| The original gothic adventure is back in 3D. While the 2D outings have always fared well, the attempts at 3D have failed horribly. While Konami has made vast improvements(I don't think they could get much worse) the game still has its flaws. To find out more, sink your teeth into the review. Presentation Set in an era long past, Lament of Innocence serves as a prequel to all Castlevania games. It tells the story of how the Belmonts got involved with vampire slaying, and how the whip became the Belmont tradition. Leon Belmont is half of a super team of warriors who have battled enemies with a loss. The other half Mathias Cronqvist learns that his beloved Elisabetha has suddenly died. A year passes by with Leon still fighting on, as Mathias grew sick. Eventually the Church puts laws into effect banning the fights of monsters, while they focus on fighting heathens. One day Mathias gathers the strength to tell Leon that Sara, Leons Fiancee has been abducted by Walter Bernhard. Leon then decides to give up his title as Lord, so he can rescue Sara. He then rushes towards Walters castle weaponless. Along the way he meets up with Rinaldo Gandolfi. Rinaldo is a shop keeper who sells various supplies to warriors courageous enough to enter the castle,. He informs Leon that this is a game to Walter, and in order to get to him, He must defeat Walters 5 guardians. Rinaldo notices that Leon has no weapon, so he bestows Leon with a whip that was made from Alchemy(a form of magic in the game.) Then he gives Leon the ability to collect magic in his gauntlet. With his new found powers Leon rushes into the castle to find his love. Graphics Past Castlevania games have been about atmosphere, and in this department, LoI delivers. The fog, foliage, even the brick in the castle will pull you into the game. With the dark and moody setting a times it almost feels as if you're playing a survival horror game. I was on edge for a good portion of the game, and on one occasion I jumped due to something unexpected happening. LoI also sports very good lighting effects. There are a couple areas where you run up a spiral staircase, and you can watch your shadow stretch and rotate around you. And in one area towards the end, you can see your reflection on the floor, and it just looks beautiful. One of the main problems with the N64 Castlevanias was the camera. While Konami has made vast improvements, it's still not perfect. LoI uses a fixed camera, which for the most part works, but there were a couple of jumps that were tricky due to the view you are presented with. Enemies are also very well detailed, and imaginative. The death reapers are one of my favorites. And believe it or not, Konami found a way to make the Flea Man even more annoying. The bosses take the cake though. It's awe inspiring to see Medusa, with her snakes-for-hair hissing while you battle her. Or some of the optional bosses are nice. The Forgotten One(who as you whip loses flesh and body tissue) or the Thunder Element, who is very simple looking, but also very cool looking. There are many things to admire about the graphics in LoI, it is truly a beautiful game. Sound One thing you can always count on Castlevania having is an amazing soundtrack. LoI lives up to expectations. From the haunting and chilling areas,(which also made the game more creepy) right up to the electronic/rave, the soundtrack fits rights in. Games like this are the very reason I wish video game soundtracks were mass marketed. If I ever see the soundtrack available, you can bet I'll pick it up. As for the voice acting, it's in the middle. Not spectacular, but not horrible. Leon and Rinaldo sound a little shaky, and are a little over acted at times. Walter sounds dead on though(even if you don't hear him until the end, it still sounds good.) Gameplay LoI takes a different path then other Castlevania games. This time around the castle is pretty much wide open. Once you run through what's pretty much a training course you reach a central hub. From there you can enter any of the games 5 major areas, and finish them in any order. Theres no more following one path, only to discover you need double jump boots, or a strength ring to move on. You can finish every area in one shot. The only time backtracking comes into play is if you're looking for hidden areas and items. You may need a red phoenix key that is found in another area, but they usually lead to more relics, or items that aren't needed to finish the level. While this wide open approach destroys any linearity, which have plagued past Castlevania games, it also eliminates a lot of the sense of exploration. And exploration is a huge part is any adventure game. Other then looking for hidden areas, the only other time I had to back tack was if I hadn't solved a puzzle needed to open a door in that area. Speaking of secret areas, I don't know if Konami did this to make up for the lack of play time, but the secrets are extremely well hidden. Also new to the Castlevania series is the use of orbs. You find orbs throughout the castle(usually by beating bosses) and when you combine them with your sub weapon, you can get some pretty cool attacks. There's a total of 7 orbs, and 5 sub weapons for a total of 35 different attacks. And Magic Points are now used by relics. Relics have different powers, such as refilling your life, and boosting your defense or attack power. As I mentioned above, there is an extreme lack of playtime. LoI is a very short game. You could probably run through the 5 areas in about 5 hours. If you wanted to look for everything, and fight all the optional bosses, I'd say it would take about 10(I had 99.8 % and clocked a little over 9 and a half hours.) And oddly enough, for such a short game, I couldn't help to feel a little bit of repetition. A lot of the rooms looked almost identical to other rooms in that area. You can hit select for a map to see where you are, but it hardly helps due to the controls of the map(see the control section of this review.) I think a mini-map in the corner of the screen would have helped a lot. The other problem I had in the gameplay area was in the difficulty. You'll fight lots of enemies, but after you clear a room, anytime you go back there, you can just skip the enemies. The bosses also prove no challenge. Just keep whipping, and using potions, it's over. There's very little strategy involved. The last boss did take me a couple tries though, ONLY because I didn't have any potions. I went and bought some more, beat him game over. Control This is where the games loses at least one point from its overall score. The first major problem is the real time windows. You can't equip or use items from a pause menu anymore. You have to hit the D-pad and cycle through the menus until you find what you need ...all while the action is still going on. This caused me to die a couple times, maybe it was a way to up the difficulty. A poor way, but a way none the less. Also by using the D-pad for menus, that means the game is strictly analog. Not a big problem, but I would have liked the option of using a D-pad. The second major control issue is the map. For some odd reason Konami decided to reverse the map controls. Pushing the right analog moves the map down, and left makes it go right. Though on the plus side, pulling off combos and skills you learn is fairly easy. And while there's no auto aim, or lock-on, you'll have no trouble hitting enemies. Replay Value With up to 5 optional bosses, tons of relics, and orbs to find you'll spend a few extra hours hunting the castle after the credits roll. Plus once you beat the game, you can start a new game in another mode(think how Circle of Moon for the GBA worked.) So the replay value is high, if you feel like going through the game all over again. Also with the items as well hidden as they are, you'll have fun(or go crazy) trying to find them all Overall LoI is a decent enough game. It just needed a little bit more polish, and a new control scheme. I think if there is a sequel, it could be a great game, if Konami makes it a little harder, and adds more play time to it. Fans of the series should definitely give this game a try, all others, a rental should suffice ... you can probably beat the game in the time you have it Overall Rating 7.5/10 Nate |