Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Walter

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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is a third-person action/adventure being developed by Mercury Steam along with assistance from Kojima Productions, scheduled to be released on PS3/360 in 2010. Though the timeline and specifics of its development are still sketchy, the running theory is that the game was initially "just" a new Konami franchise, but was reimagined with a Castlevania angle at some point in its development.

It is yet unknown how or if this title will connect to other Castlevania franchise titles, or if this is a "reboot" of the series.


Lords_of_Shadow.jpg
 

nomad

"Bring the light of day"
At this point the whole new Castlevania + Kojima Production aspect has my interest... So far. http://kotaku.com/5274898/kojima-taking-on-castlevania-with-lords-of-shadow?skyline=true&s=x
 
Nomad said:
At this point the whole new Castlevania + Kojima Production aspect has my interest... So far. http://kotaku.com/5274898/kojima-taking-on-castlevania-with-lords-of-shadow?skyline=true&s=x

HOW HAVE I NOT HEARD OF THIS!? *faints and dies*

Castlevania is in my top 5 favorite franchises of all time... Metal Gear is another... If this is true, pardon me while I go and freak out a little more.
 

Aazealh

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Staff member
Nomad said:
At this point the whole new Castlevania + Kojima Production has my interest... So far. http://kotaku.com/5274898/kojima-taking-on-castlevania-with-lords-of-shadow?skyline=true&s=x

It's interesting that they're moving Lords of Shadow to the Castlevania universe... Hopefully the game will be good.
 
Holy Crap that Castlevania trailer definitely got me excited about it. It's almost like a cross between Prince of Persia, God of War, and a little bit like Devil May Cry. I may be getting this one when it comes out.
 
That video didn't load up on my comp. Is this the same video they had available when they first announced it? lol The one narrated by Patrick Stewart?
 

nomad

"Bring the light of day"
ori said:
That video didn't load up on my comp. Is this the same video they had available when they first announced it? lol The one narrated by Patrick Stewart?
it's not the same one.
 

Walter

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That trailer's music has been stuck in my head all morning... I may just have to get a 360 for this thing! :mozgus:

I think the game has a lot of potential. I was talking with Aaz this morning about it, and there are some cool, lingering questions this trailer seems to be getting at. If this is a reboot of the Castlevania series, is Dracula already occupying Castlevania, or is this where it all begins? And of course, the obvious one is, is Gabriel destined to become Dracula?
 

Walter

Administrator
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:isidro: That was just awesome :ganishka:

Coincidentally, even before seeing this parody, the scene made me think of Guts talking to Hanafubuku. :guts:
 

handsome rakshas

Thanks Grail!
Walter said:
I think the game has a lot of potential. I was talking with Aaz this morning about it, and there are some cool, lingering questions this trailer seems to be getting at. If this is a reboot of the Castlevania series, is Dracula already occupying Castlevania, or is this where it all begins? And of course, the obvious one is, is Gabriel destined to become Dracula?

I hope this fits into the storyline and is not a reboot.
We already got a "where it all begins" story with Lament of Innocence. Dracula seems pretty annoyed at the Belmonts, I wonder exactly when this one takes place? I would say in the 400 year gap between Lament of Innocence and Dracula's Curse. But the way he said
"BEEEELMOOOOOOOOOOOONT!!!" makes me think he has confronted a few of them already.
But then again a reboot would allow them to not have to stick with all the details (not like they did anyway) and create a completely fresh storyline. All I know is that the game looks badass and you guessed it. I think this is going to be the best Castlevania game ever. And for your information Walter I did not say that about EVERY game.

I skipped Judgement. :guts:

Aazealh said:

I love you.
 

Walter

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Staff member
handsome rakshas said:
I hope this fits into the storyline and is not a reboot.
Not that GamePro is any authority, but in this story, they twice mention that Lords of Shadow is a reboot of the franchise: http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/210643/konami-announces-castlevania-lords-of-shadow-at-e3-press-conference/

That being said, I can't find it confirmed anywhere else. Certainly not in a quote. So it could just be GamePro playing on the jump-to-conclusions mat.

We already got a "where it all begins" story with Lament of Innocence.
That doesn't preclude this title from retconning LoI though.

Dracula seems pretty annoyed at the Belmonts ... the way he said "BEEEELMOOOOOOOOOOOONT!!!" makes me think he has confronted a few of them already.
Yeah, that is a solid point as well.
 
The game is actually being developed by a company named MecurySteam, and it is being published by Kojima Productions. I hope this game turns out good but I doubt it because the game MecurySteam made before this was a FPS named Jericho which was a really bad game in all aspects.
 

handsome rakshas

Thanks Grail!
EndlessSky said:
The game is actually being developed by a company named MecurySteam, and it is being published by Kojima Productions. I hope this game turns out good but I doubt it because the game MecurySteam made before this was a FPS named Jericho which was a really bad game in all aspects.

Oh god no, they made Jericho? That game was crumb! They can redeem themselves though!
I have my fingers, toes, and other things crossed this game will rock my socks.
 

Walter

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EndlessSky said:
The game is actually being developed by a company named MecurySteam, and it is being published by Kojima Productions.
Mercury Steam's involvement is no mystery. They're the lead developers but are being assisted, to some unknown extent, by Kojima Productions. And that last bit of your post above sounds like nonsense to me. Kojima Productions isn't a publisher. Konami is.

I hope this game turns out good but I doubt it because the game MecurySteam made before this was a FPS named Jericho which was a really bad game in all aspects.
Don't kickout this game just because of the sins of its father. Here's a great current example of a company that rose from its past failures to achieve critical success: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocksteady_Studios

Did some research in my spare time today and found an interesting interview on 1up.com with Dave Cox, producer of LoS. Apparently it was intended as a Castlevania game all along, despite the confusion over the association announcement in June/July. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3175699

In terms of level structure, however, it'll be much more of an action affair and won't have the Metroidvania sort of adventuring that the more recent Castlevania games have had. Cox said that he didn't believe that was necessary of a Castlevania, and pointed to many of the earlier (more linear) games as still great examples of Castlevania gameplay, despite their different approaches (he cited Castlevania 2 and Castlevania IV specifically).
That's good news for SOME people! :badbone:

Cox revealed that the full name of the main character is Gabriel Belmont
Good to have it confirmed, but ... I think we all figured this out by this point.
 
Listen, I want this to be as good a game as everybody else does but going on what the developers track record points to no instead of blindly hoping it will be good for no reason other than kojima productions is publishing it.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
EndlessSky said:
Listen, I want this to be as good a game as everybody else does but going on what the developers track record points to
The developer's track record being ... one game? Here's what the producer had to say about MercurySteam's past:

So why did he chose Mercury Steam to develop the game? They had a really great engine and they also were chomping at the bit to work on a Castlevania game -- they too were huge fans. And what about them being somewhat untested? Or, well, not qualified? They worked on the rather terrible Clive Barker's Jericho, after all. According to Cox, you can't always blame the developer in all situations -- he said Jericho was not a good game to judge their true talents. He has complete faith in them.
Source: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3175699

Obviously this guy is going to be a little biased, however I really don't believe Konami would just randomly pick some idiots to spearhead the development of a next-gen game for one of their longest-running franchises.
 
Walter said:
The developer's track record being ... one game?

I don't blame people for being at least a little skeptical after being burned. That doesn't mean it'll be a bad game, but reserved judgment isn't always a bad thing.

That said, I'm really looking forward to this as I'm a Castlevania nut, but I'm hoping it plays more like Castlevania 64 (gasp!) than God of War or Devil May Cry (and I like those games) which is what I'm sort of afraid it'll end up being.
 
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