Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Up until now, there's been a lot of talk about how Castlevania: Lords of Shadow may or may not turn out. We've learned various details trickling down, but we haven't known how it really plays. Well, now we know. We just finished a power session playing the game for pretty much nine hours straight. Let's allay the two main worries that statement brings up: 1) After nine hours, we were not done with the game – we were (we think) a bit past the halfway mark, so this is no six hour game; 2) We weren't bored of playing at the end of the nine hours, and could have played a bit more... but we had to write this preview, so...

As we mentioned earlier this week, E3 is rapidly approaching with the inevitability of giant stomping bosses appearing in action games. As the second part of our twice-weekly previews showcasing the most aniticipated titles, we're taking a gander at the could-be-good, could-be-meh latest attempt at a 3D Castlevania, the eerily God of War-like Lords of Shadow...

Developers have been chasing the elusive “good” 3D Castlevania ever since the 1999 N64 game failed bring the series up to speed. Later, a canceled Dreamcast attempt and two fairly competent but ultimately flawed PS2 entries pushed the franchise back into its 2D comfort zone, where it cranked out excellent (but predictable) sequels on a near-annual basis.

With Lords of Shadow, Konami and developer Mercury Stream are once again trying to pull one of gaming’s biggest franchises into the modern day, and hoping they can bring back some of the enthusiasm gamers once had for a series that’s been on autopilot for years. Based on what we saw this week, we think they may have finally done it.

In this in-depth interview with Dave Cox, producer at Mercury Steam, we learn how to kill ice titans in Castlevania’s latest attempt at turning 3D without crushing the spirit that has made the series so great.

First things first: Castlevania is one of our most cherished videogame series ever. From Simon’s Quest through to Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night, it’s single-handedly been responsible for many joyous evenings in our homes. Not that it hasn’t also heralded some of the most calamitous, mind; we still shudder when we recall the awful ’Vania 64 and its motorcycle-riding skeletons.