Vampiric fantasy in Nosgoth



Genre: 3rd Person Action/Adventure
Developed by: Crystal Dynamics
Published by: EIDOS

Well, if the "Legacy of Kain" games (Blood Omen, Soul Reaver) have one leagacy for us, it's the fact that they all sport a very complicated yet extremely impressive and epic story. As the name states, all these games circumfere around Kain, a vampire who's selfishness is endangering the realm of Nosgoth. In the Soul Reaver games, you are Raziel, a former Sarafan priest (the sworn archnemeses of vampires) who has been corrupted by Kain, served as the latter's lieutenant, and who was then punished for his wing-growth by being thrown into the lake of despair. Raziel is of course fueled by rage and revenge, and the first Soul Reaver game was all about getting Kain. The game's anticlimax was that Kain eluded your grasp (to anyone who hasn't played Soul Reaver 1 before, sorry for the spoiler) and that Kain traveled back into time. In Soul Reaver 2, you follow Kain into the past and you'll discover that you're back a thousand years, around the time of the first Legacy of Kain game (Blood Omen). It's the time where the head guardian of the Pillars, the things that uphold balance and life in Nosgoth, was killed. And it's also the time of Kain's rise to power and the beginning of the decay of Nosgoth to the barren wasteland we know from the first Soul Reaver game.
Again, Soul Reaver 2 is mainly fueled by this great background story, and it's really the main drive to go through the game. Not that the game itself is annoying or anything, far from it.

Basically, the gameplay hasn't changed much: it remains a story driven 3rd Person Action/Adventure title. The action though has gone through some changes, or rather, evolutions. For instance, the Soul Reaver, your symbiotic weapon, can now be summoned at any time, not just when you're in full health. Activation will though drain health, either from the souls you killed, or, if unavailable, from your own lifeforce. Added detail: once the Soul Reaver is activated, you can't feed to restore your heath. So, while being more powerful and more available, the use of the Soul Reaver comes with greater cost and should be used only as a weapon of last resort. The melee combat has become more face-to-face, meaning not only that it has become more involving, but now it will virtually be impossible to sneak up to an enemy. While this makes the game a bit more challenging, it also kills the stealth aspect from its predecessor.

The graphics have evolved quite nicely. I personally thought of them as one of the best I've ever seen, with good inside yet also stunning outside locations. Raziel and other characters have the best modelling I've ever seen: the ingame cutscenes are incredible: facial animations are of immense quality: not only the lipsyncing is virtually perfect, animations of mouth, tongue, teeth, forehead and eyes all add up to give the most realistic depiction of emotions. I mean, if you see Kain or Moebius talk you can barely believe that pc ingame graphics have evolved from Wolf3D to this in less than 10 years.
And I'm forgetting the spectral mode. This is a realm in which Raziel can shift into, and it will slightly morph the terrain and literally put you in a parallel realm: enemies that existed in the material realm won't be there anymore, instead you have lost souls and damned creatures. Also, sometimes you will nééd to shift to reach seemingly unreacheable places and go through locked doors or gates.

Sound & music are major factors in adventures, and certainly in games like these with such an engaging story. And I must say, these are also some of the best I've ever experienced. The soundtrack is not only incredibly uplifting and exhillerating, but also very epic. Really, one of the best tunes I've ever heard since Lennie More (Outcast) and good old Frank Klepacki. The sound effects too, are good, but it's the voices that are chillingly good, and of "Lucasarts" like quality. The voices (which are mosty tv actors and professionals btw) are so perfectly chosen, so...damn, they just are plain superb.

Well, is there something bad about this game? Not much. Perhaps it's the savepoints, reminiscent of the Playstation 2 version. Also a bit annoying are the controls at first, with the camera independantly controlled from your action. But with the trusted mouse-keyboard combination, you'd be surprised how fast you'll adapt and realize that this system is better thatn the fixed Tomb Raider-style 3rd person camera. Controls under water though can get a bit stressfull, since the reaction time is, logically maybe, much slower than above water, but if you know that being underwater costs you life, you'd wish Raziel could swim a bit swifter. And perhaps the biggest bummer of all is...Soul Reaver 2 might lift many questions left after the first episode, but it the added intrigue and the rather sudden end of Soul Reaver 2 might leave you with a profound sense of unfulfilment. And yes, Soul Reaver 3 is in the making...Soul Reaver 2 isn't too short though, but you won't need more than 15 hours to complete it.

EP sez:

Soul Reaver 2 is the best PS2 conversion I've ever played and has all the perks to be a pc classic. Brilliant story, great action, superb graphics and unbelievable atmosphere, music and voices. Just a shame that it ends so abruptly.

Pros and Cons

+ Atmosphere
+ Story
+ Graphics
+ Action
+ Heck, everything!
- Cliffhanger ending


Score:

Gameplay: 8.5
Graphics: 9
Sound & Music: 10
Addictiviness: 9

Overall: 88.5%


(c) 2001 Erwin's Pages
Erwin "Reaper" Husin

Links

> Soul Reaver 2 Preview
> Official Soul Reaver 2 Site