ARS: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow feels like homework, not a game

ARS: Sixty dollars is a lot of money, and time is something you can't buy at any price. Why not do something enjoyable? Lords of Shadow offers you boring gameplay with a side dish of uninspired story. I don't care if you have the budget of a Trump combined with the life expectancy of a MacLeod, there are better things for you to do with your time and money.

Lords of Shadow is just bland, a mishmash of warmed over ideas that adds up to less than the sum of their parts. It's not terrible, but that would almost be preferable. Yes, this sounds whiny, but life is too short for games that aren't fun. Right now I'm playing more involving games, I'm halfway through a good book, and I hear there was a lesbian scene in last night's episode of Glee. All of those things are preferable.

P.S.: The framerate on the 360 version is bad.

[Milky]

For real? It seems like the game is too hard for this whiner, this game is F.U.N.

[labaronx]

it is pretty challenging..... but im liking the story so far.

[showtimefolks]

but it felt like enemies were taking cheap shots any time they wanted

funny thing is they have already started working on the sequel

[Christopher]

Castlevania has its challenges and cheap elements, but so do most games like it. I don't see it any worse than other hack and slash games personally.

[colonel179]

it is fun, but it is also cheap. The one thing I agree with the author is the mapping of the controls. They don´t feel natural. Dodging with L2+LS is weird. I have gotten used to it, but is still uncomfortable.

Then there is the collecting of magic. Why did they map the absorbing to L3 and R3? When you are fighting, you need to press the sticks and you can't move, it is just weird, and again, uncomfortable. It should have been backwards. Having the absorbing mapped to L1 and R1 and using the magic with L3 and R3. That would make more sense and be more comfortable.

Other little complain, that can't be avoided with strategy is that I have noticed that when jumping, sometimes the enemies still hit you, even though you are out of reach (supposedly)..

[Christopher]

I completely agree with the design concept of mapping the absorb buttons to the analog sticks. You get used to it, but kind of makes you wonder why they did it that way. But, now it's become part of the challenge, getting to a point in heavy combat where I have enough space and time to absorb energy to either help heal myself or deal more damage.

[Swiftfox]

The reason for this most of the issues with playstation users is that the developers wanted a control sceme that would fit the the Xbox and Ps3 at the same time.

How you hold both controllers is very different. On the Xbox 360 pad your index fingers rest on the triggers naturally. On the Dualshock your index fingers rest on the shoulder buttons. To hit the bumpers on the 360 you are forced to flex up and this awkward to sustain it for long periods of time. On the Dualshock you simply move your index finger down, it's different and awkward but much more comfortable, you could even use your middle finger to control the L2 and R2 buttons while you use the shoulder buttons. Using both middle and index fingers to control the triggers and bumpers on the 360 is very unorthidox and clumbsy.

If Dodging and Blocking was L1 mapped to the 360 controller it would be Left Bumper and require and uncomfortable stretch to hold it and would seem unatural as well as offset the balance of the controller in the players hands. You would want such a commonly used button to reside under a nuetral hand button, like left trigger.

To put it shortly, it was a easy copy past button mapping from the Xbox 360 to the PS3. We've seen this in many many many titles this generation especially shooters and you can easily tell if the "fire weopon" button is R2 instead of the more comfortable and natural R1.

[Gue1]

I just read the article and then I read your comments and I'm like: "WTF are you people talking about?". When you gonna learn? Read the article and never start writing a comment based on the tittle alone.

The author is not even talking about difficulty, he is just stating that the game's pace is slow and boring. That puzzles are retarded and that the game has a few other annoying things that make the game feel like doing homework. And I agree.

[SaberEdge]

It feels nothing like doing homework. It's a blast. I loved the whole game.

[showtimefolks]

i was gonna buy this game but demo did a bad job for me personaly so i will waite either for bargin bin or gamefly.

with how jammed pack Q1 2011 is this along with enslaved and vanquish will be in bargin bin really fast

[labaronx]

on Black friday at some retailers..... keep an eye out lol

[showtimefolks]

and than Q1 2011 who is gonna pay $60 for a 3-4 month old game so they will go down to $30-40 fast lol

vanquish
enslaved
medal of honor
castelvania

black friday should have a deadl on these gamees for sure

K mart offering $20-25 gift card with each game anyway at launch

[jc48573]

you can already get this games for 30-40 each. you guys are just not trying hard enough. There's a risk factor when you buy 60 dollars games because you might not like it.

[HxCGamer]

same... the demo seemed really choppy

I really wanted this game but not sure bout it now.
I'm at least going to rent it though.

[showtimefolks]

the combat felt like poor man's god of war 3

i can't believe i am saying this but compbat was much better in dante's inferno

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Poor man's God of War 3? The combat in God of War is easy as hell. I can pull off 100 hit combos with Kratos when I'm half asleep. Lords of Shadow is nowhere near as forgiving. You have to work for it. The combat, especially air combos, feel more akin to Devil May Cry, which also is not as simple as God of War.

[Baka-akaB]

the demo doesnt even gives you 20% of the fighting mechanics

[Anilom]

Okay! u just suck at playing a good game! I can not get off this game at all! You think this game is hard, try playing Demon's Souls..

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Same here.

[liquidgravity]

I cant stop play. Im a big fan of the Castlevania series and i LOVE this game. I it has its challenging parts but Im goin threw at a pretty good pace. Im on chapter 8 right now and im lovin it!!!

[Gambit07]

Sounds like Destructoid review.

[Rampaged Death]

This is a quality game. Probably my favourite of the year so far.

[frelyler]

Game is challenging, much in the same way that the first DMC was. The combat I thought at first was bland, but it is all about figuring out the patterns of enemies and when and where you can use combos. The moves are not a rip off of GOW at least in their execution, this game has it's own way of pulling off moves and you do have to be skilled at it to do it. This reviewer should go play his crappy 4 hour campaign in MW2 and stick to his tastless preferences in videogames. What a waste of a read.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Exactly. Kratos has much higher penetration priority with his attacks, which makes it extremely easy to hit multiple enemies at once without even worrying about getting hit. I love the franchise, but sometimes it feels like fighting enemies made of jello. In Lords of Shadow, you "feel" every hit, which changes the dynamic of the combat system. People are so inclined to write the game off as a clone, that they dont even realize these things.

[Boody-Bandit]

I didn't have any problems finishing this game. I missed a couple grapples or jumps and fell to my doom. The game is challenging but not that hard. Just don't flail away at the buttons and think you will walk through this game. Learn when to block and evade. I pattern fought most bosses and I didn't have to restart too many times from combat.

I love this game. I am playing it now on Paladin.

[giovonni]

The same way the writer did, and the game wasn't that difficult to me. Many of the issues I had were more control issues and cam issues. The game isn't bad, but it isn't that great either in my opinion. I understand its a reboot for the series, but to me, it doesn't have its own identity. The game strays to far away from The Castlevania we all grew to love, while using elements of other popular games. I was insanely bored with the game over all

[Wolf873]

some of the puzzles are just too darn long that they feel like chores. Some of them are just too far spread out and requires you to run around a lot that it gets boring. Right now I'm at the Fairy puzzle and it's taking me quite some time to figure it out, I don't want to use the solution option, takes away the reward.

The control have issues too, especially with climbing. But what I don't get is, if this guy has such a useful whip that he uses for climbing, why didn't the devs integrate an option to use it while falling? I mean as soon as we fall they can have use do a QTE so we can latch the whip on the edge of the ground to climb backup and not have our health depleted.

Other than that, game is fun though. Besides, my reasons for playing games aren't challenges, it's the story. In some cases, games provide more of an immersing experience in terms of story than do movies. I like Castlevania series for its fantasy stories.

[Remdih]

Why not to shut the hell up, dear author? If don´t like it, don´t play it. N4G is annoying me more and more.. I don´t give a shit about some noname´s opinion, as noone gives a shit about mine. People here are just complaining, bashing, complaining, starting flamewars... So boring here really..

[Fuggum]

I've played video games since the Atari 2600, so I owe it to myself to begin most any game on the hardest setting available at the first play-through. It makes you much more skilled and you really need to learn the combat more thoroughly to be successful. I appreciate the challenge and I have more fun with the game because of it. Sort of like savoring, I suppose.

[Baka-akaB]

As expected some people'd rather play automatised games with barely any challenges other than enemies taking 5X more hits in hard/nightmare modes .

And lol at the complain at puzzles ... you are even given a cheap way out ... but no it's not right to unlock it with game xp and currency .
They'd rather it was easy and self explanatory from the start , so they wouldnt feel so cheap afterward ...

Thanks the gods , not everyone have the same uniformised tastes in games , and generic expectations about what type of challenges a game should have ...

There are plenty other games that do right everything they think LoS did wrong .... and not that many left who deals with stuff the LoS way .

Variety is there for a reason .. so stop complaining about a game having different layouts and challenges

[memphis2]

oh i'm sorry the game is not like gow, you don't button mash! it does take skills to play the game! how is this a review?? he guy did not even finish the game to give his opinion on the game itself. it was games like this back in the day started this genre for all young people out there that thinks gow is king and i'm not that old i grew up with castlevania!

[bangoskank]

This game should be called "God of Uncharted Shadows". I hope they do something new with the sequel instead of rehash gameplay mechanics of other games.

[THILLREBORN]

For all of you who are booing this game I'm gonna call you out as being nothing more than full of isht. Played it, reviewed it and loved it. Only on the surface does this game even remotely resemble GOW. There is so much to the game it's not funny, so called camera angle issues...BS no problem for me. Dodging cake walk, cheap enemies...more like you suck at these games. Come talk to me when you have some platinum trophies in some hack'n slash games. It could be because I'm way better than a lot of you or that most of you haven't played the full title yet.

check out my review it say's everything.
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[bangoskank]

So your opinion is the end all be all? Get over yourself, dude. The game breaks no new ground and plays just like a couple of other games if played for the PS3. It's far from being an excellent title. It's just "good" and nothing more. Sometimes I actually find myself being bored with it.

[SaberEdge]

It's a great game in my opinion. I agreed with what you said in your review.

[Raider69]

The only problem on this game is the bad framerate,on the 360 and PS3 too!The game is not stable!MercurySteam forgot that games like this evolve around fluidity!The graphics are top-notch,but i think they could have unfavor them for a better framerate!

[rulakir]

Look man if the game plays similar to God of War, so what? If the game is good then the game is good, and so far this game is awesome. People need to understand that a lot of games borrow ideas from others, just get over it. That is the gaming world for us. That makes developers innovate then someone else borrows from that and so on, it is kind of a cycle, a good cycle.
Whatever, bye.

[Baka-akaB]

GoW isnt even the creator of its own gameplay mechanics , yet no one bitched about it endlessly .

Hell with so much actually inspired from the castlevania serie itself , it's only a fair trade

[SaberEdge]

I agree with you. I love God of War because of its quality and what it does with those basic elements, but you are correct that it didn't invent those elements.

God of War didn't invent quick time events. It didn't invent slashing with a weapon. It didn't invent combos. It didn't invent the use of magic. It didn't invent platforming. Nothing about it was truly unique, yet it was a captivating game because of what it did with those elements.

The same goes for Castlevania Lords of Shadows. It has a great storyline, amazing graphics and atmosphere, deep combat and magic systems, interesting characters, challenging puzzles, and fun platforming. It all adds up to a fantastic game.

[TheLig32]

Its a great game, and this article is bogus

[xino]

don't play Ninja Gaiden 3!

[Breadisgood]

Not even gonna bother following the link to give the site a hit. This game rocks.

[GeneralMaximus]

Seriously most games borrow off of each other i think this game is a great addition to anybodies game collection even if it isnt original. for a review that states like doin homework clearly didnt do his homework. note to ARS and any other site that bitches about originality KNOW YOUR SOURCES because that next game u rate a 10 or A+ is probably not original either

[Aleusia]

Got it a couple days ago, haven't spent much time on it. It seems fun to me.