Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Ultimate Edition

 PC
  • Publisher: Konami
  • Release Date: Aug 27, 2013
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 648 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 435 out of 648
  2. Mixed: 107 out of 648
  3. Negative: 106 out of 648

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  1. KaZneosis
    Sep 4, 2013
    8
    110% The whole Game, Didn't review the Demo

    I've bought this game on the Xbox360 and immediately thought the PC version was needed, the game has an amazing story backed up with a variety of game-play elements though the soundtrack gets a bit old and the fixed camera gets in the way... On PC; The good and the Bad. The Good Resolutions going as high as possible, in this case, 4k    110% The whole Game, Didn't review the Demo

    I've bought this game on the Xbox360 and immediately thought the PC version was needed, the game has an amazing story backed up with a variety of game-play elements though the soundtrack gets a bit old and the fixed camera gets in the way...

    On PC; The good and the Bad.
    The Good
    Resolutions going as high as possible, in this case, 4k downscale; will explain...
    Optimization in this game is amazing, Vsync is vital since I got over 100 FPS average
    Graphically Amazing, with high resolution and Frame-rate this game pleases the eye quite a bit.
    Now, The BAD
    720p, No AA Cutscenes, Not all cutscenes are this bad, Like Batman Arkham Asylum, you'll be reminded how this game looked like on a console.
    Keyboard Controls are horrible, Luckily, If you are a Smart PC gamer, you'll have a controller for games like these
    Anti-Aliasing is FXAA only, I use 4k Downscale as a method of a better Anti-Aliasing since FXAA is Crap.
    No Metal Gear stuff, Useless, but I did like the headband, it was replaced with expanded vampire wargames...

    The Verdict: Still holds up, Mods will come to fix some issues, they are already trying to get better AA modes via Nvidia Inpector or Sweetfx    … Expand
  2. WirtAvenger
    Sep 1, 2013
    9
    The port is pretty good, the graphics are okay from a technical standpoint (you get higher quality shadows, ssao, the framerate is completely smooth). The artstyle is superb. I turned off the ingame antialiasing and used sweetfx (smaa and lumasharpen). Could not get driver antialiasing to work, the screen would appear completely black.

    The game controls well enough with the mouse and    The port is pretty good, the graphics are okay from a technical standpoint (you get higher quality shadows, ssao, the framerate is completely smooth). The artstyle is superb. I turned off the ingame antialiasing and used sweetfx (smaa and lumasharpen). Could not get driver antialiasing to work, the screen would appear completely black.

    The game controls well enough with the mouse and keyboard if you modify the default bindings. I use wasd plus mouse left (attack), mouse right (area attack), middle mouse (secondary weapon), 1 and 2 for triggering the magic, f and h for collecting the orbs, alt for dodge, space for jump.

    The game features plenty of content (about 20 hours) with an interesting story, diverse environments with rewards for exploration, challenging gameplay, platforming and puzzle sections and an experience system (unlock new skills).

    Note: The game features a fixed camera. This doesn't bother me buy it may be a problem for some.    … Expand
  3. Liz00n
    Aug 30, 2013
    8
    I never write any reviews but DAMN I MUST defend this game. What are you talking about? Am I playing some other game? It's ten times better than any of God of War games. Better boss fights, better script, better everything. One of the best hack'n'slash games out there. It has really nice graphics too. Don't know why people are whining so much. For me it's not only about texture resolutionI never write any reviews but DAMN I MUST defend this game. What are you talking about? Am I playing some other game? It's ten times better than any of God of War games. Better boss fights, better script, better everything. One of the best hack'n'slash games out there. It has really nice graphics too. Don't know why people are whining so much. For me it's not only about texture resolution but also about the overall design and presentation. It's not perfect of course but it absolutely deserves 8.… Expand
  4. kaicooper
    Aug 30, 2013
    9
    Castlevania...lots of memories with 2D game..never though its gonna be
    awesom in TPS..i never care about this game on consols or even its coming for PC
    ..but here we goes..tried it and loved it..graphics on PC r good..not best but sooo much better then consols..so much..i play it with sweetfx tool to maximize the graphics ..game is great dont listen to haters ..most of them Darksiders    Castlevania...lots of memories with 2D game..never though its gonna be
    awesom in TPS..i never care about this game on consols or even its coming for PC
    ..but here we goes..tried it and loved it..graphics on PC r good..not best but sooo much
    better then consols..so much..i play it with sweetfx tool to maximize the graphics ..game is great
    dont listen to haters ..most of them Darksiders and GOW fans..ppl says this game copy paste
    darksiders...i say darksiders most boaring game ever..Castlevania is fantastic world and gameplay
    just buy it and play it then injoy it as i did    … Expand
  5. BobbyTheGreat
    Sep 1, 2013
    10
    Amazing port of one of the most underrated games. Most people think it's just a God of War clone, and for the first 2 chapters, it is. But once you get past the first 2 chapters, this game really opens up and becomes amazing.

    Truly amazing set pieces and vistas are within this game, along with some amazing music and a wicked story that doesn't shy from taboo subjects. Perhaps the    Amazing port of one of the most underrated games. Most people think it's just a God of War clone, and for the first 2 chapters, it is. But once you get past the first 2 chapters, this game really opens up and becomes amazing.

    Truly amazing set pieces and vistas are within this game, along with some amazing music and a wicked story that doesn't shy from taboo subjects.

    Perhaps the best thing about the PC version is the game runs at 60fps as opposed to the 15fps (or that it seemed like) on the 360 version.

    I play this with a 360 gamepad hooked up to my PC (as I do with most of my PC games) so I hear mouse/keyboard support is pretty rough, but honestly, that's none of my concern.    … Expand
  6. wtfgtfo
    Sep 1, 2013
    7
    OK let me point this out FIRST of all...most of the idiots on here have no idea what they're talking about. People complaining about bad graphics? PLEASE...this game has pretty good graphics with steady FPS...they must have a ancient computer. Now the flaws of this game ARE inherent in that the graphics do appear to be slightly worse in cut scenes but game play wise is pretty much the sameOK let me point this out FIRST of all...most of the idiots on here have no idea what they're talking about. People complaining about bad graphics? PLEASE...this game has pretty good graphics with steady FPS...they must have a ancient computer. Now the flaws of this game ARE inherent in that the graphics do appear to be slightly worse in cut scenes but game play wise is pretty much the same as the console. The game does bear flaws that could've been improved such as the silly energy absorbing should have been automatic and its true the controls could have been done better but they are workable. Overall this game is decent, the fixed camera is there for a reason but is also one of the inherent flaws of the game and can annoy your experience. I do like this game but it does not deserve a empty score or a perfect one. All things considered, it is a mediocre game with a frustrating camera, decent kb/m controls for a port, and slightly reduced graphics which are STILL pretty high end.

    ALSO please..people...stop creating accounts just to bag on a game with a 0 score or pour praise on it with a 10 I had to bother writing this to point out all the crazy people doing this    … Expand
  7. JoeB666
    Aug 31, 2013
    10
    I love this game so far. I'll update this, following finishing it.

    In response to pcgamer 83's review: the graphics are completely fine. The textures are of a high resolution (far higher than they could be on a current-gen console). With regards to the controls: I use a gamepad (either an Xbox gamepad or one from logitech). If you are any sort of "serious" pc gamer, you'll have a    I love this game so far. I'll update this, following finishing it.

    In response to pcgamer 83's review: the graphics are completely fine. The textures are of a high resolution (far higher than they could be on a current-gen console).

    With regards to the controls: I use a gamepad (either an Xbox gamepad or one from logitech). If you are any sort of "serious" pc gamer, you'll have a spare gamepad (I know that it's a pain, but some games simply play a lot better). The controls are *excellent* with a gamepad. They are perfectly fine (but require some memorization), if you use a keyboard.

    Regarding the game being "the worst port" he's ever seen: Give me a break. The game hasn't crashed *once*, for me. It supports 3D vision (which shows dedication on the part of the developer). It runs at a *contstant* 60 fps (really 120 fps) on my machine--this shows optimization was a priority.

    It is *sometimes* annoying that the camera is fixed, but the positioning is thoughtful (and, frankly, this is an extremely minor issue for me).

    The game has deep gameplay, a thoughtful and mature storyline, good pacing, excellent visuals (they really are *exceptional* for a PC port, and they are *fantastic* if one considers that the game was originally released 3 years ago on consoles).

    To determine if you'll love the game (as I do): briefly view the game on youtube and play the demo. If you think you'll like it, you'll probably love it. I am new to the Castlevania series, I'll be considering the sequel, as a result of playing this game.    … Expand
  8. AlbusDlx
    Aug 29, 2013
    8
    This game is not a remake if you thought so. This is a port, an Ultimate Edition. The one thing it lacks is a AA option, but you can use Catalyst or Nvidia control panel for this. With Edge detect x24EQ SSAA this game looks good and plays as good. How ppl can give this a 0-3 is a riddle for me. I am hardly half way in and cant wait to play the rest. Lets hope that other games like The lastThis game is not a remake if you thought so. This is a port, an Ultimate Edition. The one thing it lacks is a AA option, but you can use Catalyst or Nvidia control panel for this. With Edge detect x24EQ SSAA this game looks good and plays as good. How ppl can give this a 0-3 is a riddle for me. I am hardly half way in and cant wait to play the rest. Lets hope that other games like The last of us and other big PS3 titles follows suite and gets released to the PC.… Expand
  9. Dahaka
    Aug 29, 2013
    10
    The best game of this game serie, i can say its one of my favorites adventure games i ever play, the history the gameplay, its its great, i feel this when i play it God of War, Prince of Persia its awesome.
  10. damnate
    Sep 1, 2013
    10
    Excellent game. The Best game on the PC in this year.You will have some difficulties with management, but for the rest game is excellent.Good games and good port on the personal computer
  11. jangofrost
    Aug 29, 2013
    10
    Great game. I don't mind graphics which are decent by the way. And in my opinion gameplay is the most important. Default keyboard bindings are silly but as a self respecting long time PC gamer I can rebind them as this already has happened in a few games in the past. I'm also fine with the fixed camera. It actually gives more tactical control during fights but for some people it might beGreat game. I don't mind graphics which are decent by the way. And in my opinion gameplay is the most important. Default keyboard bindings are silly but as a self respecting long time PC gamer I can rebind them as this already has happened in a few games in the past. I'm also fine with the fixed camera. It actually gives more tactical control during fights but for some people it might be problematic. I loved similar solution in Legacy of Kain. Overall it's a very exciting and well done game. Might not by revolutionary but I love it.… Expand
  12. omegaferrari
    Aug 31, 2013
    10
    This game is just great, a needed addition to pc, now with hi res graphics at 2560x1600 everything looks amazing. I Bought this game some time ago for the Xbox 360 and even though I was enjoying it, i couldn't Stand the jaggies and low res graphics, it's a great game if you like hack and slash games, action and adventure,just great and not often do you see this type of games on pc, moreThis game is just great, a needed addition to pc, now with hi res graphics at 2560x1600 everything looks amazing. I Bought this game some time ago for the Xbox 360 and even though I was enjoying it, i couldn't Stand the jaggies and low res graphics, it's a great game if you like hack and slash games, action and adventure,just great and not often do you see this type of games on pc, more ports like these please!… Expand
  13. Truejustice
    Aug 31, 2013
    10
    One of the best hack and slash game a have ever play. Five days ago a played last DMC and it was terrible. However Castlevania is perfect game and PC port is really good. Graphic is amazing and fight system is much better then DMC or GoW fight systems. Best part of game is story. This game is master piece.
  14. Crusader009
    Aug 29, 2013
    10
    This game is great! I had this for the XBOX 360 and the graphics on the PC version are obviously so much better. This game is worth your time and money.
  15. Michaviel
    Aug 28, 2013
    10
    What an amazing game. I'm really glad that the developers did such a great job finding Climax to port this over to the PC audience. The framerate is light years beyond any console can deliver and I'm truly loving this story about redemption and damnation. The voice acting is great and the entire look and feel of the world is familiar yet unique in it's own right.

    My only gripe about    What an amazing game. I'm really glad that the developers did such a great job finding Climax to port this over to the PC audience. The framerate is light years beyond any console can deliver and I'm truly loving this story about redemption and damnation. The voice acting is great and the entire look and feel of the world is familiar yet unique in it's own right.

    My only gripe about this game? I wish the deadzone between running and walking was greater. There are times I want to bathe in the atmosphere of this world by simply walking through it, but the original developers never added that to the mix. I hope to find a mod solution for this in the future because running through some of these environments is a crime.

    Keep releasing top quality ports like this one and I'm sure to invest in Lords Of Shadow 2 on PC as my day 1 purchase choice.

    ...Climax on Metal Gear porting and we'll be friends forever     … Expand
  16. whoisthere
    Aug 27, 2013
    10
    Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (in my opinion) is one of the best games released in the past ten years. Some may criticize, that it isn't an oldschool Castlevania. Well, it isnt. But it simply is not intended as a classical Castlevania. It is meant as a kind of reboot: A whole new game with a whole new story. That is exactly, what ist so great in this game: Fantastic storytelling, aCastlevania: Lords of Shadow (in my opinion) is one of the best games released in the past ten years. Some may criticize, that it isn't an oldschool Castlevania. Well, it isnt. But it simply is not intended as a classical Castlevania. It is meant as a kind of reboot: A whole new game with a whole new story. That is exactly, what ist so great in this game: Fantastic storytelling, a overwhelming soundtrack, great environment- and monsterdesign. If you want to experience a 20-hour-long well-told story and to immerse into a great fantasy-world, then this game is exactly the right one for you!… Expand
  17. KratosITALY
    Aug 27, 2013
    10
    I played this game when it first came out on consoles. And after many years, this still is a great and fun action-adventure game. It ain't a copycat of "God Of War" nor an old school Castlevania, but a game full of action and magic with a deep combat system that plays perfectly on a keyboard-and-mouse.
    The story of the game is on a whole new level, with great voice acting, charismatic    I played this game when it first came out on consoles. And after many years, this still is a great and fun action-adventure game. It ain't a copycat of "God Of War" nor an old school Castlevania, but a game full of action and magic with a deep combat system that plays perfectly on a keyboard-and-mouse.
    The story of the game is on a whole new level, with great voice acting, charismatic characters and a quest worthy of Van Helsing.
    A must buy, especially since it's very cheap!    … Expand
  18. beavermatic
    Aug 27, 2013
    10
    Light years beyond the console versions in performance and graphics. Perhaps the most polished console-to-PC title ever. No issues whatsoever and runs smooth as silk. Konami PC development team really did a fantastic job with this.

    running at 2560x1600 with all settings and AA maxed. Truly looks more like a nextgen game on PC... flat out beautiful. Even the controls feel more fluid    Light years beyond the console versions in performance and graphics. Perhaps the most polished console-to-PC title ever. No issues whatsoever and runs smooth as silk. Konami PC development team really did a fantastic job with this.

    running at 2560x1600 with all settings and AA maxed.

    Truly looks more like a nextgen game on PC... flat out beautiful. Even the controls feel more fluid and responsive. Guess this game really shows PC is the way it's meant to be played all along.

    The game is just phenomenal, story, characters, gameplay action. Apparently Konami has never heard of DLC.... just the standalone game by itself is very lengthy, and just keeps getting better as it plays out. Likely the best Castlevania game in the series.

    Can't beat it for $30... especially when they pretty much gave $200 worth of game in this package.    … Expand
  19. andyappy
    Aug 28, 2013
    3
    I'm disgusted by the port for the pc version of Castlevania. I think this game should have deserved more. It's a shame to have this game released after almost three years in such bad conditions. Cutscenes are in very low resolution and they are ridiculous, in game visuals are among the most dishonorable of modern pc video games. Plus, the game lacks in depth and entertainment, it is 'outI'm disgusted by the port for the pc version of Castlevania. I think this game should have deserved more. It's a shame to have this game released after almost three years in such bad conditions. Cutscenes are in very low resolution and they are ridiculous, in game visuals are among the most dishonorable of modern pc video games. Plus, the game lacks in depth and entertainment, it is 'out of time', having being released too late and belonging to another video gaming era. I am going to sell it right now, just wasted my money on it.… Expand
  20. callofjuarez003
    Aug 28, 2013
    0
    Konami has completely missed the point with this Castlevania: LoS for PC. The game experience is disastrous from the beginning to the end. Fixed cam is not acceptable in a 2013 video game, especially on modern PCs which are way stronger than consoles. I really can't understand why they postponed the game to mid 2013, because it has no improvement over the original Castlevania apart fromKonami has completely missed the point with this Castlevania: LoS for PC. The game experience is disastrous from the beginning to the end. Fixed cam is not acceptable in a 2013 video game, especially on modern PCs which are way stronger than consoles. I really can't understand why they postponed the game to mid 2013, because it has no improvement over the original Castlevania apart from 1080p visuals, but they remain awful to see because characters are badly made, environments are pixelous and not well shaped, low res textures are a non-sense considering the time to port the game on PC! I don't realize why pc users have to be punished like this. I would declare worst pc game of the year so far. Avoid it like the plague.… Expand
  21. TheDarklin
    Sep 4, 2013
    9
    I don't really know why are all those users talking about this game being bad, it´s the best 3D Castlevania until now.
    + The story is solid and leave you asking for more.
    + Xbox 360 gamepad works OK + Graphics are better than Xbox360 + The game runs smooth, ZERO LAG and i'm using just an nVidia GTX460 1GB. - It really could have better graphics, cause for PC standards are lame.    I don't really know why are all those users talking about this game being bad, it´s the best 3D Castlevania until now.
    + The story is solid and leave you asking for more.
    + Xbox 360 gamepad works OK
    + Graphics are better than Xbox360
    + The game runs smooth, ZERO LAG and i'm using just an nVidia GTX460 1GB.

    - It really could have better graphics, cause for PC standards are lame.

    In conclusion it's a must have, although it have a downside on graphic side, overall performance is good so don't cry over spilled milk and play it to the end.

    I really hope it doesn't get the same bad rep given to Lament of Innocence on PS2, if you want a good game with solid Combo system, don't miss it.

    If you just understand the game's mechanic, then you need a smash button game, try Dinasty Warrior.    … Expand
  22. holodoc
    Sep 8, 2013
    9
    What people need to understand about this game is that its a port of a two years old game which means a lot of technical peculiarities from the original platforms had to be retained in the PC version. You can't simply add a free camera to a title which was originally designed on consoles. Porting a game doesn't mean writing the game from scratch just adjusting it for the target platformWhat people need to understand about this game is that its a port of a two years old game which means a lot of technical peculiarities from the original platforms had to be retained in the PC version. You can't simply add a free camera to a title which was originally designed on consoles. Porting a game doesn't mean writing the game from scratch just adjusting it for the target platform (adding better textures, small fixes etc.)

    As far as the game is concerned I have to say that in my opinion this is one of the best and most polished console ports I've seen. The graphics are really well redone in order to provide better and sharper textures which will at some points leave room for doubts that this game is a console port. Cinematics are directly reused but that's a) understandable for a console port and b) really not a big problem since the 720p quality doesn't degrade too much on 1080p displays. Sound design and music are hard to explain in this game. You have to hear the sheer epicness of some of the themes to believe it.

    One thing that really shines with this title are the puzzles. They might not be everybody's favorite but solving them in my opinion provides a bit of diversity compared to simply bashing the enemies all over again. Also some of the boos fighting mechanics are very well done the last boss was really well done. Game's lengths is also commendable at least 20+ hours of playtime for an average player.    … Expand
  23. wildemu
    Sep 7, 2013
    9
    Is the game unoriginal? Yes, it definitely borrows from other great games (God of War, Shadow of the Colossus). Is it like any other Castlevania? Absolutely not. So why am I giving this game a 9? Because it is absolutely fun to play. The soundtrack is one of the best ones you will hear for the video game industry, and it really immerses you into the story that unfolds before you eyes. SirIs the game unoriginal? Yes, it definitely borrows from other great games (God of War, Shadow of the Colossus). Is it like any other Castlevania? Absolutely not. So why am I giving this game a 9? Because it is absolutely fun to play. The soundtrack is one of the best ones you will hear for the video game industry, and it really immerses you into the story that unfolds before you eyes. Sir Patrick Stewart is your narrator as you guide your hero through many levels. The game is linear, but the areas look gorgeous on the master race pc.

    One thing I recommend to truly enjoy this game is to use a controller as the combos will probably give you arthritis by the end of this 20 hour journey. I loved it and can't wait for the 2nd one. Again, the soundtrack and environments are a must listen/see.    … Expand
  24. ekaydirma
    Sep 5, 2013
    9
    A really good game. I like the combos and the game is so fun with a gamepad. Graphics are good not amazing. But from the beginning, the game bound me to it.
  25. IRevolution
    Oct 23, 2013
    9
    So happy I decided to get this game. Castlevania LOSUE was awesome! Rich storyline that had me on my seat through the whole game. I wasn't sure what to expect at first since this is the first Castlevania game that I;ve played, It felt like DMC with a medieval twist, but to be honest I was much happier with this game. Pro's Great storyline, LOTS AND LOTS of boss fights, good graphics goodSo happy I decided to get this game. Castlevania LOSUE was awesome! Rich storyline that had me on my seat through the whole game. I wasn't sure what to expect at first since this is the first Castlevania game that I;ve played, It felt like DMC with a medieval twist, but to be honest I was much happier with this game. Pro's Great storyline, LOTS AND LOTS of boss fights, good graphics good puzzles, cons not all the time but sometimes the camera would get VERY frustrating i managed to deal with it...... combos and unlocks are hard to use and remember steep learning curve. Overall I enjoyed the game, the story had me on the edge of my seat wanting more. took me around 40 hours to finish including the DLC.… Expand
  26. Nataraja
    Sep 14, 2013
    7
    While the graphics are very much improved and its a visually beautiful game the KB & M controls are very awkward and its much better with a controller. Also the cut scenes are well done but a bit grainy for my tastes. The voice acting is top notch and the story is very well written. Its not well optomized though and GPUs get a work out and run pretty hot. The combat is fun and tactical.While the graphics are very much improved and its a visually beautiful game the KB & M controls are very awkward and its much better with a controller. Also the cut scenes are well done but a bit grainy for my tastes. The voice acting is top notch and the story is very well written. Its not well optomized though and GPUs get a work out and run pretty hot. The combat is fun and tactical.

    The biggest negatives I have is the uneven difficulty in sections. Some areas are a cake walk and you feel like a true hero and slayer of bad and evil things, yet other times its nearly impossible to proceed when its an easy section. The second is the fixed camera angle. While tolerable it can be irritating and it MUST be changed in LofS2.

    Regardless its a good game and I look forward to continuing with LofS2 when it comes out this winter.    … Expand
  27. coupdegrac3
    Sep 24, 2013
    9
    this game is a 3 years old port from the consoles
    the graphics arent crisis 3 so dont expect that
    the dlc made the game even better. the endboss is extremely challenging and the story is just pure awesomenes it took me 22 hours for my first playtrough, after that you unlock the hardest difficulty and you can start again with all your powers and find even more upgrates and secrets    this game is a 3 years old port from the consoles
    the graphics arent crisis 3 so dont expect that
    the dlc made the game even better. the endboss is extremely challenging and the story is just pure awesomenes
    it took me 22 hours for my first playtrough, after that you unlock the hardest difficulty and you can start again with all your powers and find even more upgrates and secrets
    !!!beware this game needs a controller. else its unplayable
    and if you downvote this game only because you are a casual who play only facebook games and doesnt own a controller which costs 20$) then gtfo    … Expand
  28. azazqadir
    Sep 15, 2013
    9
    Great game. Awesome story, visuals, gameplay, and ending. Needless to say, these type of games must not be played on keyboard, but on joystick. So don't get frustrated when you are trying to play it on keyboard. Anyway, this game is a must play.
  29. kyosuke69
    Sep 29, 2013
    9
    The first 1/3 of the game is throw-away, but the last two-thirds comprise some of the best visual design and gameplay in video game history. Stick with it, it gets better as soon as you hit the Vampire Castle.
  30. Cookiemonster_
    Sep 16, 2013
    9
    Great game.I don't get someone who is saying that the graphics are bad.Well maybe it's not here technicaly but this games probably has one of the most detailed enviroments ends thats probably what kept me playing the game.The only flaw for this game are his keyboard controls which leaves the music box as box of frustation in my memory
  31. Zoidberg_MD
    Dec 23, 2013
    9
    This game was great on consoles, and being able to play it in true HD at 60 frames is worth the purchase. I picked it up on steam sale after having already played it and I still enjoy it. The artwork is amazing. The geometry in this game is top notch and you get lost in the ambiance of the levels. The combat is competent and fun. It's a basic combo game. The storyline is good if you areThis game was great on consoles, and being able to play it in true HD at 60 frames is worth the purchase. I picked it up on steam sale after having already played it and I still enjoy it. The artwork is amazing. The geometry in this game is top notch and you get lost in the ambiance of the levels. The combat is competent and fun. It's a basic combo game. The storyline is good if you are patient and thoughtful. The end is very much worth it and I cannot wait for the second game.… Expand
  32. GAGMR
    Apr 29, 2016
    1
    Went into the game with an open mind because it's on sale but good god.

    PROS -None CONS -Fixed camera angles -Terrible auto-targeting system -The whole game is a tutorial (got to the 2nd chapter & was still getting tutorial messages) -Tedious repetitive combat (attack,dodge,repeat) -Incredibly linear -Bad Story -Boring Characters -It's Boring -it even made Patrick Stewart    Went into the game with an open mind because it's on sale but good god.

    PROS
    -None

    CONS
    -Fixed camera angles
    -Terrible auto-targeting system
    -The whole game is a tutorial (got to the 2nd chapter & was still getting tutorial messages)
    -Tedious repetitive combat (attack,dodge,repeat)
    -Incredibly linear
    -Bad Story
    -Boring Characters
    -It's Boring
    -it even made Patrick Stewart sound like a robotic tool

    STORY

    You're wife's dead & you're emo. Patrick Stalwart shows up & says, "We can bring your wife back by making you into a god!" So you go around killing things until it happens, I assume.

    GAMEPLAY

    You Mash X when there's a single target & Y when there's multiple targets while dodging or jumping over attacks. You can block but you might as well just dodge. You get the power to absorb magic orbs & add "Light Magic" to your attacks which only serves to give you lifesteal. Also, why don't the orbs just absorb when I get close? Why do I have to hold a button down to absorb them? That adds absolutely nothing to the gameplay & just leaves you open during combat.

    The camera is so god awful. Enemies will attack you off camera by leaping at you or throwing bombs & the auto targeting is so bad that you'll constantly miss when you throw knives. Don't even get me started on the QTE's which only serve to break up the already boring combat & make it even more boring.

    Then the way the areas are designed are just straight lines with small off paths that lead to either an upgrade or to something that could have been put on the main path like a Regeneration Fountain. There was one path that almost the same as the other path with the exception of an item being hidden on it. Why? What is the point of making the paths lead to the exact same place if the only difference is one has an upgrade? That's blatantly punishing players who choose the path without the upgrade forcing them to replay the level just to find it. It's padding at it's absolute worst.

    To make matters worse every level I played has or is a tutorial. Level 1? Combat tutorial. Level 2? Jumping tutorial. Level 3? New item tutorial. Level 4? Boss tutorial. Level 5? Magic tutorial. Level 6? Poison effect tutorial. ENOUGH WITH THE TUTORIALS!

    OVERALL

    I do not like this game. In fact, with the two hours I spent playing about half or more of that was in cutscenes & replaying levels to find an item I missed. And every time I replayed a level all I could think was, "What is the point of this? Why is this in the game? Why is that in the game? This isn't fun. It adds nothing to the game. This only serves to extend the level to make it seem longer than it actually is!"

    Like, holy hell this game is bad & I barely played it. Very Positive? I refuse to believe that. The game feels like a checklist of what NOT to do in a video game & I only played it for around 2 hours! If you can't find enjoyment in the first 2 hours of playing then it's not a good game.

    The game starts you off in a tutorial that leads to another tutorial that leads to another tutorial that leads to another tutorial, Then I got to chapter 2 & guess what? More tutorials! Screw this, I'm done! Wake me up when Konami decides to stop treating gamers like mentally challenged piggy banks.    … Expand
  33. kch3691
    Apr 3, 2018
    4
    A bad God of War clone that has little to do with the old Castlevania games. The unresponsive controls and bad camera make this one not worth your time at all.
  34. xuthan
    Jan 1, 2014
    10
    Lords of Shadow is a great game. If I were to rate it, it would get between 8.5 and 9 out of 10. I'm making this review 10/10 because of the lack of justified reviews for 0 and idiots saying the game looks outdated/pixelated/whatever junk comes out their mouth. Is the game 100% unplayable? No. Minimum I'd expect would be 5/10 because people's tastes of games vary. Anything lower is justLords of Shadow is a great game. If I were to rate it, it would get between 8.5 and 9 out of 10. I'm making this review 10/10 because of the lack of justified reviews for 0 and idiots saying the game looks outdated/pixelated/whatever junk comes out their mouth. Is the game 100% unplayable? No. Minimum I'd expect would be 5/10 because people's tastes of games vary. Anything lower is just garbage coming from another PC fanboy who doesn't know anything about computers, wishes he knows about computers, and blames consoles for everything negative in his substandard life.

    This is a port to PC but is it bad? No. The majority of these negative reviews don't even mention real issues. If the story ties well with the second game that is about to be released, then the cross reference could actually make this game extremely good. At the moment, it is at least a 7/10 for story for most players. Graphics.. if it's an issue, then I'd say you need to get some therapy. As for gameplay, it balances out between action, puzzles and platforming so you don't get the feeling of repetitiveness and this is a major plus. Ability upgrades are more situational to how you play and if you don't replay the stages to farm up points, you'll need to spend them wisely. The combat is fairly simple and if you've played God of War, you should feel comfortable to play on hard difficulty of your first run.

    A lot of the negative reviews (below 5) came from people who basically pirated the game or basement trolls. Anyone who has remotely played the game would agree that the art was well done and anyone who payed for it would have known that it was meant to be played on a gamepad and would be prepared for compromises when playing on a keyboard and mouse.

    All third person slasher games suffer from keyboard and mouse and it gets tedious because you can't move the character freely with kb/m but that also applies to every other game. The only advantages the kb/m have over a gamepad are more keys and precision for point and click games MMORPG, RTS and shooting games. Gameplay that is focused on direction and positioning will always be better on the gamepad/joystick. Try playing the following game types on keyboard and mouse: aerial combat, car racing games, sports games, any hack&slash games, 3D platformers it will be at a massive disadvantage without the joystick.

    To the people complaining about low resolution textures and outdated graphics, I don't know if I should feel bad for you. You want good graphics? Go on hiking trip at some tropical island, realism right there in your face. Real water, real trees, real rocks, real sunlight affects, real sand, and real sounds of nature. After your trip, you'll see that games even at this stage are nowhere near realistic and stop making bs excuses comparing this game with other games. Tomb Raider, Crysis 3 and BF4 look nowhere near "real" and these are 2013 titles.    … Expand
  35. JuceCripple
    Nov 25, 2013
    10
    My opinion is that this game is freaking awesome, it has a great story runs on weaker computers and is a pleasure to play. One of my favorite games and i have played a lot but this is the only game i couldn't stop playing well only to eat, yeah 22 hours of non stop gaming (22 hours main story) this game is worth your attention and for graphics they are good not as good as some of the gamesMy opinion is that this game is freaking awesome, it has a great story runs on weaker computers and is a pleasure to play. One of my favorite games and i have played a lot but this is the only game i couldn't stop playing well only to eat, yeah 22 hours of non stop gaming (22 hours main story) this game is worth your attention and for graphics they are good not as good as some of the games that come out these dais but tat is nothing to the whole weight of the game. Simply AWESOME!!!… Expand
  36. Xifried
    Nov 22, 2013
    9
    A few minutes ago I finally managed to kill the boss of the last stage and as a long-time castlevania fan (since NES-times) I have to say that I am more than satisfied with the work of Mercury Steam. I can absolutely understand that many people were very unhappy with the resurrection DLC because they had to pay extra bugs for something that is short and really difficult. But hey asA few minutes ago I finally managed to kill the boss of the last stage and as a long-time castlevania fan (since NES-times) I have to say that I am more than satisfied with the work of Mercury Steam. I can absolutely understand that many people were very unhappy with the resurrection DLC because they had to pay extra bugs for something that is short and really difficult. But hey as someone who started gaming in the 80s I love this endboss! Adrenalin is still running through my veins and it really feels like meeting and old friend.
    The fight-system is really well done and the graphics, especially the bosses look really great. The only absolutely negative element that I have to mention is that your character is constantly blocked by invisible walls from the environment, but maybe they improve that part with LOS2?    … Expand
  37. Yugure
    Apr 11, 2015
    4
    This game just not castlevania. Just another annoying slasher from spain company. It have no great music like in original games, no exploration, just dmc/god of war clone.
    Can't accept this as castlevania.
    Well, game have nice graphic and story, it is not bad, but not a castlevania, just commercial usage of brand.
  38. Pr8Dator
    Mar 7, 2014
    10
    In my first 2 hours of this game, I would have rated it no more than 4 / 10 due to not having any camera control and the fact that it is unplayably laggy using keyboard and mouse. However, once I bought a gamepad, this game truly transformed... not having camera control became a plus as controlling camera seperately using gamepad is truly a chore and gamepad control is sooo incrediblyIn my first 2 hours of this game, I would have rated it no more than 4 / 10 due to not having any camera control and the fact that it is unplayably laggy using keyboard and mouse. However, once I bought a gamepad, this game truly transformed... not having camera control became a plus as controlling camera seperately using gamepad is truly a chore and gamepad control is sooo incredibly smooth and responsive, its amazing. From then on, the music, atmosphere and how the protagonist transform over time into the epic character he is throughout the castlevania series dragged me deeper and deeper into the lore and story of the game. By the end of the game, I just wanted more... more of the story, the emotions, the excitement, the immersion... I wanted so much more of this that I pre-ordered the sequel. If you enjoy an epic, emotional story that leads to a story and lore of epic proportion (and you enjoyed other similar games such as Darksiders), this is a must buy!… Expand
  39. cmxavier86
    Apr 22, 2015
    1
    I love Castlevania, but this is crap. The fixed camera sucks, the controllers are broken, the 90% of the enemies have a ground attack (hello creativity). I'm at the third episode and it's getting worse, it's a hard game but for all those bad reasons.
    If you want to play a good hack 'n' slash go buy Darksiders 2.
  40. Zizo-Mass
    May 6, 2016
    3
    Esse jogo tinha tudo para ser bom, mas os problemas de level designer, controles e câmera tornam toda a experiência um estres sem fim! Bom parte do jogo você morrera, não pela dificuldade, mas por câmeras virando para o lugar errado, personagem não respondendo aos controles ou fazendo saltos em plataforma de maneira totalmente desengonçada! Esse jogo tinha tudo pra ser bom, mas a falta deEsse jogo tinha tudo para ser bom, mas os problemas de level designer, controles e câmera tornam toda a experiência um estres sem fim! Bom parte do jogo você morrera, não pela dificuldade, mas por câmeras virando para o lugar errado, personagem não respondendo aos controles ou fazendo saltos em plataforma de maneira totalmente desengonçada! Esse jogo tinha tudo pra ser bom, mas a falta de capricho na jogabilidade tornou toda a experiência algo extremamente irritante!… Expand
  41. Knukkohead
    Sep 5, 2013
    10
    I'm pretty new to castlevania so i don't really get that "classic castlevania, old school, remake" thing that most here make a fuss about, for me it is pretty neat game with nice graphics, great story, interesting combat system, yes it does become repetitive sometimes but hey, call a game that doesn't have some repetitive parts, it is hard for developers to make it so much unique in allI'm pretty new to castlevania so i don't really get that "classic castlevania, old school, remake" thing that most here make a fuss about, for me it is pretty neat game with nice graphics, great story, interesting combat system, yes it does become repetitive sometimes but hey, call a game that doesn't have some repetitive parts, it is hard for developers to make it so much unique in all ways...
    Some give 0 out of 10 just cause there's a crappy texture on a wooden log hidden somewhere in a corner of a map? I mean really, how much more ridiculous can you get? Don't know about the rest but i buy games to actually play them, not enjoy the environment... yes it is nice to have good graphics but complaining about some small details is just stupid. Mad about controlls? Buy a god damn xbox controller, i mean it IS originally a console game... i played many games on PC with xbox controller cause it is really better and more interesting that way.
    Oh well it's impossible to make everyone happy anyway...    … Expand
  42. DeWitt
    Sep 5, 2013
    10
    This game is very good port from the consoles. It runs flawless in my pc, the game feel more dynamic thanks to the 60 fps; the game camera could be an issue for some people but it isn´t for me.
    It have a great gameplay and story, different from the classic games but at the same time it feel like something new that really need the Castlevania series.
  43. Bloodhit
    Nov 27, 2013
    5
    This a solid game with insane amount of bad game design, that can frustrated you all the time throughout the whole game.

    Like auto-saves BEFORE cut-scenes, that you forced to skip, because game always save before them, and never after. Or not unable to move camera at all, since it fixed in bird ass, there was plenty of games in 90's where you can move camera, in this one you CAN'T.    This a solid game with insane amount of bad game design, that can frustrated you all the time throughout the whole game.

    Like auto-saves BEFORE cut-scenes, that you forced to skip, because game always save before them, and never after. Or not unable to move camera at all, since it fixed in bird ass, there was plenty of games in 90's where you can move camera, in this one you CAN'T.

    Or more small thing like balancing on a beam with top view, how the hell you should do it, how? I Feel like Dev's also notice this and just slap "Hold a button to not fall" on it.

    The whole fighting system is really boring, and you feel like it forced you to play in specific way, not giving you any freedom at all.(Compare to DMC3-4)

    However there was few good decisions like ability to skip or see solution for puzzles, or story readed by Sir Patrick Stewart.

    The overall game providing very frustrating experience.    … Expand
  44. Shasow
    Oct 11, 2013
    10
    I was honestly not expecting much from this game, but I'm just absolutely blown away. Lets start with the positives. Graphics aren't the best, but the amount of detail put in the levels and level design really make up for this. The areas are just beautiful. Combat is very action-packed and I like it just fine. Unlockable skills make combat feel fresh every time. Perfect story, with someI was honestly not expecting much from this game, but I'm just absolutely blown away. Lets start with the positives. Graphics aren't the best, but the amount of detail put in the levels and level design really make up for this. The areas are just beautiful. Combat is very action-packed and I like it just fine. Unlockable skills make combat feel fresh every time. Perfect story, with some major plot twists that I really enjoyed. The storytelling is done just wonderfully. The game is very dark (as in dark-fantasy), which I just love.

    There isn't much I don't like about this game. I only have two gripes with this game: the controls and the camera. The VERY FIRST THING you MUST do when you launch the game is CHANGE THE KEY-BINDINGS. I can't stress this enough. This game is a console-port, but the controls aren't that bad once you change them to be more PC-friendly. After configuring the key-bindings, the controls aren't an issue (although some puzzles are a bit wacky; one even showed Xbox buttons instead of keyboard buttons!). Second, the camera. This is more of a personal preference, but I do not like the camera very much. It's fine most of the time, but I find it simply odd other times. Third-person, with the ability to look around, would have suited this game much better, but they would have to change the game quite a bit to make this work, so the camera is not much of an issue for me.

    I love this game, and I simply cannot wait for Lords of Shadow 2. I haven't played any previous Castlevania titles, but I think that's about to change after playing this.    … Expand
  45. Liteit
    Nov 17, 2013
    5
    As for me, I didn't like this game. It's just boring. It has interesting enemies, levels and background. But after 4 hours I just felt i can't continue it, the gameplay was really dull. Great game to try, but it's not for everyone.
  46. Tanabe
    Nov 10, 2013
    10
    Fantastic game full of adventure. Soundtrack unique and unforgettable! Gorgeous graphics, good gameplay and engrossing story.
    Despite all these advantages the game is more like a prologue of castlevania. It would be a new Van Hellsing (Could be a new franchise?)
    What matters is that this was one of the best games I ever played. Portuguese Fantástico jogo cheio de aventuras. Trilha    Fantastic game full of adventure. Soundtrack unique and unforgettable! Gorgeous graphics, good gameplay and engrossing story.
    Despite all these advantages the game is more like a prologue of castlevania. It would be a new Van Hellsing (Could be a new franchise?)
    What matters is that this was one of the best games I ever played.

    Portuguese
    Fantástico jogo cheio de aventuras. Trilha sonora única e inesquecível! Lindos gráficos, jogabilidade boa e história cativante.
    Apesar de todas essas vantagens o jogo está mais para um prólogo de castlevania. Seria mais um novo Van Hellsing(Poderia ser uma nova franquia?)
    O que importa que esse foi um dos melhores jogos que já joguei.    … Expand
  47. Bernkastel12
    Mar 30, 2014
    0
    This garbage is the worst game of this generation. The controls sucks,the camera sucks,the combat sucks,the platforming is atrocious, and the music box level is the most frustrating thing i have ever played in my entire gaming life. Even more than the old NES games!!!!!! for the good of all don't buy this trash.
  48. cottoneyej31
    May 21, 2015
    0
    Too much story, too many cut scenes and QTE's are lazy development. Shoddy controls and unclear cues make moving around levels and fighting bosses frustrating. The game tries to have in depth combat but it boils down to, whip whip dodge. Frustrating camera angles plague game play as well making boss fights a pain as well.

    Avoid this game.
  49. Indrigis
    Jan 4, 2014
    4
    While surely it is a great endeavor with huge production values Lords of Shadow fails terribly as a game. Good for watching, maybe, but playing it is a chore.

    The combat is rather bad due a to a very shallow moveset which gives you ten weak attacks executed in various combos and only a couple strong ones which either require a combo before them or consume lots of magic and don't really    While surely it is a great endeavor with huge production values Lords of Shadow fails terribly as a game. Good for watching, maybe, but playing it is a chore.

    The combat is rather bad due a to a very shallow moveset which gives you ten weak attacks executed in various combos and only a couple strong ones which either require a combo before them or consume lots of magic and don't really make much of a difference. Add to that a fixed camera with no target lock and you're left tapping X again and again and AGAIN because landing something bigger isn't worth the effort and risk. Enemies also get a lot of unblockable attacks they promptly use outside of your camera view. Timed blocks and dodges, again, give you no significant advantage. Grabs, throws, disarms, using the environment? Nope, not in this game.

    The other big part of the game is puzzles. While they might be challenging occasionally there's always a scroll nearby that allows you to bypass them for the price of losing the experience reward. And half of those puzzles don't even make sense in context. They are puzzles for the sake of puzzles. You must make all the flippers in a pachinko-style automaton green BECAUSE REASONS!

    Also the game does a LOT of handholding. You have to come near EVERY extra-strong door and examine it so the game can condescendingly explain that the door is extra strong and you'll need some outside means of opening it. Only after that the outside means will be available to you. Any significant object or action will immediately get a camera focused on them for a good five seconds while the character is still being hit by the enemies off-screen. If you press a button while interacting with some mechanism you WILL watch the mechanism do whatever you requested until you are allowed to exit the interaction and be on your way.

    Every level also has a challenge. Only unlocked AFTER you beat it. You know, FOR REPLAYABILITY!

    Broken game flow, dull combat, bland level design with a fixed camera and no mobility (insurmountable waist-high fences everywhere) and irrelevant puzzles make this an exercise in frustration rather than an enjoyable game.

    Great graphics, though. Almost as god as in... Any other game with a budget.    … Expand
  50. Fuz
    Jun 18, 2014
    8
    Pretty good game with some flaws.
    It's fun to play, the combat can be challenging and rewarding and the controls are responsive and easy to learn (maybe one less key to absorb energy would have been nice) and work pretty well on a PC keyboard. The platforming is kinda boring and just a waste of time, there's no challenge in it, you basically just follow a rail The combat has lots of    Pretty good game with some flaws.
    It's fun to play, the combat can be challenging and rewarding and the controls are responsive and easy to learn (maybe one less key to absorb energy would have been nice) and work pretty well on a PC keyboard. The platforming is kinda boring and just a waste of time, there's no challenge in it, you basically just follow a rail The combat has lots of skills and combos, maybe too many, but you'll end up using always the same moves to be on the safe side; you'll almost never use 90% of the combos and skills, there's no incentive to do it and it's just an useless added danger.
    But the biggest, worst, most unforgivable flaw is the camera. It's bad. It's very bad. It keeps switching angle while you're moving, making you go back or toward places you didn't intend to go to. It keeps enemies out of the screen. A few times it kept the main character out of the screen... during a platform puzzle. It's a terrible, terrible camera and I'm amazed at how it could pass the QA testing.

    All in all though, it's a pretty good and fun game.    … Expand
  51. matrices
    Oct 9, 2013
    9
    It's been a long, long time since I've seen a game present such tremendous depth, breadth, and beauty. At every turn you're furnished with fresh evidence of just how much care and love and attention to detail the developers poured into the game. It's not a perfect game and it's not an original idea, but it's extremely well executed, gigantic in scope, and still meticulously crafted.

    The    It's been a long, long time since I've seen a game present such tremendous depth, breadth, and beauty. At every turn you're furnished with fresh evidence of just how much care and love and attention to detail the developers poured into the game. It's not a perfect game and it's not an original idea, but it's extremely well executed, gigantic in scope, and still meticulously crafted.

    The graphics deserve special mention. I switched from the PS3 version to the PC because of the arresting visuals a combination of extraordinary art design and beautiful rendering. Even when, true to the title, the game took its inevitable dark turn, the onscreen result somehow transcended the grim-dark scenery typical of dark fantasy.

    I can't recommend it enough. It's the rare game I've completed despite owning most big -A- games and I don't even playing anything in the genre.    … Expand
  52. Ezrielthefallen
    Sep 24, 2013
    10
    While it didn't make me feel as much as Lament of Innocence, Lords Of Shadow is a prime example of how reboots can work. For everyone having issues with the faulty camera. IT WAS DELIBERATE.
  53. Blackcompany
    Feb 23, 2014
    1
    What's here is good. Which is no surprise, since 100% of what's here, came from other games that had already proven it works. Dracula might be the protagonist in name, but if you purchased a DLC for the most recent DMC title that featured a gothic city setting, you wouldn't be able to tell it apart from this game. From the double jumping to the fast sword/slow, powerful claws combatWhat's here is good. Which is no surprise, since 100% of what's here, came from other games that had already proven it works. Dracula might be the protagonist in name, but if you purchased a DLC for the most recent DMC title that featured a gothic city setting, you wouldn't be able to tell it apart from this game. From the double jumping to the fast sword/slow, powerful claws combat system, this game is a straight up DMC clone with a gothic texture package. Once you've purchased this, why not just go ahead and buy yourself a Flappy Bird clone. You'd be supporting the same type of game development either way.… Expand
  54. 123yumyum
    Aug 13, 2014
    10
    this instalment of Castlevania is one of the greatest games i have ever played. it is challenging, the controls are brilliant, and the story is something else. the best thing about it, in my opinion, are the puzzles that you must complete to get to different areas- something i have noticed bothers many gamers, but what is a good game if there are no proper challenges. the little thingsthis instalment of Castlevania is one of the greatest games i have ever played. it is challenging, the controls are brilliant, and the story is something else. the best thing about it, in my opinion, are the puzzles that you must complete to get to different areas- something i have noticed bothers many gamers, but what is a good game if there are no proper challenges. the little things also impress me: the endless amount of combos, the fact you need to press keys to absorb energy is quite a good feature (so its not too easy to overpower everything), and the main character is quite fantastic. so all in all it is a perfect score from me.… Expand
  55. Bradagan
    Sep 17, 2013
    3
    Ugh, bit of a disappointment here. I love 2d castlevania and have played the pants off and completed maybe half a dozen of the more recent handheld ones.

    Lords of Shadow, whilst gorgeous, nicely voice acted, and fairly atmospheric (if you don't mind yourself some rather cheesy cliché) misses out on most of what makes 2d castlevania so great. Rather than clever level design, the fixed    Ugh, bit of a disappointment here. I love 2d castlevania and have played the pants off and completed maybe half a dozen of the more recent handheld ones.

    Lords of Shadow, whilst gorgeous, nicely voice acted, and fairly atmospheric (if you don't mind yourself some rather cheesy cliché) misses out on most of what makes 2d castlevania so great.

    Rather than clever level design, the fixed ingame camera is method by which secrets are hidden, often they're deliberately placed in the far foreground of an area so they'll be in plain sight of the main character, but hidden to the player. It also means combat (which is already pretty repetitive and dull) can be made more difficult by the fact that some of the enemies will run offscreen into the foreground when they begin their attacks.

    Climbing segments are far too frequent, totally linear, and very obviously artificial, (there's always one perfect path composed of glowing ledges and whippable rings up any cliff, structure, or building that the game wants you to traverse) and length is padded to a tedious degree with constant sidequests and pointless distractions. "Retrieve 3 keys from 3 guardians before you can progress" "A chupacabras has stolen all your spells and items, play hide and seek with it for 10 minutes before you can continue." "Slowly wind this crank to open the exit to the room. Oh no! Enemies have spawned. Fight them off so you can wind the crank unaccosted." All of these events will happen 3-4 times, some of them (opening doors) maybe as much as a dozen occurrences.

    Usually Castlevania games are all about using your abilities to explore branching paths. Here though, whilst it looks like there are many paths to explore, it's just an illusion. What look to be interesting ledges, paths and side tracks are all just part of the scenery and can't be accessed, even when you have abilities that should allow it. (Invisible walls keep you hemmed in constantly, you couldn't even run off a cliff if you tried to for most of the game.) and the few areas you might discover early on are fenced off by arbitrary obstacles, not allowing you to pass until you've beaten chapter X and unlocked the Y ability. In classic Castlevania those areas will lead to whole new sections, items, abilities, weapons and secrets, in Lords of Shadow, all it leads to are 1 of three pickups that will increase your life, light or dark magic by a miniscule amount.

    Big whoop.

    Buy it for some nice graphics and if it's super cheap. Don't expect it to make the transition from 2d to 3d like Metroid Prime managed.    … Expand
  56. DRMtookMYlife
    Oct 29, 2013
    7
    Quick Time Events always have and always will suck. Mercury Steam commits the grievous mistake of making their, otherwise, excellent game rife with them. I cant adequately explain my frustration after playing this game. LoS as a whole is very good: combat is fast and fluid, the story and atmosphere are dark and "adult", environments are impressive, but the dependence on QTEs really dragQuick Time Events always have and always will suck. Mercury Steam commits the grievous mistake of making their, otherwise, excellent game rife with them. I cant adequately explain my frustration after playing this game. LoS as a whole is very good: combat is fast and fluid, the story and atmosphere are dark and "adult", environments are impressive, but the dependence on QTEs really drag this game down. Easily a 8.5 9 if not for terrible, awful, quick time events.… Expand
  57. voiders
    Nov 11, 2013
    9
    Played this game at xbox 360 in 2010 and now I´m so happy with Pc version.
    I don't know why so many are angry, that was a good port to PC.
    The game is cool, I love the 2D Castlevania, but this one is just different. Is not better or worst. The graphics are ok, is not perfect but some times surprise. No problem with resolution or cut scenes, that is a huge lie! I'm playing in full hd    Played this game at xbox 360 in 2010 and now I´m so happy with Pc version.
    I don't know why so many are angry, that was a good port to PC.

    The game is cool, I love the 2D Castlevania, but this one is just different. Is not better or worst.
    The graphics are ok, is not perfect but some times surprise. No problem with resolution or cut scenes, that is a huge lie! I'm playing in full hd without problem.
    The story is amazing, i just cant wait for the LoS 2.

    And about the camera and "invisible walls" problem. Is the same at video games. What wrong with you guys? Is just the way that game was made. A game deserves 0 just because you don't like fixed camera? So poor Resident Evil 2, don't it?    … Expand
  58. Morogath
    Dec 3, 2013
    5
    The game itself is fairly ok, allthough some mechanics fall into the "dated"-category. The story is pretty forgettable, so is the design. It's very poorly optimised for the PC and is practically not playable with mouse and keyboard. So steer clear if you don't own a gamepad. But even if you do: I really can't recommend it wholeheartedly.
  59. Frostmourne
    Sep 25, 2013
    10
    Castlevania Is one the greatest game, Nice story, the environment is superb,,, some people says this game is bad.. i think they cannot finish the quest and they can't understand.. that why they put zero score..
  60. goodterling
    Sep 2, 2013
    2
    This game has the worst case of invisible walls EVER. You have to feel your way through the game like a blind person, guessing where the "real" path is, because the developers funnel you down an invisible hamster tube which only loosely coincides with the environment. I expect some invisible walls like God of War has, but a narrow tube? Lazy!

    I kept hearing how great the graphics    This game has the worst case of invisible walls EVER. You have to feel your way through the game like a blind person, guessing where the "real" path is, because the developers funnel you down an invisible hamster tube which only loosely coincides with the environment. I expect some invisible walls like God of War has, but a narrow tube? Lazy!

    I kept hearing how great the graphics were---and there are some beautiful views--but far more common are repetitive BROWN textures. A lot of the backdrops merge into a BROWN soup, making it hard to see ledges and such. The combat is God of War minus the creativity, and double the repetitiveness. There are weird combat difficulty spikes where I was hitting baddies for so long I thought the game was bugged. Nope, I just had to hit them even longer.

    The one bright spot is the Titan battles, which are Shadow of the Colossus "climb and stab" style take-downs of giant creatures. Fun, but nothing new here. I'm still waiting for someone to do some real, current-gen innovation for this mechanic.
    Overall this game plays like it was made in the late 90's, and looks like it's from around 2003. I do not get the high scores it's receiving.    … Expand
  61. waltergirona
    Aug 28, 2013
    2
    I can't find a positive element for this game, despite the makers having taken so long to release it for Pc. Gabriel Belmont is bad rendered, with poor graphic quality and faded colours. The dialogues are slow and dull, the enemies and the other characters are tedious. Cutscenes are atrocious to watch and have remained untouched at 720p. You need a control pad to play the game because itI can't find a positive element for this game, despite the makers having taken so long to release it for Pc. Gabriel Belmont is bad rendered, with poor graphic quality and faded colours. The dialogues are slow and dull, the enemies and the other characters are tedious. Cutscenes are atrocious to watch and have remained untouched at 720p. You need a control pad to play the game because it is very awkward with the keyboard. But I don't think this game is worth your attention, there are hundreds titles better than this shallow thing around.… Expand
  62. tyramouter
    Aug 28, 2013
    2
    I am truly disappointed by the way Castlevania has been adapted to the computer audience. I have been playing the game for long to test its features but it has no involvement appeal, it is monotonous and repetitive, resulting bland and boring for most the time. From the technical side, it is outdated and it doesn't take advantage of the latest video graphics cards for pc, having someI am truly disappointed by the way Castlevania has been adapted to the computer audience. I have been playing the game for long to test its features but it has no involvement appeal, it is monotonous and repetitive, resulting bland and boring for most the time. From the technical side, it is outdated and it doesn't take advantage of the latest video graphics cards for pc, having some horrible textures, no existing bump mapping, ruined antialiasing and very uncomfortable keyboard commands. The game has no appeal and i see no reason to buy it for pc. Better trying it on console.… Expand
  63. JockelzF
    Oct 22, 2013
    3
    hugely dissappointed with this game. the combat is mediocre at best, story might be interesting but the presentation is too lame for me to care and the concept of finding most upgrades or other important items by running/jumping into the fixed camera's blind spots is simply atrocious. graphics are also not good, but they are alright and not the main problem with this game.
  64. Rastafunrise
    Sep 9, 2013
    0
    This is a first time that I give a 0 to a game on this site, but this one doesn't deserve more. I'm a PC gamer and I am very happy when a company announces a hack'n'slash game for PC, because they are very rare on this platform and I like them very much. But OMG. This game is frickin boring. I've played about 5 hours, but I'm not sure that I'll be able to continue it. The story isThis is a first time that I give a 0 to a game on this site, but this one doesn't deserve more. I'm a PC gamer and I am very happy when a company announces a hack'n'slash game for PC, because they are very rare on this platform and I like them very much. But OMG. This game is frickin boring. I've played about 5 hours, but I'm not sure that I'll be able to continue it. The story is mediocre, the main character is boring, the gameplay is boring, the levels are boring, the enemies are unimaginative. This game is a big dissapointment for me so far.… Expand
  65. Sjago
    Sep 3, 2013
    2
    I find this game utterly terrible. The animations are really bad and the story could be way better. The controls are a nightmare, plus theres no control over the camera. That was nice 10 years ago, when hardware was too bad to support 3D environments.

    The combat feels awkward, theres no need for gabriels fancy combos when you can do just fine with standard button mashing. There are too    I find this game utterly terrible. The animations are really bad and the story could be way better. The controls are a nightmare, plus theres no control over the camera. That was nice 10 years ago, when hardware was too bad to support 3D environments.

    The combat feels awkward, theres no need for gabriels fancy combos when you can do just fine with standard button mashing. There are too many so called "riddles" which you can solve easily, the game needs way more action. Whatever, my review will be voted down by some fanboys anyway.

    Conclusion:

    Bad:
    Bad animations
    Bad controls
    Bad story
    Bad Camera
    Outdated combat system
    Useless combos
    Useless magic abilities

    Good:
    Pretty pre-rendered backgrounds (lol)
    great bosses    … Expand
  66. Eglin
    Aug 29, 2013
    5
    This game features nice graphics and what appears to be a good story, but it's all wasted due to horrendously poor fighting mechanisms and shoddy camera control. The fighting and platforming sections feel like they were transplanted directly from a console game 15 years ago there's not a single thing creative or unique. The camera is so bad that the monsters your hero is fighting areThis game features nice graphics and what appears to be a good story, but it's all wasted due to horrendously poor fighting mechanisms and shoddy camera control. The fighting and platforming sections feel like they were transplanted directly from a console game 15 years ago there's not a single thing creative or unique. The camera is so bad that the monsters your hero is fighting are frequently off-screen with no way to turn and face them. The enormous length of the game might be a wonderful bonus if the game were at all worth playing instead, it feels like work to get from one level to the next. Nearly every level has one or more hero upgrades that are inaccessible on the first play-through, which is a slap in the face to those of us who are unlikely to even slog through the game the first time. Definitely rent this one for a console before spending more than the cost of a three-day rental to own it.… Expand
  67. ActuallyPlayed
    Aug 29, 2013
    1
    i guess the critics play 1 version and base other versions reviews off the version the played sad but i get it in this instance i doubt they would have given it as high a score if the played the pc version .

    some users say insane things like with the settings at max it looks next gen maybe if you suffering from schizophrenia or dementia but for every one else it looks like a game    i guess the critics play 1 version and base other versions reviews off the version the played sad but i get it in this instance i doubt they would have given it as high a score if the played the pc version .

    some users say insane things like with the settings at max it looks next gen maybe if you suffering from schizophrenia or dementia but for every one else it looks like a game from 6 years ago low rez textures things overall look to clean now days things have dirt and imperfections so people know there are at least 1024 textures on them .

    controls are horrible and at this point you would be better off with any other 3d action game or 3rd person shooter go play metal gear solid 5 or devil may cry or even the new tomb raider and forget about this sub par junk

    even if the pc got this 2 years ago it would have been a bad game and some would still cover for the developer even if they didnt pay for that version of the game but no one reads all the reviews for anything so i doubt anything past the score i gave maters    … Expand
  68. yurikal
    Aug 29, 2013
    3
    Very, very bad.
    Fixed Camera makes the game completely frustrating, and most of all the bad graphic: oh my god, I never see a PC game in 2013 looks so ugly, with horrible textures, and it runs also at lower fps than great looking games like Devil May Cry or similar. It looks like a 2005 games, I think it's a shame for the developers and for Konami to give the "Castlevania" name to this    Very, very bad.
    Fixed Camera makes the game completely frustrating, and most of all the bad graphic: oh my god, I never see a PC game in 2013 looks so ugly, with horrible textures, and it runs also at lower fps than great looking games like Devil May Cry or similar. It looks like a 2005 games, I think it's a shame for the developers and for Konami to give the "Castlevania" name to this game and to ask money for it.
    Do not buy!!    … Expand
  69. Evilcalyptic
    Aug 30, 2013
    2
    This game is exceedingly frustrating, which is a problem common with games 5 to 10 years ago and beyond. I am a firm believer in that frustration makes games worthless and unplayable, when something that shouldn't be hard is hard there is a problem. I created a metacritic account just because I wanted to get the word out there about the horrible mechanics of this game. We all know aboutThis game is exceedingly frustrating, which is a problem common with games 5 to 10 years ago and beyond. I am a firm believer in that frustration makes games worthless and unplayable, when something that shouldn't be hard is hard there is a problem. I created a metacritic account just because I wanted to get the word out there about the horrible mechanics of this game. We all know about the atrocious fixed camera, but also there's an issue with the synchronization of combo moves and completing circle commands. It should not be so hard to push a button when the circles line up to do finishing moves or dodge something. after 20 minutes of the game I was so frustrated and I wanted to throw my Microsoft controller halfway across the room, which is something I haven't experienced in years. Please avoid this game if your looking for something more smooth and a better gameplay experience.… Expand
  70. Nattramn
    Nov 18, 2013
    6
    Mediocre gameplay and story, and quicktime events are just cheap gamecrafting. But the artwork... wow! I hope the art-team gets paid well, becuase they are the ones building this game.
  71. Potitoman
    Jan 5, 2014
    5
    Here's a game that sinned that most fatal of sins. It frustrated and bored me.
    To be fair, it's not all that bad. The combat is okay, Nothing like Devil May Cry, but Okay.
    The main problem is that the whole game reeks of console. You run around till you trigger an event, then you go through some quicklime events. If you fail, you start again running around till you trigger an even    Here's a game that sinned that most fatal of sins. It frustrated and bored me.
    To be fair, it's not all that bad. The combat is okay, Nothing like Devil May Cry, but Okay.
    The main problem is that the whole game reeks of console. You run around till you trigger an event, then you go through some quicklime events. If you fail, you start again running around till you trigger an even again... ugh!
    By the end, it all feels like a chore. I go to work and get paid for chores, I don't want that in my game.    … Expand
  72. Storm1672
    Mar 10, 2014
    9
    One of the best of the genre, the game is epic. Epic boss fights, epic music, epic atmosphere. Great game and tough as hell on the highest difficulties. Great pacing overall and a combat system to master.

    After 3 years from the original release, the graphx hold up quite well but some of the mechanics could be more user-friendly. This is one of my favourite games of this gen.
  73. hansatan
    Sep 29, 2013
    8
    It runs very fine in solid 60 FPS FullHD, what is more in package you receive 2 additional DLCs which is fine. I played it on X360 few years ago but PC version convinced me to complete Gabriel's story.
  74. fludziom
    Apr 16, 2016
    6
    Visually starts very strong, but gets weaker towards the end. While being very impressive graphically, gameplaywise it is a very tedious game, that forces you to replay levels 2, 3 or sometimes more times. Combat is where the game falls flat. It has tones of combos but the vast majority of them aren’t needed. I finished the game on knight (hard) mostly mashing the x button, dogging andVisually starts very strong, but gets weaker towards the end. While being very impressive graphically, gameplaywise it is a very tedious game, that forces you to replay levels 2, 3 or sometimes more times. Combat is where the game falls flat. It has tones of combos but the vast majority of them aren’t needed. I finished the game on knight (hard) mostly mashing the x button, dogging and jumping. Enemy attacks also lack of variety. EVERY single large enemy uses annoying aerial shockwave attack. Every small enemy can be grabbed and qte-killed. The camera is horrible but manageable. Initially I had intended to play both games this and the sequel, but now I feel like I can’t possibly endure this gameplay for any longer.… Expand
  75. Vozzlefox
    Sep 4, 2014
    8
    Gameplay: Surprisingly fun; combat is your usual hack and slash DMC/god of war/bayonetta style with many unlockable upgrades and moves. Involves a lot of dodging and parrying and can at times be a little more punishing than it is challenging, which is my only pet peeve about this game. The second part of the gameplay consists of solving puzzles and 3D platforming.

    Graphics: Graphics are    Gameplay: Surprisingly fun; combat is your usual hack and slash DMC/god of war/bayonetta style with many unlockable upgrades and moves. Involves a lot of dodging and parrying and can at times be a little more punishing than it is challenging, which is my only pet peeve about this game. The second part of the gameplay consists of solving puzzles and 3D platforming.

    Graphics: Graphics are fine, nothing crazy but pretty enough to bring out the beauty of the environment and to make combat and platforming clear.

    Enviroment: The boards in this game are quite beautiful. You can tell the a lot of care has gone into the story and the environments in this game. Ranging from snow capped mountains and frozen lakes to swamp-filled forests and the famous breath-taking Dracula Castle.

    Story: Excellent gripping story    … Expand
  76. Darkvenom39
    Jun 1, 2018
    8
    Welcome to the Castlevania in a God of war skin ! story telling is a bit off but in the end of the game it has a good punch to it when you get to the sequel. The DLC is nice but the ending boss fight is so annoying !!! (but in a challenging way, but i really wish that they had made it a better fight like most bosses when its supposed to be epic !) Overall i dont understand the hate on thisWelcome to the Castlevania in a God of war skin ! story telling is a bit off but in the end of the game it has a good punch to it when you get to the sequel. The DLC is nice but the ending boss fight is so annoying !!! (but in a challenging way, but i really wish that they had made it a better fight like most bosses when its supposed to be epic !) Overall i dont understand the hate on this maybe because im a god of war fan i seem to like this game a lot but from reading fan comments i think that they are just cry babies who dont understand the true power and fun of this game !!! 8/10 pro's: great gameplay, fun levels, graphics, soundtrack, level design is beautiful !!!
    con's: the big boss fights are lame and annoying (especially in the dlc... the main regular size bosses are epic!), puzzle levels are badddddddddddd and will freak the **** out of you !!!, short levels with no interest's at time's (there are level's when you will ask yourself why am i doing this ???).    … Expand
  77. M300
    Oct 20, 2018
    10
    It's an excellent game. Only thing i disliked is the MLAA AA option, it blurs everything.
  78. ekabon
    Apr 18, 2020
    9
    Solid story and direction. Impressive visuals as well! And hey, vampires! What's not to like :)
  79. vigilanteOito8
    Jan 26, 2023
    8
    Jogo bonzin.
    Apesar de já ter uns 12 anos, o jogo ainda tem belos graficos.
  80. Satirus
    Aug 26, 2014
    9
    Lords of Shadow is aesthetically expressive, immersive, has a great narrative, fantastic boss fights, a deep and melancholic atmosphere, differentiate and inspired sceneries, charismatic characters and engaging gameplay!
    It is a very interesting take on the Castlevania series, using references from another games like Legacy of Kain, Shadow of the Colossus and God of War but with an unique    Lords of Shadow is aesthetically expressive, immersive, has a great narrative, fantastic boss fights, a deep and melancholic atmosphere, differentiate and inspired sceneries, charismatic characters and engaging gameplay!
    It is a very interesting take on the Castlevania series, using references from another games like Legacy of Kain, Shadow of the Colossus and God of War but with an unique personality.
    Lords of Shadow is among my favourite games of the most recent years, side by side with Witcher 2, L.A.Noire, Resistance 3, Dark Souls and a few others.    … Expand
  81. Androu
    Dec 25, 2013
    6
    Only play if you have time to waste and nothing to do. Not fun at all. I really can't understand the guy who said that this game was one of the best in the last ten years. The last game he played before this was probably pac-man. The story is bad, graphics are good, and gameplay not that fun. Wasted 8 bucks for almost nothing. Yet, if you have already played every single good game that hasOnly play if you have time to waste and nothing to do. Not fun at all. I really can't understand the guy who said that this game was one of the best in the last ten years. The last game he played before this was probably pac-man. The story is bad, graphics are good, and gameplay not that fun. Wasted 8 bucks for almost nothing. Yet, if you have already played every single good game that has been made and has absolutely almost nothing to do, you may give it a shot.… Expand
  82. joemama57
    Nov 7, 2013
    8
    This is what Castlevania fans have been waiting for. Castlevania LOS is an action packed adventure with an extremely dark story, a richly detailed world, and a memorable cast of characters and enemies. This is the best thing to happen to the series since Super Castlevania IV.

    First I want to talk about the production value of the game. This isn't some last minute game designed to take    This is what Castlevania fans have been waiting for. Castlevania LOS is an action packed adventure with an extremely dark story, a richly detailed world, and a memorable cast of characters and enemies. This is the best thing to happen to the series since Super Castlevania IV.

    First I want to talk about the production value of the game. This isn't some last minute game designed to take peoples money because it bears the name of a well established, critically acclaimed series. This game features voice acting from some of Hollywood's best talent. Robert Carlyle, Natascha McElhone and Sir Patrick Stewart all lend their voice too help immerse you in the experience. The games soundtrack was composed using a 120 piece orchestra, which ended up winning numerous awards. The beautiful level design gives players the feeling they are traversing massive landscapes despite the game being very linear. Sometimes you will find yourself standing still and admiring the gorgeous attention to detail in every level.

    The gameplay is similar to other action adventure games of the same genre (Dante's Inferno, God of War and Devil May Cry). You will be traversing mountain cliffs, swinging from ancient castles, solving puzzles, collecting upgrades, and of course, slaying countless demons and vampires. The combos in this game are very simple and easy to learn. Some games tend to go overboard with complicated combos but not LOS. They keep the combos simple enough so you don’t have to constantly pause the game and check the menu to remember what the combos are. The gameplay has just the right pacing too. Some games you will find yourself mindlessly slaying hordes of enemies to the point of boredom or exhaustion. The game developers know just when to give you those subtle breaks after short but intense fights.

    Like other action games of this type, it features RPG like mechanics. You gain XP from every kill, which you can spend on unlocking certain skills and combos. This simply sense of progression helps add some depth to the game. Also, if you feel like it, you can back track to certain levels to gain life upgrades or magic upgrades in case you missed them the first time through. Almost every level contains some sort of puzzle for you too solve. Most are fairly easy to solve and don't disrupt the pacing of the game. However, there are a couple of puzzles in the game that had me turning to a wiki for help…

    Castlevania LOS does have a couple of weaknesses though. The first one I want to address is the camera. You have no control over the camera in this game. It does an OK job for the most part but in certain areas, it can cause you to unintentionally end your quest in a hurry. I understand not giving you full 360 degree control (due to the linear level design) but being able to at least switch the angle would have been nice. My other big issue with this LOS is the amount of quick time events in the game…and there are tons! Some even completely blindside you during boss fights which cause you to start the fight over again if you fail to mash the button on time. The only way you could possibly have a chance to react is through trial and error. It’s a real shame they went this route. My last complaint is more PC specific. I really would have liked too have seen more adjustable graphics options in the PC port. Your given a choice of like 4 or 5 options which only add lighting effects and anti-aliasing. On that note, some of the textures could have been a little reworked. Some textures up close look a little bland.

    Very few action games of this genre have this amount of polish and production value. It has that dark and gothic atmosphere that Castlevania fans have been craving. If you have a chance to play this on an Xbox or Playstation, I recommend it. The PC port is not bad but could have been better. All things considered, Lords of Shadow will be a timeless classic for any Castlevania fan.    … Expand
  83. Sdric
    Feb 24, 2014
    8
    Castlevania:LoS is adifficult game to rate.
    Oldscholl gamer hate it, since this is not Castlevania.
    It's Devil May Cry. Good things first: +Good graphics +Interesting and great story +Many good cutscenes +Takes quite some hours to finish +A lot of skills to use +Riding enemies is a really cool feature +Finishing moves are awesome Now to the bad part: -Very linear -The    Castlevania:LoS is adifficult game to rate.
    Oldscholl gamer hate it, since this is not Castlevania.
    It's Devil May Cry.

    Good things first:
    +Good graphics
    +Interesting and great story
    +Many good cutscenes
    +Takes quite some hours to finish
    +A lot of skills to use
    +Riding enemies is a really cool feature
    +Finishing moves are awesome

    Now to the bad part:
    -Very linear
    -The game tries to force you to play each level a dozen times
    -- You get told what the level's challange is AFTER you finish it
    -- You can't access certain items without another item which you get much later in the story
    -- The hidden "heart/magic containers" sometimes are hidden at incredible stupid spots, where even though levels are liniar they seem impossible to find
    -Fights are repetitive. Even though you have a lot of skills you most often will simply attack twice, dodge. Rinse & repeat until you got enough energy for your strongest attack, use it. Rinse and repeat. THis remains the most efficient strategy for the whole game.

    Taking everything into account:
    Though I really liked the map design, visuals and story I sometimes found it hard to keep playing since I got frustrated by the game trying to force me to replay former stages.
    Even though everything looks different (great map design) I felt I was playing the same all over.

    It's so linear, that you have to treat it like a Telltale game.
    Play it for the story and the great designed stages.
    See it as a book or a movie, not as the action game it is supposed to be.    … Expand
  84. captainkane
    Mar 16, 2014
    6
    Lords of Shadow is simultaneously beautiful and flawed. Compared to its console counterparts, the PC version is significantly more stunning. More importantly, it plays smoothly. So Mercury Steam did a good job on the PC port. The Castlevania series is so fragmented these day I gave up on following it. But LOS brings everything into focus. It provides a story brimming in lore and full ofLords of Shadow is simultaneously beautiful and flawed. Compared to its console counterparts, the PC version is significantly more stunning. More importantly, it plays smoothly. So Mercury Steam did a good job on the PC port. The Castlevania series is so fragmented these day I gave up on following it. But LOS brings everything into focus. It provides a story brimming in lore and full of mystical characters while providing the origin story for Dracula.
    The production values for LOS are high. Environments are rich in detail. Character animations are fluid. Combat is varied and exciting. The music is superb. Virtually nothing was overlooked to establish the game's tone: hopeful yet futile. Darkness lurks around every corner. Overall, Mercury Steam made a great contribution to the franchise and rebooted it successfully. Unlike Team Ninja's reboot of Metroid: The Other M. Team Ninja all but destroyed the Metroid series and made Samus Aaron into an entitled snotty brat.
    So why the controversy? Well, the cameras are terrible. The immobile cameras are the biggest drawback to the game. This renders the game unplayable for some and is the sole reason for the game's lower than expected scores. Too often, obstacles and platforms will be off screen or just barely visible. In combat, enemies can charge from out of view. Without the ability to rotate the camera, players really lose out. Controls aren't always responsive while platforming either. I expected the platforming sections to rival Alice: Return to Madness. But LOS is much stiffer and clunkier. Occasionally buttons have to be pressed repeatedly to perform actions. Some puzzles can be frustrating because the timing has to be too perfect. This can upset even the most patient gamer. Fortunately, this isn't the case in combat. Another minor annoyance is the screen juddering. While standing still, the camera bounces. This is an "effect" added by the developers. It's annoying and I'm surprised they didn't remove it in the PC port. However, the effect vanishes while moving.
    The other gripe is the game's linear design. This backfired only because of the precedents set by Super Metroid and Castleviana: Symphony of the Night. But ultimately this is a matter preference. I honestly think the developers wanted to push the story forward. I wasn't bothered by LOS's linearity, especially since it will easily provide 10 hours of play in single tour. However, I concede that the platforming becomes repetitive and the uneven pacing can be a turn off. But the environments and enemies are varied enough to prevent the feeling of déjà vu. The ability to travel back to any completed level and replay it to uncover secrets and unlock more skills is a huge bonus. Who wouldn't want to replay a boss after beefing up their character a bit?Sadly, the game's linearity really holds back the main character's full potential. Upgrades are underutilized and the main character feels weak.
    Something unexpected is the game's autosave system. It saves often, so gamers will never be to far from where they fell. But the best part is how the system will save during a boss fights. Since bosses have multiple stages, players don't have to reengage the stages they defeated. This is awesome and underappreciated.
    Castlevania LOS is a fresh take on the series. But it definitely lacks platforming. If players can look past the awkward camera angles, they will find a lot to love about this game. Simply put, the game has true depth despite its linearity. And as I pointed out with Metroid: The Other M, not all reboots are successful. The major drawbacks are the immobile cameras, ocassionally stiff controls, and awkward platforming. These problems hold back what could have been one of the best Castlevania games ever. For those on the fence, wait for a Steam sale.    … Expand
  85. Basem101
    Sep 13, 2013
    7
    castlevania lords of shadow one of the most anticipated games for me this year and iam glad i wasn't disappointed well the game is good but it has a lot of flaws that makes it frustrating first the camera is bad at some points i couldn't see where to jump the graphics are not good they're just fine but what did i like about this game are the boss fights amazing story and i likedcastlevania lords of shadow one of the most anticipated games for me this year and iam glad i wasn't disappointed well the game is good but it has a lot of flaws that makes it frustrating first the camera is bad at some points i couldn't see where to jump the graphics are not good they're just fine but what did i like about this game are the boss fights amazing story and i liked the cinematic in this game… Expand
  86. Mariokata
    Nov 10, 2013
    8
    WOW This game is a blast. Seriously I fell in love with this game. The art style is absolutely FANTASTIC. The graphics of this game made me feel like I was watching a lord of the rings movie. BOSS fights are TOP NOTCH and as for story it has that epic feeling of adventure. This game has also a lot of variation in terms of gameplay like puzzles, hack and slash sections, platforming and evenWOW This game is a blast. Seriously I fell in love with this game. The art style is absolutely FANTASTIC. The graphics of this game made me feel like I was watching a lord of the rings movie. BOSS fights are TOP NOTCH and as for story it has that epic feeling of adventure. This game has also a lot of variation in terms of gameplay like puzzles, hack and slash sections, platforming and even in one section you have to play a chess game with a demon girl. The only problems I found about this game are some small bugs, some camera issues (cause camera is fixed and sometimes gets in the way) and there are some levels that are week in relation to other and feel out of place. Also some puzzles are hard to solve due to unresponsive controls because the camera gets in the way and your character is not controlled as it’s supposed to. In conclusion I have to say that this game is one of my favorite 2013 games and I highly recommend it.

    PROS: The art style and graphics are top notch, nice story,nice music, boss fights are awesome, lots of content and a lengthy campaign the two expansions (22 hrs total)

    CONS: Camera issues, some bugs, fighting can sometimes be repetitive; some levels are week and feel like fillers, Some control issues may frustrate you.

    Final score: 8/10    … Expand
  87. rork
    Oct 10, 2013
    6
    I'm trying really hard to finish this game, because the history looks amazing, the graphics and lights are really fantastic, but sometimes when you're playing it becomes annoying. The puzzles are very simple to solve, and the stages are only more of the same.
    In this game you will climb our down the walls, use your chain in some type of movements who looks like God of War, kill and ride    I'm trying really hard to finish this game, because the history looks amazing, the graphics and lights are really fantastic, but sometimes when you're playing it becomes annoying. The puzzles are very simple to solve, and the stages are only more of the same.
    In this game you will climb our down the walls, use your chain in some type of movements who looks like God of War, kill and ride some monsters, and when you fight some bosses, had to climb in then and pressing some buttons at time.
    I really liked the story, stage art and sound track, but looks like they wanted to extended the good ideas for making some hours of more gameplay, just to make you felling how long is to end this games.    … Expand
  88. Jason312
    Feb 26, 2014
    8
    I would recommend Castlevania: Lords of Shadow to anyone who enjoys 3rd person type adventure and combat games. As the game looks reasonably good but not amazing it will run on less powerful PC's as opposed to only a high end system.
  89. ricardomalias
    Dec 9, 2019
    9
    Excellent hack slack and puzzles union. It’s a great reboot to castlevania
  90. t4th002th
    Feb 24, 2014
    6
    eeehrm. first 3 hours i was quite excited. but there arent much different mobs. (i kill the same after 3chapters now) and combat isnt that awesome. fixed camera-angles and repetiv gameplay do the rest. my first review after 3 hours was quite euphoric, but the tension leaves as fast as she comes.
  91. GameHyena
    Jan 3, 2014
    8
    I'm a massive Castlevania fan, having played most of the 3d Castlevanias. This game stands out as one of the better. Though it seems some die hard fans of the "Metroidvania" styled Castlevanias that appeal to the Weeaboos out there who gush over SotN every chance they get disagree. However this game has huge amounts of appeal. The graphics are wonderful aside from a clip or awkward modelI'm a massive Castlevania fan, having played most of the 3d Castlevanias. This game stands out as one of the better. Though it seems some die hard fans of the "Metroidvania" styled Castlevanias that appeal to the Weeaboos out there who gush over SotN every chance they get disagree. However this game has huge amounts of appeal. The graphics are wonderful aside from a clip or awkward model movement from time to time, the story is very basic revenge spree and all that. However it is in the growth of your character not only in game but within the story that keeps you interested in what will happen next. Being a dedicated gamer that I am, I played through on the most difficulty setting right away. The starting to this game can be frustrating and annoying if you play on the hardest difficulty at first. Though after the first section of the game you become a power house making ever fight more smooth as you become attuned to the combat and as the overall strength of Gabriel grows. This leads us up to the ending, without giving away spoilers; is wonderful and is an amazing reboot to the series. This game has rather awkward platforming sections from time to time and the controls are not mirroring other games so if you are use to other games controls you may sometimes drop yourself down a pit. As far as combat goes remembering to parry and block is needed in the first section of the game unless you plan of check pointing half a dozen times. Although the beginning of this game left the dry taste of salt in my mouth, a refreshing beverage of power ups and ability boosts kept me wanting to play. Knowing that right around the corner I could find the next move to that made taking down that tough enemy just that much easier. There is plenty to do in this game once you have completed the main story, each short section is cut into segments of a chapter and can be replayed to find all the secrets and other interesting content. Packed with lore and not only 15-20 hours of gameplay this game keeps you interested deeply if you are a big Castlevania fan. Don't let fan boys of the back tracking flashy Metroid clone games that get puked out onto the portable consoles fool you. This is by far one of the best 3d Castlevanias, each moment in this game feels like such a waste to just rush through even though the feeling of epicness may come off as forced from time to time, I still found myself loving each boss fight. Overall this game is a must have, any platform, ignore the Fan boys that mock 3d Castlevanias. Lords of Shadow is an excellent experience for not only the casual gamers but the hardcore gamers alike. (Other mentions: Great voice acting, original designs, great background, great loading transition, probably the best "pause" menu I've ever had the pleasure to use, perfect uses of the "bloom" lighting, and vampires... real ones.)… Expand
  92. wownd10405
    Mar 11, 2014
    7
    Frame in the game, including the operation feeling ahswiwot difficult boss, but the quality of the quality, it seems the story is quite ok, especially the reversal of many stories quite good.
  93. mandy15293
    Jan 27, 2014
    10
    this game was awesome and also runs smoothly without any issue. It is the first game like god of war i played in pc. now i am excited that what comes 2nd part of castlevania lords of shadow
  94. dyspeptic
    Dec 8, 2014
    5
    Last Played: Dec 2014 (XBOX Controller)

    PROS: +Great art style +Interesting and (mostly) original story +Great puzzles CONS: -Fixed camera hurts platforming and combat –Combat is very repetitive REVIEW: I heard all the complaints about the fixed camera and decided I needed to play the demo before buying this game. After playing the demo, I was intrigued by the look and feel of the    Last Played: Dec 2014 (XBOX Controller)

    PROS: +Great art style +Interesting and (mostly) original story +Great puzzles

    CONS: -Fixed camera hurts platforming and combat –Combat is very repetitive

    REVIEW: I heard all the complaints about the fixed camera and decided I needed to play the demo before buying this game. After playing the demo, I was intrigued by the look and feel of the game and grabbed it on sale. The demo, however does not well capture the game, as both the best and worst parts are left out.
    This game has a number of beautiful environments and stages, the best of which are compelling even many years after the original release. There are a large number of enemies, which are bound together by a similar “feel” in the way they look. On the other hand, there were way more bare-breasted women than I thought necessary, and in my opinion, this reduced the aesthetic of the game (this is the “nudity” that probably got the game the mature rating). The story is interesting, and the surprise ending nicely ties the loose threads together. I did have a problem with the large number of new plot elements that Konami introduced in the epilogue, however—this mostly seemed to be about hooking people into a sequel, rather than actually tying into all the story that went before.

    The game also has clever puzzles, which are all solveable, though if you get stuck you can forfeit the experience points to skip them, which is a nice option.

    This game is about more than story, looks, and puzzles, however, and this is where it fails out. The problems with combat and the fixed camera are interrelated—because the camera is fixed, combat areas need to be tiny so that you can see everything. However, cramped fighting means that most of your combos are useless: they take too long to use or they leave you exposed to enemies. That means that you will use one of about three fast combos, dodge/roll to the other side of the small fighting area, and repeat—which gets stale long before the end of the game. Furthermore, the camera makes some platforming sequences awkward, especially portions where you have to walk along a balance beam at a weird angle. Being able to tilt the camera would have improved this, even if it remained fixed. As it is, the beams are annoying with a controller, but they would be impossible with keyboard/mouse.

    If you are interested in the art and story, you might be better off watching somebody else on YouTube; with the repetitive combat and poor platforming that compose 85% of this game I can’t recommend it.    … Expand
  95. obertron
    Mar 11, 2014
    9
    I tried to play previous Castlevania game on the original Xbox and could not even play for 2 hours. This game I played for 5 hours every night for a week, losing much sleep, but having so much fun.

    It has a great sense of style and sense of progression. The character Gabriel Belmont really builds up to be a strong fighter. The control is very smooth, each time after you level up and    I tried to play previous Castlevania game on the original Xbox and could not even play for 2 hours. This game I played for 5 hours every night for a week, losing much sleep, but having so much fun.

    It has a great sense of style and sense of progression. The character Gabriel Belmont really builds up to be a strong fighter. The control is very smooth, each time after you level up and buys new ability, you can develop a new longer combo. The game encourages you to play earlier chapter to discover more collectible and you can relish in defeating earlier enemy with ease and style. By the end of the game, when I acquired the Ultimate Light and Shadow Magic, fighting the last boss was easy on Normal difficulty because magic is unlimited and I have maxed out all the stat.

    The game always save your experience point so you don’t feel like you wasted time even if you are dead. This also allows farming for points. You also don’t feel you need to be stingy with using the items because this is not a survivor game. Chapter VI, Part III: Castle Hall, when you finish the rune puzzle and it turns night, the vampires do end after a few waves. If you stand and kill all of the vampires, the last one seems to drop a full load of EVERY item (daggers, holy water, faeries, and crystals. You get about 50 experience points per vampire, and there is a magic fountain there so you can easily use up your item and magic to kill all enemy in just 3 minutes, you can then go to the game menu, “Restart on Last Check Point” and fight them again. You can get as much experience as you want. If you can afford to wait though, go to Chapter VI, Part IV: Refectory, the boss Evil Butcher, there is a 30 second QuickTime prompt event before you kill him, and you get 1,000 points for doing that. You can definitely max on all the skills and relics by doing this.

    The visual is amazing, there is hand drawn black and white bestiary and storybook like intro in each chapter, and then when you play the game there is the animated cut scene. There is the QuickTime sequence / prompt event where you have to push the attack button when the circle shrinks down smaller than the indicator circle. This was very confusing for me at first because I am used to smashing button when the prompt comes up. In fact, in the first sequence where I ride the horse to escape the goblins I keep getting knocked down. I also recommend you lose the prompt event sometimes because some of the Gabriel’s death animation is pretty amazing. This is especially true when you fight Carmilla the Vampire Queen’s true form, Dark lord of the Vampires (BOSS), the animation there is really long and you would never find out if you win at the prompt.

    The game has the blatant steal from Shadow of Colossus where you have to climb on a Titan and attach each of the spot on its body, and the Titan will attempt to throw you off. It is quite exciting.
    Patrick Stewart of the Star Trek Enterprise / Captain Picard fame is one of the main story character Zobek . He narrates all the intro level descriptions / stories. The first time I heard him I was very impressed by his acting and happy that this game has a big budget to hire good actors.

    On the downside, the game does have some repetitive points, and the DLC which continues from the end of the game, it is very difficult and repetitive even on the normal setting. In the DLC you help Laura the vampire daughter with The Forgotten big evil boss that is trapped under the castle. Gabriel chooses actions which leads him to become the man he is in Lords of Darkness 2. You also see the trailer for the 2nd game if you wait after the game credit ends.

    If you just want a fun run through, it will take 20 hours, if you go back and get all the crystal and collectibles and challenges, it will take about 40 hours.    … Expand
  96. neopolx
    Jul 10, 2016
    10
    Good game, full of action, great cinematics, fuid game, magic powers, great story, challenging enemies, great graphics with beautiful backgrounds. its a great and fun game.
  97. zimmer600
    Aug 19, 2017
    8
    For the slasher, the game is simply gorgeous. It observes the canonical rhythm, neatly alternating the dynamic battles with puzzles and jumps along the cornices, and at the end it blossoms with a variety of game situations and scenery.
  98. Detraxxx
    Sep 3, 2016
    9
    I think that Castlevania LoS is a very good game worth playing. I was delighted with most of the game's aspects including graphics, audio and story. However, the game has minor problems with locked camera and therefore the gameplay is sometimes uncomfortable and some areas in the game are harder to explore because of this. It should be mentioned that this game should be played with aI think that Castlevania LoS is a very good game worth playing. I was delighted with most of the game's aspects including graphics, audio and story. However, the game has minor problems with locked camera and therefore the gameplay is sometimes uncomfortable and some areas in the game are harder to explore because of this. It should be mentioned that this game should be played with a gamepad controller.

    + Beautiful graphics
    + Interesting story
    + Exciting orchestral soundtrack
    + Good combat mechanics
    + Nice puzzles

    - Locked camera
    - Story loses focus on important characters

    Nice game in overall.    … Expand
  99. faroukthehedge
    Apr 7, 2020
    7
    A decent Hack & Slash game, but does have it's share of issues.

    Pros: * Satisfying combat. * Beautiful and visually varied locales. * Decent voice acting. Cons: * Unintuitive camera angles and jarring camera transitions. * It can feel like the game is overstaying its welcome with repeating gimmicks multiple times throughout the campaign, like the Hide and seek game with the    A decent Hack & Slash game, but does have it's share of issues.

    Pros:
    * Satisfying combat.
    * Beautiful and visually varied locales.
    * Decent voice acting.

    Cons:
    * Unintuitive camera angles and jarring camera transitions.
    * It can feel like the game is overstaying its welcome with repeating gimmicks multiple times throughout the campaign, like the Hide and seek game with the chupacabras.
    * Giant "Shadow of the Colossus-esque" bosses can get annoying and lose their charm after you've seen them once and with the constant Quick-time events.    … Expand
  100. sashaalexander
    Aug 25, 2016
    10
    Awesome game, one of the best I've ever played. Very beautiful graphics, great story and gameplay. Lots of different monsters to slay and many different moves and combos to slay them with, which I really like. It plays smooth on my 2011 laptop. Highly recommend it if you played and liked Devil May Cry, any part.
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Awards & Rankings

47
#47 Best PC Game of 2013
65
#65 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
70
#70 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Armchair Empire
    Sep 19, 2013
    75
    Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Ultimate Edition covers some traditional action game territory for sure but there are some memorable moments that make it worth a look if combo-based combat and exploration is your thing.
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  2. Eurogamer Portugal
    Sep 16, 2013
    70
    Overall, this is a game of acceptable quality, but a little dated in time.
    Read full review
  3. GameSpot
    Sep 10, 2013
    70
    The Ultimate Edition of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow breathes new life into the three-year-old game through improved graphics and extra content.
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