7 Things You Should Know About Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
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VOICE OVER: David
The Castlevania series has never truly come in to its own as a 3D action adventure game for the home consoles. Hoping to change this, Konami has called upon Mercury Steam and Kojima Productions to re-invent the franchise for the 21st century. Originally announced as an entirely new IP, Lords of Shadow instead alters many of the signature Castlevania trademarks and designs, all while ignoring much of the series established cannon. Konami is hoping that these changes will give the vampire-hunting horror adventure an exciting new appeal, without the burden of trying to fit it within an established timeline. In this video, http://www.WatchMojo.com takes a look at everything you should know about Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.
7 Things You Should Know About Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
The iconic vampire-slaying franchise is about to get rebooted for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be exploring the 7 things you should know about Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.
Remaining a popular draw over the years as a 2D side-scroller, the Castlevania series has never truly come in to its own as a 3D action adventure game for the home consoles.
Hoping to change this, Konami has called upon Mercury Steam and Kojima Productions to re-invent the franchise for the 21st century.
Originally announced as an entirely new IP, Lords of Shadow instead alters many of the signature Castlevania trademarks and designs, all while ignoring much of the series established cannon. Konami is hoping that these changes will give the vampire-hunting horror adventure an exciting new appeal, without the burden of trying to fit it within an established timeline.
The game takes place in Southern Europe in the middle Ages. It focuses on The Lords of Shadow, and their goal of bringing the ‘end of days’ by disrupting the Earth’s alliance with heaven. Beginning the Apocalypse, they have managed to stop souls from being able to leave the earth, and summoned evil creatures to attack the living.
As Gabriel Belmont, you play as a member of the ‘Brotherhood of Light”, an elite group of holy knights who protect and defend the innocent from the supernatural.
In addition to this, Gabriel's wife Marie was brutally murdered by one such creature, causing her soul to be trapped in limbo. Because she is neither alive nor dead, she helps guide Gabriel to his destiny to save the world.
Traveling the destroyed land, Gabriel seeks the God and Devil Masks. These artifacts lie at the centre of the plot, with one having the power to resurrect his deceased wife.
However, he must first defeat the three factions of the Lords of Shadow in order to obtain all of the mask pieces.
Lords of Shadow is a third person action adventure title that features 50 levels stuffed with combat, platforming and puzzle solving.
When engaged in combat, players yield a retractable and upgradable pyro-kinetic chain whip called "The Combat Cross." Not only used for combat, the whip helps with exploration. Using it enables you to scale walls, as well as rappel and swing across gaps.
Gabriel will also be able to wield knives, holy water and weapons he finds scattered across the environment. Along the way he will also discover Light and Shadow spells, which provide defensive and offensive powers.
Featuring a stellar voice cast, Lords of Shadow stars Robert Caryle, from Stargate Universe fame, as Gabriel. Aiding him on his quest as the voice of his wife is Natacha McElhonem, from the television series Californication.
And finally, supplying the game’s phenomenal narration and appearing as Gabriel’s mentor Zobek is Sir Patrick Stewart.
While trying to reach new audiences by distancing this game from previous Castlevania adventures, the developers have kept some elements familiar, as to not alienate longtime fans. These returning signature enemies include vampires and werewolves, as well as trolls, giant spiders and goblins.
Adding an incentive to defeat every enemy in your path, doing so will earn you experience points, which can be used to purchase combos or to augment your abilities.
And you will have to upgrade yourself if you are to survive the game’s epic bosses, which are so large in scale that they have instantly drawn a comparison with those found in the game Shadow of The Colossus.
Defeating these bosses will earn you relics, which can assist with other challenges in the game.
Casting a shadow over previous attempts, this Castlevania takes the franchise out of the side-scrolling genre, and re-invents the series for a whole new generation.
The iconic vampire-slaying franchise is about to get rebooted for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be exploring the 7 things you should know about Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.
Number 1: Franchise Reboot
Remaining a popular draw over the years as a 2D side-scroller, the Castlevania series has never truly come in to its own as a 3D action adventure game for the home consoles.
Hoping to change this, Konami has called upon Mercury Steam and Kojima Productions to re-invent the franchise for the 21st century.
Originally announced as an entirely new IP, Lords of Shadow instead alters many of the signature Castlevania trademarks and designs, all while ignoring much of the series established cannon. Konami is hoping that these changes will give the vampire-hunting horror adventure an exciting new appeal, without the burden of trying to fit it within an established timeline.
Number 2: The Plot
The game takes place in Southern Europe in the middle Ages. It focuses on The Lords of Shadow, and their goal of bringing the ‘end of days’ by disrupting the Earth’s alliance with heaven. Beginning the Apocalypse, they have managed to stop souls from being able to leave the earth, and summoned evil creatures to attack the living.
Number 3: The Protagonist
As Gabriel Belmont, you play as a member of the ‘Brotherhood of Light”, an elite group of holy knights who protect and defend the innocent from the supernatural.
In addition to this, Gabriel's wife Marie was brutally murdered by one such creature, causing her soul to be trapped in limbo. Because she is neither alive nor dead, she helps guide Gabriel to his destiny to save the world.
Traveling the destroyed land, Gabriel seeks the God and Devil Masks. These artifacts lie at the centre of the plot, with one having the power to resurrect his deceased wife.
However, he must first defeat the three factions of the Lords of Shadow in order to obtain all of the mask pieces.
Number 4: Gameplay and Weapons
Lords of Shadow is a third person action adventure title that features 50 levels stuffed with combat, platforming and puzzle solving.
When engaged in combat, players yield a retractable and upgradable pyro-kinetic chain whip called "The Combat Cross." Not only used for combat, the whip helps with exploration. Using it enables you to scale walls, as well as rappel and swing across gaps.
Gabriel will also be able to wield knives, holy water and weapons he finds scattered across the environment. Along the way he will also discover Light and Shadow spells, which provide defensive and offensive powers.
Number 5: Voice Cast:
Featuring a stellar voice cast, Lords of Shadow stars Robert Caryle, from Stargate Universe fame, as Gabriel. Aiding him on his quest as the voice of his wife is Natacha McElhonem, from the television series Californication.
And finally, supplying the game’s phenomenal narration and appearing as Gabriel’s mentor Zobek is Sir Patrick Stewart.
Number 6: Returning Enemies
While trying to reach new audiences by distancing this game from previous Castlevania adventures, the developers have kept some elements familiar, as to not alienate longtime fans. These returning signature enemies include vampires and werewolves, as well as trolls, giant spiders and goblins.
Number 7: Experience Points And Epic Battles
Adding an incentive to defeat every enemy in your path, doing so will earn you experience points, which can be used to purchase combos or to augment your abilities.
And you will have to upgrade yourself if you are to survive the game’s epic bosses, which are so large in scale that they have instantly drawn a comparison with those found in the game Shadow of The Colossus.
Defeating these bosses will earn you relics, which can assist with other challenges in the game.
Conclusion:
Casting a shadow over previous attempts, this Castlevania takes the franchise out of the side-scrolling genre, and re-invents the series for a whole new generation.
