Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 Review Roundup

[Sieghart]

• CVG: 8/10 - In trying to be all things to all people it offers less to those that loved it for what it was. Forget the dead family and vampiric curse - that's the true tragedy of this Dracula.
• GamesRadar: 3/5 - Lacking the focus, clarity and coherence of its precursor, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 fails to satisfy as a sequel or as a game in its own right, delivering muddled game design and little narrative resolution.
• OXM: 8/10 - This was never going to be the shock hit that the first game was, because we were forewarned of its excellence. While it does suffer a little from the stellar expectations, this huge finale is its own creature, and easily does MercurySteam's saga justice.
• Edge: 4/10 - Lords Of Shadow 2 is clunky, ugly and deeply misguided. MercurySteam says this will be the final game in the Lords Of Shadow saga, and on the evidence of this cluttered, bloated and forgettable mess, it's just as well.
• Joystiq: 4/5 - Like Dracula himself, his latest adventure is imperfect - its listless, poorly presented evils sometimes warring against its better, more exciting nature. I won't spoil Dracula's fate, but as for the fate of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, the better half wins out.
• Eurogamer: 5/10 - To live on but to be diminished - that's the fate of the vampire in Castlevania's lore. Sadly, it's a bit of an epitaph for this well-meaning but bloated game as a whole.
• IGN: 6.5/10 - Lords of Shadow 2 may have gained an open world, but a poor story, uninteresting enemies, and a bland cast of characters came with it. The end result is something that doesn't come near the level of overall quality found in the original Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.
• Polygon: 5/10 - Three years ago, it seemed like MercurySteam had an intriguing vision for its rebooted Castlevania universe. But what we're left with at the end of the trilogy is a couple of cool ideas with no momentum. It's not payoff - it's anticlimax.
• Next-Gen Game Blog: 7/10 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is a good game, which isn't a bad thing. However, it never really elevates itself to another level, which is a slight shame as the potential is there. Elements of the gameplay are crying out to be pushed that little bit further, but that never really comes to pass. That is Lords of Shadow 2 in a nutshell. If you played and enjoyed its predecessor, then this sequel is worth a purchase. For newcomers to the series, even though some plot points will go over your head, it's decent one time playthrough, but just don't expect to be amazed.
• Metro: 4/10 - Lords Of Shadow 2 waddles on for 20-odd hours and would've been twice the game if it was half the length, with the all the unwanted padding and repetition taken out. It's such a shame because the first game, and MercurySteam, showed such promise. But this is a huge backwards step and we fear the undead charms of Castlevania may finally have been killed off once and for all.
• VideoGamer: 6/10 - The world is both large and intricately detailed, and you'll want to explore it. But there aren't enough interesting set-pieces to assuage the feeling you're merely engaging in attritional combat to see the next environment or get to the next part of the story. A huge shame.
• Game Informer: 6.0 - This shambling monstrosity is composed of chunks from other, better games. Rather than blend them together into something new like its predecessor attempted, this one just feels like a patchwork mess.
• Strategy Informer: 7.5 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 does some things alright and some things really well. The lack of anything not done before and the run of the mill story still leave the game a decent gaming experience, there's still plenty to see and plenty to kill, and, as mentioned before, there is a great sense of games and level design competency which oozes from the seams. For third person action veterans it probably won't quite cut the mustard, but for Castlevania fans who are still digging the reboot this will be another good title in the reimagining of a classic series.

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.co...dow-2-review-round-up-a-vampiric-anti-climax/

Ouch.

 

[Chaos Raiden]

I am still going to get the game. The only question is when I will get it.

 

[Sieghart]

I am still going to get the game. The only question is when I will get it.

I already pre-ordered the game. I have already seen the ending and it sucks major balls. But i hope would be still enjoy it for what it is.

 

[xMobilemux]

I tried the demo of the game and I was getting into it, but the god awful QTEs killed the game straight away for me, the QTEs were just so poorly done.

 

[wallenb]

I'm still getting it

 

[Demi-fiend]

This looks like the sort of story that I would write.

I mean that in both a good and a bad way.

 

[Shin Muramasa]

I tried the demo of the game and I was getting into it, but the god awful QTEs killed the game straight away for me, the QTEs were just so poorly done.

I think you can turn off the QTEs, so there's that.

Anyway, both Thief and this ended up getting really mixed opinions from reviewers and gamers especially with the endings. I don't completely understand the story to know and I don't want to talk about LoS2's ending, but Thief's ending to some was completely pointless as it undermines everything the player does. Here's the thing though, if you're like me and watch endings for the hell of it or just to see the ending so you can pay attention to characters, plot details, etc. involved when you actually play it, you will not understand the story completely. So, some of them are just judging the ending, others have actually seen the story, etc. The other thing is that, Thief and Castlevania aren't games with compelling or impacting stories. The original Thief's what, guy steals stuff, guy gets caught up in weird events, guy steals back stuff for revenge, and done. Castlevania is literally Dracula in game form. Thief 2014 is just Garrett's comeback as LoS was Castlevania's comeback in a sort of "gaiden" about Dracula's origins. It just seems like people are mainly attacking the story.

Gameplay, well, with Thief, it just looks like an updated Thief game, so it's what the original did best, but with tweaks that modern games use and have streamlined. Also, nobody has played the game with all the "challenges" and handicaps yet, so judging the gameplay now is like saying Street Fighter sucks before things like canceling were discovered. Anyway, compare this to Dishonored which seems to be inspired by Thief, but introduces new mechanics, powers, etc. similar to Bioshock and allows the character to actually fight unlike in Thief where it's better to run if you get caught. Thief's Thief; Thief's not Dishonored. LoS2's gameplay is pretty much an updated and more fluid LoS which kind of plays like God of War and Shadow of the Colossus. LoS2 was not going to become the next "Bayonetta" or whatever. Who ever thought of that hyped or was too optimistic about LoS2.

Personally, I don't give a damn what reviewers and other say unless it relates to technical issues or offers some sort of warning like, "in this certain point of the game, there are massive difficulty spikes". Also, in terms of Thief, there are not a lot of stealth games out there, much less first-person stealth games. Thief, Deus Ex, Dishonored, and older Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six games are the only first-person stealth games I can think of. Other stealth-focused games include Metal Gear, Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, Hitman, Splinter Cell, Mark of the Ninja, and horror games I don't really know. Assassin's Creed wasn't much of a stealth game to begin with and it's becoming more action-orientated. Games with stealth elements like Far Cry, Watch_Dogs, Wind Waker, etc., don't really count since it's not the main focus.

Back on track with LoS2, I liked the first game and thought it was a interesting enough story-wise and the gameplay wasn't bad, but it wasn't good. A slight improvement is enough and I really want to see Gabriel as Dracul and see how his story "ends".

 

[Demi-fiend]

I hope you really can turn off those QTE's. That's probably some of the best gaming-related news I've heard recently.

 

[Erian1Mortal]

I hope you really can turn off those QTE's. That's probably some of the best gaming-related news I've heard recently.

You can, I've played the game for about 3 hours, just check the options menu

 

[The Final Offer]

You guys don't have anything else to play. Go get this game.

 

[ef9dante_oSsshea]

I will still get it , i like to form my own opinion on games so thosecreviews won‘t stop my buying or enjoying it. I loved the first game so i will play it before i judge it.

 

[Ronin]

If they did Lords of Shadow 3. I wish they make up for this game into the next.

I wonder if for the next characters. Since Alucard returned as Trevor Belmont, Cornell & Carmilla.

How about...
- Marie Renard
- Eric Lecarde
- Grant Danasty
- Shanoa
- And what happened to Simon Belmont? Will Alucard return as the main hero?

Even from the Curse of Darkness
- Hector
- Isaac
- Julia Laforeze
- Saint Germaine

 

[The Final Offer]

If they did Lords of Shadow 3. I wish they make up for this game into the next.

I wonder if for the next characters. Since Alucard returned as Trevor Belmont, Cornell & Carmilla.

How about...
- Marie Renard
- Eric Lecarde
- Grant Danasty
- Shanoa
- And what happened to Simon Belmont? Will Alucard return as the main hero?

Even from the Curse of Darkness
- Hector
- Isaac
- Julia Laforeze
- Saint Germaine

If I know my lore well, you just spoiled the game.

 

[Sieghart]

Cox said that this will be their last game.

 

[Dark Drakan]

People should always form their own opinions on games rather than JUST relying on review scores but they are some pretty poor scores across the board. Currently averaging an overall score of 7/10 with the media though isnt the end of the world as user scores are 8.3 average at moment. I use scores as a guideline of pros and cons for a title before splashing my limited funds.

 

[Sieghart]

7/10 is a good score. But after playing 7 hours of the game so far, i can definitely see some of the reviewers major complaints. The combat, i like it very much but the stealth is pretty poor.

And gosh that ending :banghead:

 

[Dark Drakan]

7/10 is a good score. But after playing 7 hours of the game so far, i can definitely see some of the reviewers major complaints. The combat, i like it very much but the stealth is pretty poor.

And gosh that ending :banghead:

Thats why I dont totally disregard reviewers opinions and use them as a guideline, only so much in a game is open to interpretation and preference. If a system is broken or plain bad by design its the same for everyone no matter what your preference or opinion on the rest of the game.

 

[Sieghart]

Someone from GAF translated a Mercury steam employee post:

Well, I would like to shed some light over the development of this game... Working with Mercury Steam -and I would like to tell this anonymously- is about an everyday frustration. Here's to every guy that has experienced hell during the development of this game, but especially to those who have led this to the mess that Lords of Shadows 2 is:

- Kojima had little to nothing to do with the development of the first game, he came by, set a seal, visited the studio, signed some things and that was it. He had even less to do with Mirror of Fate and LoS2.

The vast majority of this team is aware that the game we've done is a real piece of **** that has nothing to do with the first one's quality and production values... Nobody is surprised by the low reviews we've got.

- If there's someone to blame here, that's Enric Álvarez. He is the person who has led a broken development based on his personal criteria, completely overlooking programmers, designers and artists. Despite his nice look to the press, often considered as some sort of creative "visionary" in the looks of David Cage and Molyneux, this guy has serious problems. He is a mean and naughty guy, and since the "success Lords of Shadows 1" his ego has grown to the point of not even daring to say 'hello' when you meet him in the hallway.

His distrust to his own workers is enormous. Most of the development team often found out features of the game through press news, rather than from the studio's head - unbelievable. And there is no corporate culture here at all... this is just a handful of people working blindly and at the disposal of an alleged visionary.

- The studio's internal structure is archaic, still based on the old partners of the Scrapland days. I'll give you an example so you can see the full picture: the studio's signature engine (one with many flaws) was solely coded by two guys, one of them being a founder of the company and Enric's confident. Access for the new programmers to the source code to update or refurbish the engine is denied, so things are still done in a 10-year-old fashion.

- Many of the studio founders are people with zero abilities for running a studio. Often here newbie developers know more than their own bosses. This structure only leads to a slow, messy and absurd development process, with the end result of Lords of Shadows 2 being a perfect example of what happens due to that.

- Absolutely every design idea has to be monitored, taken away and mutilated by Enric Álvarez. Several game designers have grown tired of this and have abandoned the studio.

- The art direction for this project has been erratic and beheaded. After Enric dismissed every idea and core decission from our main art director for the previous projects, he decided to just leave. It was a battle of egos unleashed by Enric (something that he has carried over with since his times in Rebel Act). Our now former art director is still working in Madrid, now with the Tequila guys making RIME.

- Many others have just turned to other studios offers, sick of the situation here. Almost every month we see fellow devs packing up and getting out of here looking for a new job abroad -that's sad-. It's amazing how the biggest AAA game developer in Spain is not even willing to make its workers a counteroffer. This company does not think highly of its talented workers and their good work. There has never been any kind of salary bonus or anything that remotely resembles it. Not even a single "Good job team!" acknowledgement.

- The production management for this project has been terrible, way often the heads of each department dismissed every production deadline and imposed their own criteria. As a result, the development was delayed for six months, and that investment only came out of MercurySteam's pockets.

Many can't help comparing this situation to something similar that already happened in a company in which many of us worked: Pyro Studios (the team behind the Commandos saga). The QA department is treated like cattle, with shameful wages and almost everyday bullying.

- Expectations for our future are quite bad... with a publisher like Konami really upset after the mediocre game we've made.

- After completing Lords of Shadows 2 MercurySteam has fired 35 workers, and it's embarrasing that no website or journalist is talking about that. More firings are expected to come in the following days.

- And finally, because not everything is bad in here, I wanted to say that the real team behind this company is an incredible bunch of people. If all those guys who are not allowed to be promoted due to our Jurassic studio leads had the chance to set the course of the company, our future would be so bright. There's just so much passion and talent here, more than I've ever seen anywhere else, but it's completely held back. I really hope that those who read this understand what we've lived here. Someone has to say this so it is not lost in time after the game's launch.

Thank you for reading me.

 

[Demi-fiend]

Looks like Enric Alvarez is the new Tameem.

 

[Sieghart]

Probably even worse.