IGN: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Review

Konami describes Castlevania: Lords of Shadow as a reboot for the 25-year old franchise. I'd say it's an unrelated game that borrows the "Castlevania" name. None of the common gameplay elements you'd expect from the series are to be found here, nor does Lords of Shadow star any familiar characters or include recognizable music.

[Jamegohanssj5]

What?

TGSI

[Motorola]

wots TGSI?

[CYBERSNAKE]

Apparently it means 'The genius said it'
and no, i have no clue what it means.

[MrAwesome]

Im pretty sure it means the gays say "icky"

[infamous_27]

i always read it as Tokyo Game Show I-something

[Redrum059]

"slight freezing problem after every finishing move, every time"
other reviewers didnt mention the problem, includidng the GTreview, but ofcaurse the GTreview was using the ps3 Castlevania.
ign used the 360 castlevania for their review.

the videos prove so by showing gameplay scenes with psbuttons on screen for the Gametrailers review, and showing xboxbuttons onscreen with the ign review...

[ChineseDemocracy]

I'm picking this up regardless, I'm a huge castlevania fan!

[nix]

lol.. same here. i asked him once but he didn't reply.

[morganfell]

"In the end, I'd rather play a more traditional 2D Castlevania game..."

Says it all. Nothing like a reviewer that has his mind made up before the game. And shouldn't a game be reviewed on it's own merits instead of in a comparison with other titles?

What the hell am I thinking? This is just another idiot reviewer from a BS site that can't be weighed down by standards when listing ACTUAL REVIEW STANDARDS BY WHICH THEY ABIDE.

[likedamaster]

""In the end, I'd rather play a more traditional 2D Castlevania game..."

Says it all. Nothing like a reviewer that has his mind made up before the game. And shouldn't a game be reviewed on it's own merits instead of in a comparison with other titles?"

-You know, for once you might be right.

[PopEmUp]

Apparently it means 'The genius said it'
and no, i have no clue what it means.
----------------------------- -----------------------
apparently hes not a genius more like some retarded

[Jamegohanssj5]

@Popem

TGSI

[MrMccormo]

This game looks really good. I just finished up another playthrough of God of War III (awesome game!) and I want another good hack 'n slash that doesn't have a pansy (DMC4) or a kinky librarian (Bayonetta) as the lead character.

Can't wait to play it!

[AKS]

Kinky librarians are underrated and underappreciated.

[MisterNiwa]

I bet he'd never even met someone as beautiful and hot as this kinky librarian.

[MrMccormo]

@ MisterNiwa

If you intended your "insult" to be serious (a comment about a fictional video game character)...

[UKdoaney]

how about a dragon ninja?

[Kurt Russell]

Yeah, I'd have sex with a kinky dragon ninja.

[DatNJDom81]

But so much for the God of War killer that everyone was saying this was going to be (xbox fanboys). Still I will play this game and enjoy it. I have to see all these "flaws" that so many of these sites are complaining about. I bet its not as big of a deal as they say it is. It seems they forgot its a reboot.

[Jinxstar]

Kinda reminds one of the "Infamous vs Prototype" debacle.

[Imperator]

People should learn that comparing mere multiplats to PS3 exclusives is futile. The 360 cannot and will never receive games anywhere near the quality of PS3 exclusives. If you want true next gen gaming and call yourself a gamer, you should own a PS3.

[Game-ur]

This looks like a great game on its own merits, don’t let fanboys making it the "GOW killer" distract you.

[Jinxstar]

Yeah. I agree. This game is no where near on par with GOW as far as production value and set pieces but the one thing it has going for it is length. While I love GOW. I own every one of them and platinumed all 3 on PS3 and everything. They do feel a little short. Especially after the first play through you can kinda sprint through it. If they could have made it 20 hours long and just as epic and didn't get boring...

I may pick this game up as Hack and slash are one of my fav genres but not sure yet. Kinda waiting on MOH reviews before I choose. I am a huge fan of DICE and kinda want a new FPS... Especially since LBP2 is delayed and I am not a racing sim fan....

Anyway enough ranting. Point is GOW kicks the heck out of this but it seems great for a multiplat.

[Cheeky Gamer]

Kind of ironic that this is slated for being unoriginal, and yet God of War 3 represents a recycled, stale iteration from its previous two games.

[badz149]

you've said it yourself; "Kind of ironic that this is slated for being unoriginal, and yet God of War 3 represents a recycled, stale iteration from its previous two games." - GoW3 uses elements from its previous games and how is THAT unoriginal? this Castlevania however, doesn't stick to its own ORIGINAL gameplay but heavily influenced by GoW! - the chain crucifix being the most obvious! there is where the "unoriginal" term popped out!

[DigitalAnalog]

Your logic = Games (with sequels)

-End statement

[SonyPS360]

The 360 does have games that surpass the quality of Ps3 exclusives, actually.

Mass Effect 2, Halo Reach, Red Dead, the list goes on. All are GOTY contenders and are the pinnacles of the genre, and all are on the 360.

Get a PC if you want the latest and greatest in graphics, buddy. Ps3 can't keep up with that. As for having the best games, the Ps3 only has an edge with some exclusives, the 360 has the advantage everywhere else.

[MysticStrummer]

I like how in the games you list, one of them is already on the PS3, one of them will be, and one of them is a game that many PS3 gamers don't want. There are a couple of multi-plats on each system that are substantially better than the other console's version. The rest are so close that they require side by side, pixel counting comparisons. Try again when you think of something that makes sense. At least list Gears instead of Halo for God's sake.

[theEx1Le]

What i dont get is how people seem to think that GoW was the first good 3D platformer. Even GoW's original formula was "borrowed".

[Deputydon]

It sounds to me like this particular IGN reviewer is just upset that it doesn't follow the standard Castlevania gameplay. While I agree that the game probably shouldn't be called Castlevania, it still looks great. I'm amazed that edge has gave this a higher score than IGN though. I think this reviewer just has a grudge or something.

[tawak]

it runs smoother on ps3 so ign gave it only 7.5 if the other way around probably 8-9

[Jazz4108]

I can't believe all the excuses the ps3 fanboys make for the install station. It has the worse operating system ever and is slow as molasses and has weekly firmware updates that make you reinsatll everything and then most games use up gigs of your hardrive with mandatory installs and it could easily take an hour before you could even play your game and the 360 has none of this and almost always recieves the better looking multiplat game but you ps3 guys have an excuse for everything. I own both consoles and the ps3 is a joke and bluray is slow and the reason for a lot of its issues and the exclusives are no where close to the quality you guys make them out as the main one uncharted looks animated or cell shaded and the shooters are linear and boring. Miles ahead of 360 I don't think so but one thing that's obvious is the ps3 as a machine for the devs and for ease of use and my time is a joke.

[Sarevok]

@Jazz4108

U mad?

Sounds like your trolling to me.

Bubble down for trolling or being immature?...
Hummm can't make up my mind.

[SonyPS360]

Wahh wahhh wahh.

Everyone hates the Ps3. The world is out to get it.

[MorganX]

You do realize you need to install one of the LOS discs on the 360 or you'll have to swap every time you backtrack right? I'm not going to be happy if it won't install on USB storage.

[Shinkus]

@Jazz4108 I can't believe how often 360 fanboys jump on how the installs and firmware updates are so bad. I guess you have just run out of things to complain about that you are shooting down the PS3 for installing your games (to help you) as well as coming out with firmware updates every few weeks (to give extra content to you). I guess consoles that give back to the people playing them are as bad as it gets.

[mastiffchild]

Am I missing these "weekly firmware updates that make you reinstall everything"? Where are all these games that need an install either? Sure, you get a few but it's rare and when it's done it's to help with BR read times and NEVER lasts "an hour" before you play your game.

BTW, Firmware updates are a lot less frequent than that and have NEVER caused me to have to reinstall anything and when given the chance I install all my 360 games cos I got sick of it scratching the discs a long time ago.

[TROLL EATER]

IGNorant

[gameraxis]

if i hear the term button masher... yea u can turn bayonetta, gow, DMC, di, enslaved on normal and mash you're way through... but then u just suck at the game, gow for me (along with the others i mentioned) is like a fighting game, except the moves are way more dramatic, there is so many ways to vary up the way to slash launch grab, use items and magic to create something that looks like a friggen movie! but people who arn't fans of the genre "square square triangle" crap its like "no dude, thats how YOU'RE playing through it, the dev team gave u fast weapons and multiple moves to destroy how u want, not to mention combos that continue from ur blades of exile in this example to ur Hade's hooks etc... if u... ah forget it, its just the lack of imagination... i think some of the older gamers (not including reviewers because they just blast through games to get an initial opinion of it) get it... I'm sick of defending action adventure games...they are so much deeper than given credit for, and only a few of us get that it seems... and as a side note, who here has played mw2? the same COULD be said about that, die, re-spawn, kill the person who killed u,then die from someone else, rinse and repeat... but if u use everything the devs give u and have an imagination and try to trick people etc etc... it doesn't get mundane or mountainous does it?

[Simon_Brezhnev]

funny how in the video review he take shots @ god of war saying all u do is press the same buttons

[MorganX]

Is he that far off? That's basically what a button masher is. You have to deviate from button mashing and be creative with combos and transitions. I thought Heavenly Sword did this better than any button mashers. Mash through this to pull lever to get to next level gets old no matter how good the graphics look. Look for sparkly thing, mash and aim for that to move forward. It is what it is.

I'm hoping LOS breaks up the monotony with more than lever tricks. The horse riding sequence looks cool, hopefully there's a lot of those sorts of things thrown in. (I doubt it can match Heavenly Sword though. For my tastes, that's button mashing the way it was meant to be.)

[Simon_Brezhnev]

so morganx every game is a button masher since all you do is press the same buttons

[Christopher]

I think people are looking at this the wrong way. One of the worst things he could say about the game is that it doesn't match with other Castlevania games but does match with GoW fans.

I don't think their final score has so much to do with it not being like other Castlevania games so much as it lacking in story and having repetitive gameplay along with the other issues he mentioned in the review.

The review mentioned a lot of good things with the game, visuals, replayability, cool powers, and the such. I think people are again focused way too much on what score is given and a comment made rather than the review itself.

[n4gno]

"The 360 does have games that surpass the quality of Ps3 exclusives, actually"

correction : the 360 does have SOME (2,3) games, that surpass the quality of SOME ps3 exclusives...but obviously not the best ones (in fact ps3 has way more great exclusives, and almost always the best ones, and not a single game on 360 can compete graphicly with them)

[gillri]

another 7.5? the two biggest gaming sites give it 7.5

its mean score seems to be around 85%

[StanLee]

I've been saying from day 1 this game is mediocre. I've played it and I don't know if the early high scores has to do with the industry's facination with Kojima and him being connected to the project but the 9s baffle me. It's not a 9 game.

[cayal]

7.5 isn't mediocre.

[Game-ur]

When I look at multiple reviews I don’t notice a repeating complaint
One complains about hard boss fights
Another about copying other games
Another about not matching the Metroidvania.

So it's more likely nitpicking by them, but on the other hand the good things are repeatedly praised, like story, gameplay and graphics.

[PS3Freak]

Exactly cayal, everyone is freaking out over a 7.5. When did anything below 8 start to be seen as a bad game?

[Saladfax]

Where have you people been?

Most gaming review magazines/sites have been rating on a 7-10 scale for the last several years.

7's are seen as generally average, as in, middle of the road. Now, my math might not be what it used to be, but I thought 5 was in the middle of 1-10.

[meganick]

I would say don't worry about IGN's and Gamespot's reviews for this game. Both of those sites gave Final Fantasy 13 and Metroid: Other M 8.5's, even though they both deserved far lower scores. Nuff said.

[Blaster_Master]

bullshit. The other M was freakin awesome. Besides some of the boring story elements and pixel finding, the game would be a 9 or higher if it was in HD.

[Djinn]

bullshit, FF13 was an awesome game. Cue the disagrees!!

[DigitalAnalog]

It is a disappointment.

-End statement

[SiteNblog Defender]

^It was a disappointment to PS3 fans only.

[WildArmed]

FF13 was a great game.
It's funny how people label themselves as 'True Final Fantasy fans' and hide behind it.

Oh jeez. The final fantasy series has never been known for it's consistency of game mechanics and other things.
IDK what you expected.

most FF fans know not to expect anything, because every final fantasy is different.
You dont have to like em all.

I've been playing Final Fantasy series since 1994 (the first FF that came to US).

I know FF13 wasn't the cream of the crop, but it was hardly as crappy everyone makes is sound.
The battle system was truly unique and I hope to see again in the future games.

[Anderson8]

@skv007

what was great about ff13?.. as all I remember from the game was 30 hours of pushing up on my analogue stick as I run through a corridor, a 2 hour open area and then it was back to the same crap.

game mechanics are not the issue here as the battle system was great but never has an ff title been so ridiculously linear taking out the open world, airships etc is like taking out crazy big swords, chocobos, cid or biggs and wedge once there gone it doesn't really feel like ff any more

fair enough the graphics where awesome and so was the battle system.. but walking down corridors for 60+ hours? come on, don't tell me you enjoyed that. FF 13 was ok at best.

On Topic.. 7.5 aint a bad score I'll still grab this game

[WildArmed]

The experience as a whole was great imo.
Sure, the first 9 chpaters seem to drag on.. but once I got to Gran Pulse, I had alot of fun.

The story and characters was ok at beast.
But I loved the gameplay mechanics and the boss battles throughout the game. C'eith quests were fun too.

I'm not saying it's a 9..

Personally I'd give it a 8-8.5 range.

FF13 got alot of hate (some of which it may have deserved.. other not so much). But at the end of the day, I was satisfied with my 60-80 hours of game-play I got out of it.

I guess I got used to walking down corridors again and again after I put 600 hours into WKC online questing .. and 400 hours into Demons souls.

And I'm just making sure I made it clear, the gameplay was the only reason why I continued with the game. and eventually fell in love with the complex paradigm system (coupled with the crazy passive accessory system).

I know some people have valid reasons of not like FF13.
But the thing is I've run into ppl not like FF13 just bcoz it went multiplat.. i mean really?

At the end of the day, all I'm sayings that it's hardly as bad of a JRPG as everyone believe it to be.

But then again, this is all based of my opinion.
So it's not exactly like I'm preaching facts here ^^

Oh, and I get where you are coming from. FF13 did feel alot different than the previous ones.. (we did see Chocobos / Cid, but alot of other reoccuring element did disappear). But it was their first installment on the next gen consoles, and they took a new approach.

I expect them to learn from their mistakes and build off of what they did right.

[SiteNblog Defender]

@H-kid, did you hate FFX too? It was also linear.

[kndy]

i thought the consensus was that score was generally a digit or two less than what ign gives it...

[SanMarco]

Damn....i was hoping for something above 9...IGN!!!!!!!!! ARGH

[TOO PAWNED]

so you would them lying to satify you? Freak

[Eamon]

TOO PAWNED, you took a completely different meaning from his sentence.

He must have been really anticipating this game in that it would get high scores and now he's disappointed.

[crzyjackbauer]

the game is good
ign and gametrailers are complaining that the platforming is too hard or not well done

castlevania has allways been a hard platformer
its not easy its a really hard game to play
thats what makes it so good
ign and gt have just been playing too much uncharted and god of war
they need to go back and play the nes castlevanias

[gamerdude132]

You said it. When they go back and beat EVERY SINGLE Castlevania game (SotN and above not included), they'll realize that this is probably as easy as piss pie. As Sean Devlin from The Saboteur says, "It's a piece o' piss."

[deafwing]

... the platforming in Castlevania has always been tough. even in 2D the environment always worked against you. Perhaps newer gamers who didn't play the original games don't know but this is a fact.

I do get the exploration complaint but there isn't a 3D game out there that doesn't have this problem, so I was lost when Gametrailers mentioned that to (like they couldn't find anything bad so they stuck to the obvious).

[despair]

meh..the reviewer complained that it wasn't a Castlevania game, other than that the only real complaints he had were lots respawning of enemies and framerate problems. From this review its clear to see that he's angry that its not a Castlevania game and the score reflects it. Don't really care what the reviewers say as it seems its more of a hate it for Castlevania fans and love it for action games fans.

[nycredude]

Um the game is called Castlevania so it should get lowered if it didn't feel like a Castlevania. I don't have problem with that. So far it looks like a nice action game in the vein of GOW so I'll take that if it is even anywhere close to as good as GOW games.

[despair]

I'm not saying its a bad reason and on top of that he also said in the last paragraph that non Castlevania fans will enjoy it more its just that its subjective. I mean it would be hypocritical of me to say the name in Castlevania means nothing but then complain that MGS Rising is not a true MGS game.

[AKS]

Past 3D Castlevania games have sucked and this game doesn't, so I weigh this more heavily than whether some think it "feels" like a Castlevania game.

[SaberEdge]

It's a reboot, so it's free to totally reinvent itself in my opinion. Why does it have to have any gameplay in common with old 2D side scrollers or even the 3D iterations? It sure feels like a Castlevania game (brought up to date) based on everything I have seen.

This game is getting knocked for the stupidest reasons.

[wicko]

What a half assed review:

Lasting Appeal
This is a giantic game with lots of replay value. 8

Oookay so there's apparently nothing wrong with its lasting appeal, so why isn't it a 10? No explanation given at all, lazy.

"nor does Lords of Shadow star any familiar characters or include recognizable music. "

I've read multiple reviews saying that some of the music is from the older games.

Honestly I'm tired of reading that it's a GoW clone. It's a fucking action game, it belongs to the same genre as GoW so of course it will share a lot of similarities. Just like any other FPS or TPS would be similar to each other.

If you were a castlevania fan, this might be the review for you. As for the rest of us, this game looks awesome.

[despair]

Lasting appeal is tied to the gameplay, if its horrible gameplay then it doesn't matter that the game would last 1000 hours if you won't play it that long. He thinks the game is good and the lasting appeal reflects that with an 8.0, others who thoroughly enjoy the game may give it a 10.

[BigMassacre]

But you see, a real Castlevania fan will have lived with the fact that it's not a Metroidvania game, and that there are Castlevania games before Symphony of the Night that did not have elements that this so called FAN was complaining about in the review.

The original Castlevania games were linear with some hidden secrets. Sounds about right for a reboot.

[Game-ur]

I'm a castlevania fan and this is my most wanted game now.

And this reboot is inspired by super castlevania not symphony of the night.

The reviewer was disappointed this wasn’t more like the Metroidvania games but he should have looked at this game as a standalone experience.

[badz149]

"Honestly I'm tired of reading that it's a GoW clone. It's a fucking action game, it belongs to the same genre as GoW so of course it will share a lot of similarities" - but if you specifically included the chain weapon in the game, it's pretty clear that it's more a clone than a 'similar' game to GoW! this also goes to Dante's Inferno but Bayonetta is kinda different!

[wicko]

Okay, say you are right about that, why wasn't this mentioned? I don't care that it is 8 and not 10, but I care when there is no explanation of why the score doesn't match the explanation.

An 8 without any criticism doesn't tell me anything, so I gain nothing from reading the review.

@badz

Hasn't the main weapon of the castlevania series always been some kind of whip or chain? I've never really played the series but that much I'm aware of. So, it's not really a clone because of that.

[thebudgetgamer]

but isnt it wierd that a castlevania game has no castle?

[Chaostar]

http://xbox360media.ign.com...

It was surprisingly hard to find a picture of a castle in Castlevania ¬_¬ had to settle for concept art.

[divideby0]

the scores for this game are all over the place... and for a reason

[Neckbear]

The lowest score being a 7.

Either way, seems like the game has ups and downs.

Eh. I gotta try the Demo myself to see how the combat is, basically.

Aside from that, while I'm interested on it, I'm kinda sad it doesn't resembles a Castlevania game.

Oh well.

[divideby0]

spot on... its like they USED the title for a diff. game.

[lightningsax]

@divideby0

Yup. And they did.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

Then again, if you look at it from a Castlevania IV perspective, the "It's not Castlevania" argument may not hold up. Guess we'll have to wait and play.

[Vinushka]

BLASPHEMY!!!

IGN, you fail me. Good day.

[CYBERSNAKE]

IGN always fail.

[SaberEdge]

I can't wait to see IGN give the next big (over)hyped game--GTA5, COD 9, etc--a really high score.

Oh well, all the sites I really trust have given this game a 9 or higher.

[westy552]

What IGN it doesn't go bang bang as you run around like a light fairy shooting everything?!

I love hack and slash games and def will be picking this up next week.

[nefertis]

oh shit lol I guess I will take this off of preorder and pay for the rest too fallout vegas.

[Akagi]

Looks like IGN didn't get their cheque.

[westy552]

ROFL, bubbles for you.

[funkycoldmedina]

LOL. (+1 for you both)

[Eamon]

heh, I had that thought when I saw their score.

[Kos-Mos]

I remember ign in 1998. They consisted of über gaming nerds that knew the difference between bad and good games.
Slowly ign grew bigger and bigger, and suddenly they were the biggest gaming-site, and what happened? They sold their soul to rockstar and microsoft.

[Neckbear]

I am a fan of older Castlevanias, but it seems like I might have fun with this.

[gamingisnotacrime]

it looks and is described as GoW.
-platforming (maybe more than GoW, but still similar)
-"chain like" weapons
-vengance? lol
-titans

I will wait for fellow gamers (aka amazon;s reviews), and may rent it before deciding

[vickers500]

Amazon reviewers give everything good reviews.

[jjank11]

Not really, but they do tend to put the best reviews upfront. But rightfully so, they are trying to sell product.

[Jack-Pyro]

Hmmmm, not bad, but not good either, I'll still probably rent it, it looks to be pretty good.

[shammgod]

Wasn't this on here days ago...either way, i am scooping LOS and not looking back. Game looks and sounds A MAZING!

[RyuCloudStrife]

what? wow speechless

[Croash]

It seems that the reviewer is acting like a 2D Castlevania fanboy, he is basically comparing old castlevania games to this one :/

Even in the conclusion, he keeps reminding us about the old Castlevania:

" Pretty much anything you would expect to find in a Castlevania game is not to be found here"
" In the end, I'd rather play a more traditional 2D Castlevania game"

That's overdoing it.

And seriously, doing a review that doesn't tell us anything except that the game is 15-20 hours long, has a few frame rate issues, a camera that sometimes doesn't show ennemies and amazing visuals, does that tell us anything new about the game? It's like reviewing the demo :/

I've never played Castlevania in my life, and I know I'll be getting this game because so far, it looks awesome.

[chazjamie]

jip, i dont really trust ign reviews
1-they pretty short
2-when they long, they tell you how to play the game
3-and they always, always state in a review how much games they played in their life time (automatically assuming they speaking on behalf of the die hard fans)

honestly, i do not know what the reviewer was expecting. 2d is not 3d, and if you honestly want to feel nostalgic, play the ds games. Anyway, and if the 'academic' gaming sites are praising game, i honestly dont see why i have to take this pop site seriously.

[BYE]

Oh, a 7.5 from IGN.

They usually give away 10s like no other site.

[Hakimy]

IGN gave it the same score as Gamespot.well I guess it's just GOW3 and Bayonetta for the slash & hack genre this year.especially for a person like me who can't rent or try games and have to order games from another country (we don't have PS3 games here) :/

[OGharryjoysticks]

....says it can get repetitive. But I believe they gave Dead Rising 2 an 8.5 on gameplay because it doesn't get repetitive pressing the swing button?

[himdeel]

...it's detriment with respect to some of these "reviews" since it sounds like you're not seeing a whole lot of new enemies throughout the entire game.

[fourtwenty2009]

I believe you less with every review..

COD MW2 9.5/10...

IGN = PAYOLA

[Sarcasm]

Yeah tell me about it, Halo Reach 9.5??? I'm currently playing it. While it's the best Halo game so far in the series, the graphics are improved (but nothing extremely impressive) 9.5 is a Reach... har har har...

I'd say 8 or 8.5 so far. I like it though.

[SiteNblog Defender]

MGS4 - 10/10...WTF?

[fuckoffodion]

SiteNblog Defender is still butthurt! :(

[frostypants]

Nothing will ever beat Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest on the NES. That one set the tone for the atmosphere of the entire series.

This looks really good, but it seems to lack the "dark" feeling of the originals.

[LiquifiedArt]

but i agree 100% with you. The RPG elements and dark atmosphere really set the stage for what a castlevania should be all about. Favorite castlevania game by FAR!

[jackdoe]

Terrible review. The reviewer is way too stuck on the past and refuses to move forward. This line says it all:

"I recommend Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, but not to Castlevania fans. Pretty much anything you would expect to find in a Castlevania game is not to be found here. But fans of combat-heavy action adventure games will have fun if they can excuse a lot of mindless button mashing and a couple technical issues."

WTF? Those two are mutually exclusive? I like the old Castlevania's and I'm a fan of combat-heavy action adventure games. So what? Huh?

[jjank11]

Exactly, I have not been fond of IGN much lately.

This game is supposed to be a 3D reboot of Castlevania.

and I still don't get the whole "mindless button mashing" excuse for a hack'n'slash game. Thats exactly what they are, mindless button mashing, thats how you progress through the game.

[SaberEdge]

I agree with both of you. This review was piss poor.
When people want to be derisive they always use the "mindless button mashing frase", but when I play games like God of War or Ninja Gaiden I am definitely not just mindlessly pressing buttons. You would die really quick doing that.

Anyway, the sites that I have found to be most trustworthy have given Lords of Shadow 9s so I have no doubt that my intuition telling me it would be a great game is correct.

[va_bank]

From the review:

"... Lords of Shadow also has framerate issues on the Xbox 360. ... The game runs more smoothly on the PlayStation 3."

[chanto23]

What's next? 4xMSAA on PS3 ports and none on 360...LOL/jk

[carreirabr]

PS3 (triple buffer) = no tearing > XBOX (double buffer) tearing.

That's what he's talking about.

And a 25fps hack & slash game?

Thanks I will pass.

[Dance]

Gamespot says 360 version has framerate hiccups here and there but nothing major

[mrmikew2018]

I wish they would've left that part out (to be honest) all it does is add more fuel to this ridiculous console war. Unfortunately, it's not going to stop here, the 360 fanboys are going to demand a "so-called" real analysis from either DF or LoT.

Anyway IGN could've given this game a 2 out of 10 for all care, there is nothing that's going to stop me from buying this game. People have to remember that reviews are only someone's else opinion, nothing more.

[Killman]

I find it best that they tell us these differences within the console versions of games. Whether it is for my preferred console or not. The only ones who get offended by it are "hardcore" fanboys who take it waaaay out of context, which is where things go crazy, just look at the Dead Rising 2 comparison that was done a few days ago. The two versions are not that different but it exploded into a huge topic.

[MadMax]

Hmm, this gets 7.5 and Halo Reach gets 9.5? Im starting to see the favoritism here. Maybe they should pick someone to review Castlevania that isnt some huge fps Halo lover! I swear man, I bought Halo Reach and am so over it. It really did NOT deserve a 9.5, especially for the single player campaign. I did not get it for online play, so i gave Halo Reach's campaign a 7.8 and thats being honest. If anything, it was extremely repetetive. First level looked amazing, but once you started getting into all the action, i came to realize that this was the same exact Halo all over again. Same wave after wave of ememies, that weve been seeing since the original Halo. I dont know why i even keep getting suckered into buying Halo games. I dont play them online! Ive learnt my lesson though and have put it up on ebay! Its like they just added extra downloadable content to the same ole Halo universe! Does ign ever complain about that? Of course not! They are in love with the franchise, it can never fail in their eyes. Im starting to get disgusted with ign! Im sure Castlevania is worthy of a score higher than a 7.5! What do you think? Stop playing games ign!!!

[chazjamie]

i dont think halo and castlevania scores should be compared. i feel, with many halo reviews, the reviewer feels obliged to give it a high score. look at odst, not sure why it got more the 60%. simply because its halo, and the community demands it.

[divideby0]

its a shame they had to ripoff a title of a great franchise to get attention to this game.

IGN was spot on with and explains the low score

A reboot for the franchise that throws away everything you expect in a Castlevania game and cherry picks features from other popular titles.

[MadMax]

how do you explain their Halo love affair?

[MadMax]

Ive been going on ign for years. They absolutely praise that game no matter what! Im saying a game like that with such a big name, always seems to get insane ratings with the ign editors! They are in love with Halo and so is G4. Halo- 9.7, Halo2- 9.8, Halo3- 9.5, Halo Reach- 9.5. Favoritism? You be the judge. Personally, i just dont see it. There are tons of other first person shooters out there that are far better and ign never seems to give those certain games the credit they deserve. Its not very fair man!

[dizzleK]

Dude, this is a review of Castlevania, not f*ckin Halo. Halo shouldn't even be near this discussion. Take your hard-on elsewhere.

[divideby0]

lol at the DAs..

please show the relevance of this game to the original series.....

[gypsygib]

I didn't think it would beat GOW3, that game is incredible - once you start playing you can't stop.

[MadMax]

First off mr wannabe rapper! dizzleK is it? lol, ok. I was making a point that ign is biased. Using Halo as a perfect example, having to do with the scoring up at ign. I didnt ask for your useless remark and wasnt talking to you. I was replying to someone else that asked me how does ign have a Halo love affair. You obviously dont know how to read and are too saturated in your dizzle rap bullshit and too stupid to understand. When i get a hard on i know what to do with it, unlike you. Now, shut your little mouth and go play DJ Hero or something.

[Ahasverus]

Not CVish enough because of items? THAT'S BECAUSE CV DIDN'T HAVE ITEMS BEFORE THE THENTH INSTALLEMENT.

And this is FAR FROM A FLOP. THIS IS JUST IGN.

The game has a 89 360 Metascore and 86 in PS3... THAT's A LOT!! =D

[AEtherbane]

Not here.

[ironcreed]

How odd, the review was extremely positive for the most part. Sounds like he only hated it because it was too long, had too many puzzles and had varied and beautiful environments instead of being stuck inside a castle for the entire game.

Just speaking for myself here, I am kind of tired of being stuck in a castle and playing in 2-D. If he thinks this combat gets repetitive, then what the hell is the archaic gameplay of the old games?

This guy reviewed the game with nostalgia goggles on, as the only complaint that he had was that it is not like the old games. I guess that is going to be either good or bad, depending on your perspective, but I am firmly in the glad camp.

Can't stay in the past forever and I embrace the changes this game brings. Top notch production value, beautiful and varied environments, proven gameplay formulas, and a giant, value packed campaign with an epic new tale. Whatever, to each their own.

[Omega Zues]

"throws away everything you expect in a Castlevania".

Daemon Hatfield fails again.

[horndog]

the game not playing like a Castlevania game defeats the whole purpose of even making a Castlevania game. I am old school and was really looking forward to a Castlevania game. If i wanted GodofWar i would have gotten GodofWar. Thanks for nothing Kojima. Goof.

[CrzyFooL]

8.5 Graphics!? WHAT!? This is one of the best looking titles on any system. And 7.5 sound!? Is this man deaf!? Way to bring down the score of a great game for no reason.

[SaberEdge]

So true. This game is pretty much the best looking multiplatform game that I have ever seen and he gives it a 8.5? Give me a break. The guy must be partially blind in both eyes.

[Truth]

I don't really give reviews any credence anymore, better just to use it as a point of reference. I'll give this game a shot because I trust Kojima to deliver, but I knew the "GoW killer" pseudonym the game was given was just a farce.

[frankymv]

Think I'll pass

[Cheeky Gamer]

It's a shame that this was reviewed by a Castlevania fanboy, as opposed to someone with a good understanding of the hack 'n' slash genre - or, you know, GAMES IN GENERAL.

It pretty much read like: 'Well the music is great, the combat is great, the voice acting is great, the graphics are great... BUT IT ISN'T THE OLD 2D CASTLEVANIA GAMES WAHHHHH!' So what? That was 10-15 years ago. Get over it.

[blackblades]

IGN did it again, 7.5/10 didn't other place gave it a high score then that, IGN site deserves a 1/10,gamespot a 2/10.

[Orionsangel]

IGN has grown too cynical for their own good. They're tired of games and their reviews show it.

[chazjamie]

ja they should start reviewing podcasts now and more android stuff. and maybe they should review magazines, since they review everything.

a review from them (nowadays) is like a review from your local newspaper. its usually at the end, written by the editors son or daugher. basically, you dont take it seriosly. they probably hate games now. probably wanna smoke weed and chill at the playboy mansion with ipads and shit.

[Dannycr]

"One complains about hard boss fights
Another about copying other games
Another about not matching the Metroidvania."

Those are the reviewers complains? What part of "Reboot" they didn't get at all?

I'm sick and tired of reviewers taking points off because a game is hard or has hard sections. Gamers wants challenges and games nowadays are sooo easy it hurts (except for Demon's Soul and Contra 4).

Gamers who complain about a game being too hard SUCK! There I said it.

[Director13]

Lets see here. These are direct quotes from the review;

-"Forget everything you know about Castlevania."

-"None of the common gameplay elements you'd expect from the series are to be found here"

-"Lords of Shadow and it's drop dead gorgeous at times, but Castlevania fans might be left in the dark."

-"Metroidvania this is not"

-"Items to find are scarce -- much less than in a typical Castlevania."

-"I recommend Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, but not to Castlevania fans."

-"In the end, I'd rather play a more traditional 2D Castlevania game, but there is no denying that this is a beautiful and enjoyable change of pace."

OKAY, I GET IT! ITS NOT TRADITIONAL! IT A DAMN REBOOT!
I used to think the same of RE4 & RE5, but now i understand its meant to be a reboot and i have come to LOVE those games.Now, please, can you review the game itself instead of dwelling in the past?

[schlanz]

Let's just absorb that fact for one second and then move on with our lives knowing his opinions are about as bad as you can find in gaming media.

Honestly, I've never read a single Hatfield review that I've agreed with. And that would be quite a few.

[despair]

yea he's got some pretty strange ideas on what is important in a game, he's one of the worst reviewers I seen and not just for this game.

[Zomboid-G]

Meh
It sounds like he'd give it a much better score if it weren't called Castlevania, which is stupid. Ignore.

[Vegeta9000]

"That said, Lords of Shadow also has framerate issues on the Xbox 360. It can drop when the action heats up -- or just during a cut scene. During one cinematic moment the game was literally chugging at just a few frames per second. Gabriel has a useful instant-kill move he can inflict on weaker enemies, but the game freezes for a moment every time he uses it. The game runs more smoothly on the PlayStation 3."

[KwietStorm_BLM]

I think Symphony of the Night is generally referred to as the best Castlevania, is that not right? Yet, that game is wildly different than every game prior. Its one thing rebooting Devil May Cry, which is a recent franchise, but I dont even know how you can make a new entry to a series that originated during the NES era without it being "different." If it were download like Bionic Commando Rearmed, then fine. But at some point you have to move forward, or you're doing the technology and creativity a disservice.

[Ahasverus]

Sorry

[R_aVe_N]

I would have to agree with the guy. Even if you are calling this a reboot you have to keep certain aspects that made the series what it is in the first place. I have seen nothing in this game that would make me think it was part of the series. It is very disappointing if you ask me.

[SaberEdge]

Sorry, but I strongly disagree.

If this game had been titled something completely different and nobody said anything about it having anything to do with Castlevania I would be saying "this game feels like Castlevania brought into the current gen". There are way to many things that make it obvious that it is a Castlevania game.

[R_aVe_N]

I am sure most would have just wrote it off all together if it did not have Castlevania in the title. There is nothing in this game that reminds me of Castlevania...

[xYLeinen]

" Even if you are calling this a reboot you have to keep certain aspects that made the series what it is in the first place."

Aren't you playing Belmont and fighting vampires and werewolves???

[Ahasverus]

THAT'S THE REAL CASTLEVANIA CONVENTION! I don't know why this reviewer forgot about the METROID in the METROIDvania >.< This is real Castlevana moron!Go play before Symohony of the NIght, THERE ARE 9 GAMES BEFORE IT!

[elesthor]

Let me remind you of that game: http://uk.ps2.ign.com/artic...

And its waaaay before GoW came out.
Oh and it got a 9.

"IGN has changed..."

[Ahasverus]

Here's where
;)
http://people.ign.com/daemo...

[Burdmayn]

I feel like this can barely be called a "review" by traditional standards. I've never played a Castlevania game before but I plan to get this one based on positive reviews from sites I trust like GamesRadar. In comparison, this review is written very poorly and has a heck of a lot more complaining than factual information about the game. GG IGN, I really don't see how you're considered one of the top gaming sites.

[condorstrike]

These reviewers are new right, maybe right out of high-school.
How would they rate Castlevania, Metroid, and the like if they never played the originals....?
Like many said before, It's meant to be hard...sh!t I hear Castlevania and that's the 1st thing that comes to mind. Good thing I'm a true fan of the series and will get it regardless, they have to compare games to create a good review, pathetic. That shows their lack of gaming knowledge, thus bad reviewers.

"Headline: game is good, IGN reviewer is being too difficult."

[talha900]

I played the demo and I freaking love it more so than GoW 3 it just has this certain thing to it that just wants me to play more. The presentation is down right brilliant and the combat is great dont know why reivewers making a big deal out of it. If the game works with certain elements from other games, its fun to play, with great cinematics, feels like an epic movie then its a big thumbs up.

[MastaMold]

Ign is retarded I stop going to their site for years now but I played the demo and it plays great so I'm getting it no matter what reviews it gets I judge games for myself

[CrzyFooL]

–Adjective

not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased: an objective opinion.

(How games should be reviewed)

[coolfool]

WHY?!

This is the first review that mentioned QTE! Why do developers insist on using rubbish cutscene spoiling mechansim?

I thought the game didn't have any..... :-(

Edit: And yeah, rubbish review. I really didn't think he clear explained why the game deserved a 7.5 which on their scoring system is just and average to good. At least some websites really explain their reasoning. Also, how is "not castlevania" really a negative? So it's a worst game because it doesn't completely follow the trend of the others?

They are the same doucebags that if it was more like the others would mark it down for being nothing new and not innovative.

[xg-ei8ht]

So all IGN scores have no outcome on the final score.

360: 7.5 7.5 7.5 8.0 8.5
PS3: 7.5 7.5 7.5 8.0 9.0

9 for graphics on PS3.

End result 7.5 on both systems.

360 version:

8.5 Graphics
A beautiful, richly detailed world that suffers just a bit from drops in framerate.

[sanshatak]

please ign dont give this jerk to make a review again

[lodossrage]

But THIS paticular sentence sort of sticks out.

"Konami describes Castlevania: Lords of Shadow as a reboot for the 25-year old franchise. I'd say it's an unrelated game that borrows the "Castlevania" name."

That sentence sticks out to me because that's EXACTLY what this game is. Back when this game was announced at first it was just "Lord of Shadows". When they made the decision to take Castlevania away from its creator since the NES days (Iga), and gave the game over to mercury steam and Kojima, THEN it became a Castlevania game.

Quality wise, I'll wait until I play the demo or rent before purchase like I do any other game regardless of reviews being good or bad.

[Ahasverus]

IGA IS NOT CASTLEVANIA CREATOR LET ALONE SINCE THE NES! HE WAS THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF SOTN AND PRODUCER SINCE THEN UNTIL NOW! THIS GAME IS MORE CV THAN HIS SHITTY JUDGMENT! YOU IGNORANT!

[lodossrage]

He was FORCED to make that Wii game. Secondly, talk like you have some sense. Whether you like it or not, this game WASN'T originally a Castlevania game.

And you might want to brush up on your grammar.

[Wii360BeatsPS3]

Another American rag like Gamespot and Gametrailers who hate European devs. All three of these American rags rated this game low.

[horndog]

expect a Castlevania game. Why on earth would you name it Castlevania when all the aspect of the originals are non existent?? A reboot doesn't mean you have to change every aspect of the Castlevania series.

It's like turning the MGS series into Metal Gear Risisng. It just isn't the same so why give it the MGS name.

[MaideninBlack]

Can't wait for the DmC reviews....

[WLPowell]

it deserves at least an 8. nuff said. I haven't seen much wrong with it (just the navigation, I have seen that sometimes blows) Stop comparing it to Simon's Quest or SotN, maybe the follow-up to this will be that good. (I've heard it sets up that this game is gonna be the first of many) But as it stands this is technically a new series, and an amazing first entry, so IGN shouldn't have reviewed it based on the "older series".

/rambling

@MaideninBlack: IGN: "Devil may cry has been getting kind of stale so this reboot is awesome! Capcom threw out everything and we couldn't be happier. DMC has always been to hard for me, and ninja theory has (thankfully) made it more accessible. They've slowed it down to 30 fps so you can totally see all the on-screen action! They threw out the heavy metal and exchanged it with emo so it adds sooo much more depth to this new Dante character. Now if you excuse me I have a big bag of money to count... 9/10"

[theBedBurner]

IGN = Clowns