By Aaron Luboff
Review done on PS3

Blood. Sucks.

There’s nothing worse than a disappointing game. Most of the time, by looking at trailers and previews, it’s relatively easy to know when a game will come out and just be awful. That’s what makes Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 so frustrating to play. The first game in the series, was a pleasant surprise for Castlevania fans and action game fans in general, thus setting expectations pretty high up for its sequel; a bar that Lords of Shadow 2 fails to reach sadly. But is there anything worse in life than letting the younger sibling be compared to his stronger, better looking, more intelligent older brother? No. So we’ll give it a fair go.

Lords of Shadow 2 again stars protagonist Gabriel Belmont, who now has taken the identity of Dracula and must prevent Satan from returning in modern times so that he can be freed of his immortality. There are 2 problems with this premise; firstly, it means that the designers had to design a modern day city and castle sections for when Dracula has to travel back in time. The former completely lacking in comparison to the latter. While the modern city comes across as mundane and square, the castles design is beautiful and intricate.

Second problem, if Dracula is immortal, why can he be killed by any what’s-his-face with a sword? Bit of a big one this one, so suspend reality, I guess.

Lords of Shadow 2 may have some disappointing gameplay, but it does feature a new engine that is quite pretty; even though the designs are not always intricate, they are always a pleasure to look at. As stated before, the castle sections are absolutely gorgeous and truly unique.

The game’s soundtrack is also spectacular, setting a dark atmosphere right from the get-go. Unfortunately, the game suffers from some dodgy voice acting and corny dialogue, a standard in games these days. Have you found that too? Comments…

Lords of Shadow 2 isn’t the best game I’ve played in a while. If you’re in to the series already, you’ll probably give it a go and enjoy it. If you’re not, you won’t kick yourself for missing it.