Not long ago, Konami Producer Dave Cox dropped by the PlayStation.Blog to set up the premise of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, a re-imagining of the classic whip-cracking, vampire-slaying series PlayStation fans know and love. In many ways, Lords of Shadow is a radical departure from previous installments. The combat is more visceral, the visuals are more cinematic, and the scope is more epic.
These qualities are on display in spades in the latest Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Developer Insights video, which Konami has kindly passed along for your viewing pleasure. Not only will you learn about the combat benefit of fairies (no, really), you’ll catch a glimpse of several new boss battles, culminating with a series of Titan encounters that will make any Shadow of the Colossus fan quiver in anticipation.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow arrives today on the PS3 in North America, on Blu-ray. If you picked it up already, be sure to let us know what you think in the comments below. Later today, I can confirm that the playable demo will hit PSN — stay tuned to the PlayStation.Blog for the full PlayStation Store update later today. Happy vampire slaying!
is it truth this game runs very choppy? like under 30 frames per second all the time averaging like 20 frames per second?
game looks interesting but I don’t play choppy games.
@49 Solid Snake eyes
I dont know where you live but i got mine today at Futureshop
Another terrible, late PSN Update incoming…
Everyone complaining about not being Castlevania, Symphony of the Night broke a lot of traditions too. Lords of Shadow is amazing, and I’ve only completed chapter 1. Long game.
I want my Qore GT5 info now!! update the store..
Some of you people make me embaressed to call myself a Playstation Fan… ironically the 360 forums are a much nicer community to discuss this game simply because you dont have morons comparing it to god of war every five seconds. Even though I have both systems I’ll still buy it on PS3 as it looks to be the better version judging from each demo I played. I’ll just discuss it over on 360 boards. :)
Already got it and the graphics and gameplay are awesome! The trials in each level are a pain the @$$ though, but fun.
@Amherst_Wind
And what exactly do the 360 community have to compare this game to?
Bought it today, it PWNS!!! 8)
@BloodyCow
nothing, they seem to be *shock* judging a game by its own merits!? *shock*
@Amherst_Wind
“judging a game by its own merits!?”
lolz…so why do they compare every FPS to Halo and every TPS to Gears of War. Bottom line is, they have nothing to compare this game to on their system. If they had, they would be compare it.
Cool.
It’s like….. God-of-Castlevania-May-Cry
Did they learn anything from the success of Castlevania:SOTN on PSOne? in my opinion Castlevania is supposed to be sidescrolling, and have heavy RPG elements, It is starting to look like people are carbon copying the GoW formula now, which if you get technical was a derivitive of Devil May Cry, Starting to see so much carbon copy bullcrap lately, Pretty soon it’s not going to matter if the game is good or not, because you can imagine a scenario where you insert any type of scenario, at the end of the day I’m sure a lot of people want to be proud of their work, and they should be the game looks great, and has a good feel / theme to it as any Castlevania should. But I’m pretty sure I’m speaking for the majority of fans when I say why throw away the rpg elements of C:SOTN.
I already played this game back when it was called God Of War 3. >:(
i have a Glitch problem with my castlevania where a black line sticks to the character and connects to somwhere in the level like a straight stick going off screen
wow sony you fail, u must love xbox360 version of this game since you showed Xbox360 footage here on the blog.
@61 ratchet426
couldn’t agree more, It’s just like that…
@62 Kedaro
” in my opinion Castlevania is supposed to be sidescrolling, and have heavy RPG elements”
exactly. This game isn’t Castlevania and they are using the name to sell unit to existing fans.
I got the LE today. LE by the way is very sexy. So far im loving the game.
@Kedaro
The thing is castlevania wasint always about 1 big castle and heavy RPG elements. The old ones like SCV4 for snes is still great even today. So its not wrong going SOTN way or the more classic way.
@64 Arucard55X
That is most likely a graphics glitch caused by a broken pipeline in the graphics card, but it could be something less frightening… unlikely however.
The demo is up if you search for Castlevania.
@64 Arucard55X
Sorry to inform you, and I feel for you, for a quick fix try deleting the game data(not save data) for Castlevania LOS and rebooting system up and re-starting the game/data install if there is one. If this doesn’t correct the issue try deleting game data for games you no longer play, or for demos you have tried but no longer require the game data utility files for, there is a small chance you’re getting conflicting issue with another game data file, I recently fixed my own problems by doing this, and even helped a friend’s ps3 start reading BD-rom again through this method.
@51 Berae I ordered it online, they sometimes ship the day before (like with Enslaved) but with Castlevania they shipped the day of release so I have to wait.
Hold RT to grip… FAIL!
@74 Solid Snake Eyes
oh ok you got it online, that why i dont order games online. Its not like in USA you get the game the day it is released, in Canada shipping takes too much time
I’ve played the demo, and as I suspected, this game is astonishing.
I’ll buy it for Xmas…
This game will be in the cheap by December, no point in rushing to play this, I’ll grab it in a couple of months.
Showing a video from Xbox360 – simply unprofessional and inexcusable.
The game itself is great; comparisons to Dantes Inferno, Darksiders, and God of War are apt. And that’s a good thing in my book as I love these types of games. (Funny how nobody critizes FPS in which theres always a sterotypic military dude; a drab background in a broken city; a helicopter scene; and either aliens or some unnamed country is trying to take over the world. That pretty much describes every FPS game out there)
The limited edition packaging, artbook, and soundtrack – easily worth the money. They look great and don’t seem to be cheaply made.
Patrick Stewarts voice – the smartest move ever made by Konami.
Gameplay – I’m a little disapointed in framerate/delays when doing some of the moves. It seems like there is a slight hesitation when performing the moves on screen – it’s not fluid as what goes on with GOW III.
All in all – worth every penny.
#19 & #64
You two haven’t played Castlevania: Lament of Innocence or Castlevania: Curse of Darkness huh….
Those games are hack and slash games that came way… before GOW1 and 2. If anything, GOW is a clone of Castlevania with Greek Mythology in it.
@80 GRG89
I’ve played all of the Castlevanias and I’m tired of waiting for it to go back down the ‘Symphony of the Night’ alley so to speak. There’s a reason why people still buy symphony of the night and play that $#!T to death.
#81
An thats Awesome! But dont dis this game because it plays like a GOW game. They said its a Reboot of series, and by what I’ve been playing so far, its a great game!
one question.
how come this is ready for release in the US but not in AU?
its the same game no?
i dont understand how the US date did not get pushed back, but people in AU have to wait 2 more weeks for this!
fine, thats how you treat your fans?
im canceling my preorder for this and buying enslaved instead!
this regional exclusivity is really starting to get on my nerves!
I already played this game, it’s called God of war but this is only half as good.
Its strange to do a video of the other console but if it were possible I, as a consumer, would rather have Microsoft and Sony work together in the creation of systems and games as such. I am depressed that even a classic title like Castlevania has been forced to go in the “Devil May Cry” direction, not saying I don’t think it is a shiny piece of awesome but I was hoping they would’ve snuck Alucard back into the Castlevania games.
I bought Castlevania yesterday on launch. I am a long time fan of the series. However, lets face it I know there are many oldschoolers like myself out there who want this game to play like the sidescrolling ones. Its time to be realistic. If you want a good True 3D experience, the mechanics have to change. This is not bad thing. I wasn’t into the N64 Castlevanias but Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness on the PS2 are judged harshly by some fans mainly because they are not in 2D. This kind of close mindedness gets us nowhere from a development perspective and as a result, you don’t get the same level of innovation. Lords of Shadow is a really good game from what I played so far. Its not God of War. The controls have their own vibe going for it (for those who don’t believe me, play the demo). It does play a little bit more like Shadow of the Colossus though when it comes to the titanic boss battles. Also, it does have a very Middle Earth-ish ibe to it since a lot of it is outdoors as well as in. Also, the voice acting is top notch. This is a well produced game and I recommend to anyone who owns a PS3.
LOL sid. I bet jeff gave you a tounge lashing like never b4.. You showed a xbox video on the blog, hmm.. Ill have to forgive you for 4t his one, but next time, if there no version make your own version. Kind alike the ps move video’s you guys did..
mcbuttz78-vp of psn legionaires
One of My favorite as a kid, in the Nintendo days.
Will add to collection.