Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Lords of Shadow is exactly what the Castlevania franchise needed to find popularity with a new generation of gamers - and us oldies too. One of the best games of 2010.

It’s unavoidable that, by shirking the labyrinthine puzzling the series has become known for in recent years, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow will have its detractors. However, taken on its own merits, there’s ample to enjoy here and, despite MercurySteam’s merciless cribbing from other action adventure titles, it’s the confidence and quality of the game’s design that give this latest series outing its own identity. It mightn’t be especially original but Lords of Shadow’s rock solid core mechanics, creative flourishes and assured sense of pacing all combine to form a game that, despite a few roug...

Lords of Shadow has a neat set of magic mechanic you receive early on. The first is light magic which you switch on with the L1/LS button and whenever you hit an enemy you’ll gain health with each hit while hitting R1/RS will activate shadow magic that boosts the damage you dish out. These will also open up new skills/combos you can perform and can be turned on/off instantly within combos giving fights a bit of strategy. The puzzles scattered throughout the game aren’t anything special, but they do help break up the pace from the combat and platforming sections. There is one puzzle that I did ...

Overall the game was enjoyable to play, the graphics and scenery were beautiful and the story was amusing enough to keep me guessing if the final boss looked like me but naked(spoiler: he does). The Titan battles were a nice reminder of how much I enjoyed Shadow of The Colossus. If there is to be a sequel, I would definitely look forward to it.

It's a violently stormy night as a lone, hooded figure on horseback gallops through the forest, coming to a muddy clearing in a remote village. He steps down off his steed and lowers his hood as lightning illuminates his robed form. Say hello to the enigmatic Gabriel Belmont (Robert Carlyle), Castlevania: Lords of Shadow's chain-whip wielding hero, who is little more than a mysterious cipher when first embarking upon his adventure, but he soon develops into a complicated and tortured soul, gr...