Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is out this winter
Trailer shows modern setting, new camera, and a really big robot thing.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 will be hitting the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC "this winter", according to a new trailer that's just been released by Konami. (It's worth remembering that "this winter" could mean 2014.)
The sequel to 2010's rather good Lords of Shadow picks up where the last game left off with an old and pretty knackered-looking Dracula mooching around in his castle annoyed that he can't die. From there, players will be thrown into a game that offers opportunities to explore both the castle itself and a surrounding city.
According to Enric Alvarez, the game director at MercurySteam, the engine has been adapted to let you explore the game without loading interruptions - although it sounds like the whole thing's still primarily linear. "We wanted the game's world to grow organically and not level to level. In Lords of Shadow 2 you'll be able to walk freely all over the game's universe without loading times and with a very organic and real feeling." As previously reported, you'll also be able to spin the camera through 360 degrees, which makes a change - and it sounds like you'll still be able to rely on the cinematic camera from the original game if you don't fancy that.
Dracula's armed with three new weapons - a Blood Whip, a Void Sword, and Chaos Claws, the last of which can be used to break down enemies' armour - and magic's also been dropped in favour of Dracula's Blood, which must be earned through kills.
The trailer below is suitably gloomy and portentous, as Zobek (played again by Patrick Stewart) pays Dracula a visit and offers him the gift of mortality in return for a little help with something. Cue battles against gold-plated angels and a giant robot, shots of stuff falling over in a grim cityscape, teleporting baddies, and a welcome bit of work for Robert Carlyle, who returns as the lead.
