Quickies - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow gameplay trailer impressions

Quickies: Castlevania Lords of Shadow 11 minute gameplay trailer impressions
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Developer Mercury Steam really wants you to like their latest offering to the Castlevania series. In fact it's been noted by the developers that people aren't too enthusiastic about them 'rebooting' the Castlevania series with their latest game, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. To fix this an 11 minute video explaining the gameplay, characters and powerups has been posted here for your viewing enjoyment.

From what I've seen so far, the game the similarities between this and God of War are so numerous that you might have to do a DNA test to ensure Mercury Steam and Konami are the parents of this baby. With that being said, this doesn't seem like it's hindering the game from being successful. We all know borrowing from other games has proven quite fruitful for Castlevania in the past. Still seeing massive giants in the game called 'Titans' made me upturn my lip in sarcastic defiance, even though the gameplay mechanics involved in defeating them resemble Shadow of the Collossus moreso than Kratos' bloody exploits.

The story tells us of Gabriel Belmont, who is looking to defeat the 'Lords of Shadow' who are blocking the passage of souls from reaching the afterlife. The subplot tends to borrow a bit from Dante's Inferno, as Gabriel learns that the Lords of Shadow each hold one holy relic, which when united can bring the dead back to life. namely, his recently murdered wife, whom is one of the souls kept from ascending.

The narrator throws cliches  phrases with reckless abandon like "He will have his revenge" , but I can't say it really ruins or cheapens the experience. I would also have to say that I'm interested in seeing how this game turns out, as quite a few of the games this one borrows from are really good games in their own right (God of War 1 and 2 were especially satisfying and epic in their gameplay mechanics). The only gripe I have right now is that this game looks incredibly story heavy, and I'm hoping that's not going to hinder the gameplay aspect of it, but only time will tell.

Here's to hoping that Mercury Steam, and Hideo Kojima can pull this one off.