule going on here or something? I don't know. But I don't like it.

The horse-back section is... Annoying. You have a side swipe to attack Hog riders and a downward sweep to attack their hogs. Nothing more, nothing less. However, they just don't seem to go down. At least, not in a sufficient time, anyway. And if they knock you off, you have to sit and fight a selection of enemies before your horse returns! I just don't feel it...

Overall I'd say give it a go! It's not bad, but it's not great and not good either. I do not think it is fair to base opinions from this on the whole game though, as that seemingly has so much more to offer! Have fun demoing peeps!

Also, be sure to check out my video impressions of the demo: here.

-Serde