Game - Blood Omen 2
 DJ  rates it:    Community rates it:
   183 of 334 readers found this review helpful.

This game is not for the squeamish. In fact, I would not recommend this for anyone with any sort of heart or cardiovascular conditions. You see, this is not your average game. In most action adventure games, you play as a hero, or even an anti-hero and ultimately you save the world or a princess or something equally as charming. Well not here. You play as Kain, the legendary vampire from the Legacy Of Kain series. Make no mistake about it, you play as a cold hearted killer. There is nothing nice or redeeming about this character. He is pure evil. You are not meant to even think about saving anyone. Everyone you run into you kill without mercy and without giving a second thought. And then you suck their blood. Nice.

This game is a direct sequel to the Blood Omen game of 1996. Many of you probably don’t remember this title, and that’s fine. You’re probably more familiar with Soul Reaver, which will fill in some of the back story. But don’t worry. You could have not played any of them, and you won’t be lost. This game feels a lot more like a stand alone game. If you resist the temptation to skip the cut scenes, then everything will be explained.

In a nutshell, You are a vampire and you have to solve a mystery. Technology has taken over the world and you join some sort of vampire resistance to take it down. Along the way you unleash massive carnage. Being a vampire, you have to drink blood. In what is probably the single coolest graphic of this generation, you stand over your dead and then graphically suck the blood, watching it spray everywhere and just make a bloody mess. Very cool. The instruction book points out that fact that if you complete the game, you would have drank approx. 32,000 liters of blood. Like I said, not for the squeamish.

The fighting engine is surprisingly deep. You have a number of attacks, the most spectacular of which involves swordplay. Blocking is equally as deep, giving you options to block different attacks on different areas of the body. And you will need to use your blocks to survive. Fighting involves as much strategy as brute force.

Unfortunately the graphics do leave a lot to be desired. In all fairness I will point out this game just barely missed being a launch title, and was in the second wave, so the graphics are probably on par with everything else that came out at that time. The game play is fabulous and that mixed with an amazing story will have quickly overlooking the graphics.

If you are a die-hard Legacy of Kain fan, then this game is perfect. It fills in a good portion of the back story and is filled with enough twists and surprises to keep you happy. If you are not a fan or have never played these games, then this will come off as your average action adventure beat em’ up. It’s still fun as a stand alone beat em’ up, you just won’t understand some of the plot twists. This is a perfectly serviceable game, perfect for a rainy Saturday afternoon; I just don’t think I would consider it a “must-have”.

Added:  Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Related Link:  Official Site
Language: eng[ Did you find this review helpful?  Yes  No ]
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