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. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. 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.
  17. 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
  18. 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
  19. 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
  20. 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
  21. 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

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.
    Read full review
  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.
    Read full review
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