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| Legacy
of Kain: Soul Reaver (DC) |
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Reviewers Score:
9 / 10
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Posted: December 24, 2005
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Soul Reaver is the second out of five
games for the Legacy of Kain series. The story is about Raziel, who is
Kain's first lieutenant and both of them are vampires. Over a period of
time, Kain would gain new powers and sometime after him, his lieutenants
would gain those powers as well. That is, until Raziel surpasses Kain by
growing a pair of wings. Because of this, Kain orders Raziel to be
thrown into the Lake of the Dead. Raziel burns in the water until he
reaches the bottom and is revived as a soul-devouring demon by a
mysterious entity. That is the introduction to the game.
Story: 10/10
There are quite a few twists in this game that are
important to the series as a whole. As Raziel goes on his quest for
vengeance, he finds out more about himself and some of Kain's true
intentions. It might be a little hard to understand at first, but once
you get into it, you'll realize it's very deep.
Game play: 8/10
This game is definitely unique. Unlike the other
games of the series, this game is free roaming. In other words, you do
not follow a linear path to get to the end of the game. As Raziel, you
can "shift through planes". The material realm is the living
world and the spectral realm is the dead world. You will have to solve
puzzles and fight different enemies by shifting between the two.
Unfortunately, this also takes away from the challenge of staying alive
since you don't have to be. The enemies you face vary in looks,
strengths, and weaknesses. For instance, some vampires are weak against
water, while others hate the sunlight. You can carry different weapons
or you can use your wraith blade, but only when you're at full health
for the later. You can also impale your enemies by throwing them into
spikes and other interactive parts of the environment. As you progress
through the game, you gain natural abilities such as scaling walls,
swimming, and telekinetic projectiles. You can also find something
called glyph runes, which give you magic elemental powers. These can
make the game much easier for you, but they are hard to find. All the
bosses give a unique challenge, so none of them feel repetitive.
Graphics: 7/10
The graphics in this game are decent. Some of the
bosses look a little choppy and the backgrounds look pretty plain.
Raziel himself is rather detailed for a corpse though. The cut scenes
look very good, for they look much better than the graphics during
gameplay do. Either way, the makers didn't use the Dreamcast’s full
potential. But then again, this is a port from the Playstation.
Controls: 10/10
This game and LOK: Defiance have the best
controls in the series. They are not sluggish and they are easy to
master. I'd say this game has a five-minute learning curve.
Sound: 9/10
The sound in this game fits the environment
perfectly. It gives the game a depressing aura in the rotting material
realm and an eerie sound when you're in the sprectral realm. It does get
repetitive after a while though. The voice acting is incredible beyond
all doubt, especially in the opening cut-scene.
Replay 5/10
This game is enjoyable a second time, but casual fans
of the series would play this once and never again.
Overall 9/10
I enjoyed this game a lot. This was the first game I
beat of the series and I highly recommend playing it. Unfortunately, I
do not know if people will feel the same about this game. Because of all
the new adventure games that have come out for the PS2, Xbox, and
Gamecube, this game may feel a little mediocre. But for its time (this
was made in '99), it is a solid, top-of-the-line adventure game. This
game should take you roughly 10-20 hours, so it's pretty short. If you
haven't played any of the other games of the series, then I recommend
renting it. |
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