Blood Omen 2 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)As a fan of the Legacy of Kain series since the very first Blood Omen, released on the PSX in 1996, I was dying to get my hands on this game. Finally being in control of Kain again after all this time was quite a pleasure, but unfortunately, the game is not all its cracked up to be...
First off, the gameplay is strictly mediocre. Soul Reaver veterans will recognize the mechanics right away. Unfortunately, it seems the problems of the Soul Reaver games have come over as well. This game focuses more on combat than anything else, and is designed as such. However, given that the game is loosely a Soul Reaver clone, you'll find yourself wanting to avoid combat more than actually throwing yourself into it. Unfortunately, the game's central focus is combat, and successful progression in the game is based on your ability to fight. A pity, because the problems begin there.
Enemies, just like in Soul Reaver 2, are always better fighters, with many more attacks than Kain, and a plethora of unblockable moves. You may find yourself outnumbered, and while you can easily handle your enemies if you're good, Kain will probably just end up on the ground, and you'll be shaking your head in frustration. And once again, the ATROCIOUS auto-targeting system of Soul Reaver 2 has returned. When you auto-fix on an enemy, all it takes is a sidestep, and you'll have Kain hacking away in the opposite direction while the enemy charges up his unblockable attack or unleashes his own combo on you.
'Stealth Kills', like in such games as Tenchu, are probably one of the better parts of combat, but serve little purpose.The only time a 'stealth kill' can be performed is if there is mist on the ground.Even if you sneak up on an enemy without mist on the ground, you cannot perform a 'stealth kill', which makes stealth kills utterly useless and just forces more of the mediocre combat on you.
Collision detection is pretty awful. In fact, it seems to be 2-d, shown in the simple fact that you cannot seem to jump over enemies. If you are standing in front of an enemy, although you clearly jump higher than his head level, you cannot jump OVER him, thus making you an easy aerial target. Also, your weapon seems to pass through enemies more than it hits them, leaving you as an open target yet again.
Sound is strange...often times, ambient sound that is completely inappropriate for the moment(such as the blood guzzling sound) begins to play out of nowhere during cutscenes. The sound is so loud that it drowns out the voice-overs, effectively ruining whatever story element there is(and there isn't much). There are also many other glitches in the game that are just too glaring to be overlooked.
Story.....all the games in the past had a great, involving story. This game lacks the gripping story element of the previous games, which is why even die-hard LoK fans may overlook this game. What little story there is gets expressed through small cutscenes, which could basically be considered 'Mission Briefings' as opposed to story progression. Sometimes there are cut-scenes during the mission which convey the story rather well, but overall, the strongest element of the previous games is very weak in this game.
The bottom line: Only Die-Hard LoK fans will enjoy this game, and even as such may find the game to be bland, devoid of story and interesting gameplay. By today's standards, this game is mediocre in every sense of the word. Gamers who are not knowledgeable about the LoK series will definitely want to avoid this game all together, and LoK/SR fans also may want to avoid this game due to lack of story and good gameplay. Being a diehard LoK fan, I found the game remotely enjoyable, but the game simply gets too repetitive as it goes on. Very disappointing, but good entertainment for a little while.

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Product Description:
You are the vampire Kain, the most evil figure ever to appear in a video game. Cloaked in stealth, you will move through crowds unseen, travel stories above the peasant herds on which you feed--leaping from rooftop to rooftop--and use mind control to overcome vampire-proof inventions. The combat choreography in Blood Omen 2 unfolds with dancelike precision as Kain engages armies of demons and humans alike. The comprehensive menu of unstoppable attacks, nimble combos, and special moves are designed to appeal to even the most jaded of fighting game fans. The world that Kain moves through is a lushly detailed gothic environment that is not only gorgeous to the eye, but also alive with the soon-to-be-dead. The AI behavioral response makes peasants and enemies variously flee, take up arms, or remain unaware as Kain moves through crowds or charges, sword raised, into open areas.

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