Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 - Xbox 360

Castlevania Lords Of Shadows 2Now we have come to the last game of the supposed Lords Of Shadows Trilogy and it's good but maybe since this game is labeled 2 let's find out if it compliments the two games before it.Story/Plot: The story begins after the events of Mirror Of Fate Gabriel Belmont aka Dracula sitting on his throne in silence drinking blood until his door is busted down as he walks down his throne tossing his chalice to the floor Brotherhood of Light soldiers enters his chambers. Dracula soon discovers that the Brotherhood is storming his castle with legions of soldiers as well as a colossal mechanical titan. After defeating several soldiers inside the throne room, Dracula confronts Roland de Ronceval, a Golden Paladin, outside on a balcony. He slowly makes his way up the Titan while simultaneously battling various Brotherhood soldiers as well as the Golden Paladin along the way. After tricking the Paladin into blasting off various locks that hold different parts of the Titan in place, he finally reaches the Titans power source: a large blue crystal. Dracula then proceeds to vomit a large amount of acidic blood onto the crystal, turning it red and finally destroying the titan. With the destruction of the titan, it slowly begins to break apart, which causes major destruction in the area as well as killing many of the Brotherhood soldiers in the process.(The scene uses some lines from Symphony of the Night which is awesome)In the aftermath of the battle and when the dust finally dies down, the vampire lord climbs out of the debris made from the remains of the Titan and proceeds to battle the Golden Paladin once more. Defeated, the Paladin brandishes a large cross and begins praying. Dracula explains that God's power cannot destroy him, as he is God's chosen one. Dracula then touches the cross, much to the Paladin's shock and begins to pray alongside the Paladin, causing a massive eruption of light that smites the Paladin and all of the remaining Brotherhood soldiers, leaving Dracula alone and unharmed. After all of this, Alucard is seen standing behind Dracula.After centuries of sleep and nothingness, Dracula reawakened, weakened and decrepit-looking. The Prince of Darkness yearns to reclaim his ancient powers and desires to get rid of his immortality. Zobek, worried by Satan's imminent return, asks his old friend to help him stop the Devil, with the offer of ending Gabriel's immortality through the use of his reforged Vampire Killer in exchange.(This scene is pretty much the ending from Castlevania Lords of Shadow no dlc)Dracula decides to exit the Cathedral and walks in the streets of Castlevania City. A young boy manifests in front of Dracula and he decides to follow him. He encounters a monster with the young boy who happened to conveniently disappear the instant the creature takes notice of him. As he is still weakened, Dracula is easily defeated by his opponent. Before the monster can finish him off a mysterious figure appears out of the blue killing the creature shortly before Dracula passes out.He wakes up some time later in a dimly lit room and finds a human family watching him. Dying for a drop of blood Dracula brutally murders the family one-by-one regaining his young appearance in the process. Zobek approaches Dracula upon his third awakening and explains to him what he must do in order to stop Satan acolytes from reviving Satan. Dracula must regain his lost powers as he is the only one that can destroy Satan in exchange he will use Dracula’s or as he was once known as Gabriel Belmonts vampire killer weapon he had recovered and fixed to end Dracula’s life himself setting him free. The Prince of Darkness uses a magically-constructed portal to teleport him to the Science District in order to track Satan's first acolyte.Upon his arrival Dracula uses his blood power to get back his outfit. He then infiltrates the Bioquimek Corporation. He begins making his way into the building the young boy appears to him and tells him to follow if he wishes to retrieve his sword. While he follows the boy, the environment begins changing around Dracula into that of his Castle. Upon following the boy he briefly recalls him to be a young version of his son Trevor. Exploring the castle Dracula finds the Void Sword. However, the living blood of the castle speaks to Dracula telling him that they do not want him to leave and begins to crumble the floors beneath him to prevent him reaching the Sword. Dracula manages to reach his Sword. The blood creates a stone golem attacking Dracula. After defeating the golem Dracula acquires the Primordial Void Gem and uses its ice powers to proceed. He finds a vampire knight assaulting Trevor, who quickly stops. The blood takes possession of the Knight challenging Dracula. Upon defeating the creatures, Trevor gives Dracula the White Wolf Medallion allowing him to teleport back to the real world by summoning a white wolf to guide him. Once in the real world Dracula encounters a group of scientists led by Raisa Volkova who are making a demonic virus that mutates people into monsters, who also turns out to be the Acolyte and the two do battle. Using the Void Sword Dracula defeats her and brings her unconscious body back to Zobek to be interrogated.Upon returning to Zobek’s Tower Dracula is confronted by Trevor again who informs him that the Gorgon Sisters Euryale, Stheno, and Medusa have his Chaos Claws. Once in the past again, Dracula makes his way through the castle's dungeons and on the advice of Euryale and Stheno, frees a Chupacabra (Similar to the one from the first game) that has been imprisoned to help him locate Medusa who holds the claws. Once free, the Chupacabra opens the way to Medusa's cell and reopens his shop to provide his lord with whatever he needs for his journey. Once in the heart of Medusa's cell, Dracula retrieves the claws and encounters Medusa alongside her sisters. Sadly, Medusa has been corrupted by the castle and corrupts her sisters as well. The three merge into the Gorgon forcing their former master to fight them. Once Dracula kills the three sisters, he returns to the present with a gift from the Chupacabra, the Talisman of the Dragon.Zobek has had no luck interrogating Raisa, nor can he read her mind with nothing but chaos inside it. Dracula proposes that they go back to the Corporation to retrieve an antidote to the disease that affects her so that they may return her to her human form. Zobek agrees to the plan but teleporting Gabriel directly back to the facility is too much of a risk for him instead Gabriel must cross the city on foot. Sadly, Raisa already released the plague upon the city transforming many of its inhabitants into monsters forcing Dracula to deal not only with them but with the riot police having been sent to deal with them as well.Once inside Bioquimek, Dracula makes his way through its underground complex and arrives at a private train station. Stowing away on the train, he faces off against a powerful demon that attempts to kill Dracula by derailing the train. However it only succeeds in killing itself and everyone else on the train but Dracula. With the train destroyed, Dracula runs into Zobek's Lieutenant who explains that he's been sent to help. Although the lieutenant’s help proves invaluable after a short time, he returns to Zobek. Gabriel meets up with Trevor again who begs for Dracula's help in saving his mother Marie. Taking Trevor's hand Gabriel finds himself in the past again, where he soon encounters Carmilla(somehow) and therefore concludes he's in a dream. Upon accepting her offer of Blood, Dracula soon realizes that it was a trap. Carmilla explains that as his health weakens she will grow in strength until she has taken control of Dracula's body from within. Dracula soon runs into Marie who confirms that she is real and not a dream. However, the Vampire lord's joy is soon turned to anger against Marie's defending of God after what has happened to them. Nonetheless, she promises her husband that his suffering will soon be over, as the Castle and its inhabitants need Dracula and his power to stay alive: if he is allowed to die it will cease to exist. To this end, she has been sent to help. All Dracula needs to do is drink her blood and he will stand a fighting chance against Carmilla. After a game against the former vampire lord Dracula enters into a brutal fight against her regaining his mist form midway through the battle and uses it to defeat Carmilla. With the supposed "Dream" over, Dracula returns to the present.Dracula returns to Raisa and injects her with the antidote. Instead of her transforming back into her human form however she turns into her true Demon form as the daughter of Satan. While Zobek does his best to hide their presence Gabriel fights and kills Raisa and "falls" into the past again. There he encounters Trevor playing with figurines of various people he knows and asks his father to retrieve the pieces of the Mirror of fate for him. (Which was Destroyed in the mirror of fate game) While exploring the castle Dracula discovers that it has been taken over by the Brotherhood of Light. Dracula eventually discovers Agreus, Pan's brother seeking revenge for his death, having the mirror fragment that he's looking for. Dracula is able to sneak past the Old God and get the fragment from Agreus's bird. Agreus finally confronts him and the two are forced to fight, ending with a fall that kills the old god. Dracula then looks for the Toy Maker who may have a mirror fragment. After watching a play recounting the sad tale of the Toy Maker, Dracula takes the Toy Maker's heart from one of his puppets and reunites it with its host, awakening him in the process. Although he has one of the Mirror Fragments, the Toy Maker is soon turned against the Dark Lord by the castle and fights him with his Toys all of which Dracula defeats. The defeated Toy Maker pukes up the blood and regains his memories, now recognizing Dracula he hands over the Mirror and is left to weep by the dark lord who tells him to guard his heart well.Returning to Trevor, Dracula learns that there is only one more piece of the Mirror, though the one who holds it isn't in the castle: Dracula returns to the present to get it. Arriving in Zobek's compound, Dracula is informed that the Acolytes already suspect his return in the death of Raisa. Zobek knows someone is searching for him in the Church and Dracula goes to confront him hoping for a lead back to the acolytes. On his way back to the Church, Dracula encounters an unknown man whom he observes that the most powerful of the demons are out to kill. After a chase, the mysterious man flees while Dracula battles a huge demon in the museum's courtyard.After defeating the demon Dracula finds the man and battles him within the church noticing that said opponent is using past equipment he had used before he became Dracula. After a brutal fight, the two fall into an underground city. When Dracula prepares to end the man's life, he realizes people are present in the underground. The man reveals himself as Victor Belmont, current head of the Brotherhood of Light, a protector of Humanity, and the last of the Belmont line. Victor explains The underground city is acting as a refugee camp from the virus and chaos above, but he knows they won't be able to hide for much longer. Dracula gives Victor the antidote to the virus and in exchange Victor offers to help flush out the Acolytes. On their way out of the church, they run into Zobek's lieutenant again and the three of them battle a group of demons. After the battle Victor uses a spell to set a trap for the Acolytes with himself as bait. The Acolyte possesses a nearby statue and uses it to kill Victor. Dracula takes the last piece of the Mirror of Fate from Victor's body. He returns to Trevor together and they complete the Mirror. The Castle, enraged by the completed Mirror, possesses Trevor and uses him to summon a dark manifestation of Dracula’s soul. During the fight, Dracula regains his Demonic Wings and they prove vital in defeating his doppelganger. With the twisted copy dead, Trevor is freed from the creature and reunited with his mother. Trevor's last words to his father before he returns to the present is a request that he doesn't let the Acolyte escape.Zobek tracks the Acolyte to the nearby building where Victor was killed, according to Zobek the company that owns it is the largest manufacturer of weapons in the world and holds great influence over politics and economics. Once inside the building Dracula faces off against the second acolyte, Nergal Meslamstea but realizes too late that Nergal's power is greatly strengthened in his domain while he himself is weakened and is easily electrocuted to submission. he is no match for his opponent, Dracula instead lures the Acolyte into the castle Realizing he is now to weak to fight Dracula directly, the Acolyte possesses a trio of statues to do his bidding. The statues prove to be no match for Dracula who after defeating each of them, crushes the second Acolyte's head under his foot killing him. Trevor gives his father the repaired Mirror and recommends he takes a second look at it. Discouraged from the last time, Trevor instead asks that when the time comes Dracula chooses his family. Dracula answers he already made his choice.Back in the present, Zobek congratulates Dracula on his defeat of the second Acolyte, but there is still one left, one who has locked themselves inside a monastery for weeks and also he is the most powerful of them all. Together with the lieutenant, the two make their way to the monastery finding the acolyte, but at the last moment the lieutenant disables Dracula and sends him back to the past. There, Dracula is met by his family again who informs him that the way out of the castle, the Throne room just beyond the next gate, is before him.Dracula finds his diary and regains his lost memories of the Brotherhood's final assault on his palace. After the death of the Paladin, Dracula was confronted by his son who he calls Trevor but he is now called Alucard. The younger vampire acknowledges that neither of them can kill the other. To this end, Alucard believes that only his father, Gabriel Belmont can destroy the Vampire Dracula and by extension all evil on Earth. Dracula points out that even if he were to die, the likes of Satan and Zobek would only take his place. Alucard reveals his sword: forged from the broken fragment of the Vampire Killer that Gabriel drove into Carmilla's heart many years ago called the Crissaegrim which he had recovered from their first battle. If his heart is pierced by the sword, he will fall into a deep sleep with his powers gone; he wouldn’t be able to resurrect until it was removed and Satan would think him dead. As a consequence, Satan's acolytes will prepare his return centuries later and Zobek will in a panic, search for Dracula, use him against Satan, buying his favor with the one weapon that can grant him eternal peace: the Vampire Killer. At the appropriate time before Satan's return Alucard will remove the sword and revive his father but the long sleep will make his memory fragmented and Zobek will know nothing of their plan. Once Satan is on Earth he’ll be trapped, then together they will team up to destroy both Zobek,and Satan. Dracula reluctantly agrees to the plan and stabs the sword into his heart with his son's assistance.Back into the present, the lieutenant reveals himself to be Alucard. The final Acolyte finishes the ritual and disappears. Zobek takes his place now aware of their plot in rage he takes on his true form Death and battles Dracula alone at the latter's insistence. After a grueling fight with the Necromancer Lord, Zobek dies laughing at the end of Dracula's blade. Dracula reclaims his vampire killer weapon and proposes he and Alucard split up, so that they can find Satan and his Acolyte faster. They reunite at the church where Dracula first awoke, where once summoned, Satan kills his acolyte for his incompetence. He does attempt to persuade Dracula into sharing the world like he did before but aware of the fact that he can't buy the vampire's loyalty, Satan instead summons a gigantic Leviathan to help him fight the vampires and destroy the Earth. The two Vampires are able to destroy the beast However, as its corpse falls back to Earth, Satan possesses Alucard, forcing Dracula to fight his son again and greatest nemesis at the same time on the corpse of Satan's mount. After a climactic battle, the two crash into the street and when Satan says Dracula won’t kill his son Dracula proves him wrong and uses the vampire killer to kill them both, Satan flees from Alucard's body only for Dracula to take his chance to kill him with the Vampire Killer impaling the Devil.With Satan gone forever, Dracula revives his son using his blood. The sun begins to rise, Dracula states that it's time to go. Dracula looks into the Mirror of fate one final time before shattering it. Dracula decides that he will make his own fate and leaves into the cathedral. Ending the events of Castlevania lords of Shadow 2.Wow, talk about a plot heavy story of redemption for Gabriel Belmont now as Dracula similar to Return of the Jedi but more philosophical. There is DLC for the game but I’ll talkabout it after the gameplay section.Gameplay: The gameplay is similar to the first Lords of Shadow game but with some differencesDracula's main weapon is his Shadow Whip, a weapon that is comparable to the Combat Cross. Replacing the magic system from the previous game are the Void Sword and the Chaos Claws. The Void Sword can replenish Dracula's health when used while the Chaos Claws can be used to break through enemy defenses and deliver powerful attacks. Other new abilities include shapeshifting into a rat to hide from enemies or travel through vents, turning into an intangible mist to pass through bars or fly/glide to higher platforms, possessing enemies for a few seconds to pass through secure doors, and drinking the blood of an enemy to replenish some health. The camera in the game is movable which wasn’t in the first game.The dlc story is called revelations where you play as Alucard guarding Dracula as he sleeps. Alucard gets a message from his mother Marie that the castle sensing his fathers awakening has taken his fathers powers and hidden them so dracula can never leave the castle so as Alucard you battle the castles forces returning the powers to there rightful places after which Alucard battles and kills Zobek's lieutenant. After killing the lieutenant he takes the armor, pulls the Crissaegrim out, and now posing as the lieutenant he reports to zobek of Dracula’s return. A good story over all.Music: The music is pretty much the same as the first game with some other pieces from Mirror of fate added in which doesn’t sound too bad and adds to it.Story 5/5 Gameplay 4/5 Music 5/5 Overall 9/10 = A-The game is great story is a little heavy but not to bad with good music and decent gameplay but I am saddened they didn’t make a 4th Lords of Shadow game which could be interesting but as it stands as a whole the Castlevania Lords of Shadow trilogy is awesome and if it was someone's first exposure to the castlevania series then its good.See You Guys then for my next review

First off let me say I played through the first Castlevania Lords Of Shadow and beat it. I was a big fan of it and was eager for part 2 to come out. So it surprised me a bit when before the game came out there were a lot of negative reviews hitting the magazines/internet. It had me skeptical on buying it, but after digging around some more into other reviews, and my overall urge to play the game, I gave in and bought it. This encouraged me to give a review on the game since I am sure others may be in the same situation I was.Well first off, in Lords Of Shadow 2, one addition I think will be welcomed to players of previous Castlevania titles and that also makes it feel like less of a straight action/combat game like the first one, is that they opened up the world more to exploration and back tracking, true to previous Castlevania titles. I know the first Lord Of Shadows allowed you to replay a level, but in LOS 2, the world is open, to an extent. You can just run on over from the modern world and go into your castle whenever you feel. As you unlock more skills an abilities, or find keys, you can then access areas previously you couldn't, to find more goodies. This was a step in the right direction, more of this in any future titles please.The combat system is relatively the same as the previous game, and it is still a lot of fun. I never played the God of War series, but it does remind me a lot of Dante's Inferno if you need a comparison. There is progression, and unlocks for each of your weapons. They even added in a mastery system which you can level up each particular move you do. The more you do said move, the higher the percentage gets. Once you hit 100%, you can transfer the mastered skill over to the weapon itself, eventually increasing its overall level.The graphics in the game are good. They are not “blow your socks off” good by any means, but they are not terrible either. The castle levels look and play amazing. When you get into the modern world the graphics is when they tend to not be as good. Speaking of the modern world sections, they are easily the downside to the game. Now does it ruin the entire game and make it a pile of garbage? By all means no. They just are not nearly as enjoyable as when you explore your castle. At times you will find yourself not wanting to leave the castle to go back to the modern world, I can almost guarantee this.Now for the dreaded “stealth sections” everyone loves to hate. These sections honestly do not belong in the game in my opinion. They are the worst part of the entire game, by far. Basically there are these sections, the worst of them being the ones with the Golgoth guards, which by the way, you cannot kill even once you are a bad ass. Instead you always have to sneak past them in various ways. This game play felt more like Metal Gear, or Splinter Cell, and should have either been toned way down or removed outright. Again though, does it break the game and make it terrible? My opinion is no.The story or plot overall is good and voice acting is great, borderline fantastic at times. The musical scores in the game are also very well done, especially when in your castle (surprise!) and overall they add to your game play experience quite nicely. The game can get a bit cut scene heavy, especially towards the beginning hour or so. On the note of cut scenes, many people may rejoice that in the option menu there is a setting to turn off quick time events entirety, turning them into mini cut scenes. There are also some other options to turn on heath bars over your enemies, as well as display damage dealt, which gives it a bit more RPG/MMO feel when fighting.Overall the game is a good game, especially if you enjoyed the first one, then it’s a must play. The modern day game play and stealth sections are a downer, and like I said, you will eagerly await the next castle based sequence in the game. If you are on the fence, or never played the first one, maybe wait for a price reduction if you do not want to pay the full price, but I would still recommend it if you're a fan of the series, or into games of this play style.

Su jugabilidad es bárbara se que es caro para el tiempo que tiene y claro gráficamente pues.... pero te puedes divertir más que con muchos juegos del momento

Love, love this game. The mighty Gabriel Belmont, Dracula.

Lords Of Shadow fue un excelente juego, un twist y un resultado que nadie esperaba, un "tal vez" la franquicia sea revivida por Konami, Lords Of Shadow debido de continuar con dicha expectativa después de un trailer cinético muy excitante y la promesa de una historia que cautivas como el primer Lords Of Shadow, por que en un juego de presionar botones es lo que mas importa.Sin embargo la historia quedo corta, villanos cuadrados sin sentido y propósito, un "jefe final" reciclado y un personaje iconico de la franquicia de Castlevania totalmente desperdiciado, el juego tras un par de horas sufre de su repetitividad y falta de historia, los mini rompecabezas resultan aburridos y repetitivos y van en contra de la persona del personaje, juegas como Dracula y aun así tienes que degradarte a un raton.Queda en corto comparado con la entrega anterior, otra muestra de que Konami esta en "picada".

Seems interesting

My daughter will be happy with her game.