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Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2 Preview
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
The latest in the Legacy of Kain series takes place 400 years after the Playstation original, fancy taking a closer look.
Blood Omen 2 is the fourth title in the Legacy of Kain series, and a sequel to a relatively unknown 1996 Playstation game. Whereas the original Silicon Knights title was an adventure title with deep RPG overtones, the sequel being developed by Crystal Dynamics is very much a traditional 3D action/adventure, similar to the Soul Reaver titles in the franchise.
The gameās story takes place thousands of years before the events of the Soul Reaver titles, and so features a young and less-powerful Kain that players take control of. Blood Omen 2 takes place 400 years after Kain damned the world in the first Blood Omen. Following a heated battle with the vampire-hunting Sarafan, Kain travels deep underground in a state of vampire hibernation. Stripped of the powerful Soul Reaver, and left for dead, Kain awakens years later to strange surroundings, and to find that many of his former brethren have switched allegiance to the Sarafan. Awoken by the Vampires of Vosgoth, Kain must kill each of his ex members, not only to regain his honor, but also to claim back the Soul Reaver that will lead him against his fight with the Sarafan lord.
An element to this genre that we constantly bemoan is the combat, the lack of skill needed to button bash your way through is rapidly becoming dull, and can ruin an otherwise solid game. Crystal Dynamics appear to have paid a lot of attention to the combat aspect, with fights coming thick and fast, however unskilled players may have a tough time with this one. As with the Soul Reaver titles, a variety of weapons are on hand for Kain to brutally dispose of the enemy, however each different weapon has not only different attributes; daggers are weak yet quick, axes are powerful but cumbersome, but also different animations, so during grapples Kain may stab is foes repeatedly with the dagger, whilst brutally cleave them apart with the axe. Itās a small yet welcome touch, which helps to immerse you further into the adventure.
Blocking and dodging are incremental to successful combat, those who wade in buttons bashing away will die soon, those that place their attacks and calculate the risks of each one will soon reap the benefits, not to mention live longer as well.
Despite the abundance of fights, Kain has a number of tricks up his sleeve to help him. As a vampire Kain can move swiftly and undetected, adding a stealth based approach to the game. If he attacks an enemy whilst remaining hidden, Kain will dispose of them instantly, courtesy of a variety of gruesome animations ā“ one such animation sees Kain extracting his enemies heart with his bare hands.
Kain has three different vampire skills at his disposal from the start, invisibility, bloodsucking and silent glide. Invisibility allows Kain to lurk in the shadows and pass by unnoticed. Bloodsucking allows Kain to replenish his health from that of his foes, played out through stunning cut-scenes. The Silent Glide ability lets Kain glide to safety from great heights, without revealing his presence to nearby enemies.
However as Kain defeats his former clan, new abilities will open up. The most important new skill to learn is the Charm ability, which allows Kain to possess townsfolk essential to solving the games variety of puzzles. Other skills include super jump, giving Kain the ability to traverse large chasms and the force bast, which allows Kain to remove obstacles in his path. In total Kain will have six different abilities available to him by the end of the game.
As youād expect from a game in this series, the locations that you visit are dark and sinister affairs. The visuals help to convey a creepy and slightly disturbing feeling whilst playing. However the areas are brought to life with numbers of townsfolk, a new touch for a game in this genre. Town Guards will patrol the streets, townsfolk will stop and chatter to each other, and thieves will fight against guards. Unlike most action/adventure titles when the sense is that itās just you and a bunch of moronic enemies, the feeling is that you are walking around in a real city, helping to immerse you deeper into the game, and adding new gameplay touches such as remaining hidden until itās necessary to fight, preying on poor fellows in dark alleys. It leads to a much more believable experience then most other games in this genre.
