Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is the first Castlevania game for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. It is developed by Mercury Steam and published by Konami. Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid) is an advisor, taking the Castlevania series into a new horizon according to the E3 Press Conference. The game is a self-contained re-boot of the series, and thus not part of the previous games canon.

Story
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow takes place at the end of days. The Earth's alliance with the Heavens has been threatened by a dark and malevolent force - the mysterious Lords of Shadow - darkness reigns the world. Across this shattered land, the souls of the dead wander unable to find peace, whilst creatures of evil roam free wreaking chaos and death upon the living.

Gabriel is a member of the Brotherhood of Light, an elite group of holy knights who protect and defend the innocent against the supernatural. His beloved wife was brutally murdered by the evil forces of darkness and her soul trapped for eternity. Neither living nor dead she realizes the horrific truth of what is at stake and guides Gabriel to his destiny - and hopefully salvation for the world... but at what cost?

Thus, Gabriel must travel the destroyed world, defeating the evil tyrants in order to use their powers to bring balance back to the world. Armed with the versatile Combat Cross - the world's last hope must encounter the three factions of the Lords of Shadow and end their unholy rule.

The character Gabriel travels to a forest looking for someone known as the Guardian of the Lake. He meets with the guardian, Pan (voiced by Aleksander Mikic), at the Lake of the Oblivion, where he tells him that there the living can communicate with the dead. Gabriel says the Brotherhood of Light sent him because they dreamt that a message from his deceased wife, Marie, awaits him at the lake, which will hold a clue to the world's salvation. With Pan's permission, Gabriel crosses the lake and communicates with Marie. She informs him that Spirits who founded the Brotherhood of Light are attempting to tell her that the power of the Lords of Shadow is the means to the world's salvation. After Marie disappears, a man from the Brotherhood of Light called Zobek introduces himself to Gabriel as an old acquaintance of Pan, who felt that Zobek should lend him assistance. Zobek states that a prophecy has been kept a secret by a select few, and that it tells of a pure-hearted warrior who will claim the Lords of Shadow's power to overcome evil. He says that they must enter the lands of the Dark Lords in order to unite the Heavens with the world again, and that with this Gabriel can bring Marie back from the dead. Gabriel decides to leave for the Land of Lycans and asks Zobek to go to the Land of the Vampires to prepare, and that afterwards they should go onto the Land of Necromancers together.

Gabriel journies to the Land of the Lycans and meets Claudia (Emma Ferguson), a mute girl who can telepathically communicate and read minds. In exchange for catching evil souls, she is protected by a golem called the Black Knight. Claudia reads Gabriel's mind and discovers why he has journied to the Land of the Lycans, and offers to help him. They decide to rest and during the night, Gabriel stabs her and suddenly awakens from what was seemingly a dream. Pan materializes before Gabriel and cautions him not to let the darkness possess him, and that he must take the Black Knight's gauntlet for his own benefit. Gabriel exclaims he will not harm his two companions, but to his shock, notices the dagger is portruding from Claudia's corpse. The Black Knight discovers this and attacks Gabriel, who both engage in a fight before Gabriel kills him and procures the gauntlet. Gabriel buries Claudia and continues the journey, eventually encountering the Dark Lord of the Lycans, Cornell (Richard Ridings). Cornell defies Gabriel and tells him that three founding members of the Order fought the spawns of Satan in God's favor, and in their commitment to the crusade they found three places where God's power was intense. They used this to transform into the Spirits with power only second to God's, but when they ascended to the Heavens they left behind their dark sides. Cornell reveals what they left to be the Lords of Shadow, which includes himself. Gabriel defeats Cornell and receives a piece of the God Mask. Pan appears and tells him the other two pieces remain, and takes him to the Land of the Vampires.

Gabriel rendezvous with Zobek in a village, and he enters the castle of the Vampire Dark Lord, Carmilla (Sally Knyvette). A battle ensues between them and Gabriel kills her, gaining the second piece of the God Mask. Gabriel then departs for the Land of the Necromancers through a portal Pan made. Pan challenges Gabriel to a fight, much to his confusion. Pan suffers a mortal wound afterwards, and tells Gabriel he challenged him in order to sacrifice himself to open a pathway to Gabriel's journey. Gabriel encounters the Necromancer, who he defeats for the last part of the mask. Zobek then appears before Gabriel with the Devil Mask, who wears it over his face and discloses that he is infact the Lord of the Necromancers, and the one who cast the spell that seperated the Earth from the Heavens. He knew this would persuade the Order's founders in Heaven to contact the Brotherhood of Light. Zobek states he did this because he grew tired of the Lords of Shadow diverting the power amongst the three of them and not seeing the potential they had in combining it. Desiring this power, he searched Hell to aquire it, until an evil force entered him and expanded his knowledge of the dark arts. Zobek says according to the prophecy, all he needed was for Gabriel to restore the power of the Spirits, while using him to avoid suspicion from them. Gabriel says he will not let him stand in his way, but Zobek mentions he used the Devil Mask on Gabriel to have him kill Claudia so he could take the Black Knight's gauntlet, which allowed Zobek to control Gabriel if he ever became a threat to him. Zobek also used the mask on Gabriel to kill his wife Marie, orchestrating the events of the story. Satan (Jason Isaacs) emerges and takes the God Mask from Zobek, revealing himself to be one responsible for granting him power and knowledge in Hell, and that he masterminded everything from the start so he could have revenge on God and return to the Heavens. Gabriel confronts Satan and defeats him, releasing the dark spell that trapped the souls of the deceased in limbo. Before passing onto the Heavens, Marie tells Gabriel he has been granted new life to redeem himself, and that she loves him. Gabriel asks if the God Mask can bring her back, but finds out it only allows the wearer to see through God's eyes. Marie says it is too late for her, and kisses Gabriel before departing with the God Mask. After the ending credits, Zobek is seen alive centuries later during modern times, and has uncovered Gabriel living out an immortal life as a vampire while hiding in a church. Zobek asks him why he has been hiding all this time, but he angrily retorts that he is no longer called Gabriel and that his name is now Dracula (Dracul in Romanian). Zobek mentions the acolytes of Satan are preparing for his return and that they must stop him, before he takes revenge on both of them. Before Gabriel disappears, Zobek tells him he will free him of his immortality if he helps him.

Gameplay
According to a recent IGN interview, the game is currently running on a proprietry Mercury Steam Engine and has been described as a third person action adventure title with combat, platforming and puzzle elements. The combat will be similar to that of the God of War series, utilising a retractable chain whip called, "The Combat Cross". The commands consist of short range and long range attacks, and interactions with other items in the player's inventory such as knives, stakes, holy water and other potential environmental weapons, such as a fragile wooden hammer. The whip is used not only for combat, but also for exploration purposes like scaling walls and swinging across gaps. The whip is controlled by alternating combo's using the (x) and (y) buttons this changes dramatically with the press or hold of the buttons and will have a significant effect on the action including wether or not the character is in the air or on ground level but so far the view is that of the camera being fixed at all times. The developers have tried to reach out to new audiences by distancing this game from previous Castlevania games, but have kept some elements intact as to not alienate current fans. For example, vampires and werewolves are recurring enemies in the game, but other existing enemies include Trolls, Giant Spiders, Goblins and large scale, fully interactive bosses reminiscent to those of Shadow of the Colossus. This includes the large ice titan shown many times in trailers. As the game is now "60% complete", the developers are aiming for 30 frames per second performance, as opposed to the standard 60 FPS, which isn't a priority at this stage. The official game website displays the Xbox Live and PSN logos near the bottom of the page, suggesting some sort of online interaction or DLC possibilities.

Production History
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow was originally announced during the 2008 Games Convention in Leipzig in August. It was announced to the public without the "Castlevania" title, however, so as not to upstage Castlevania: Judgment, which was being shown at the time. The game was later revealed to be a Castlevania title during the 2009 E3 Conference in June. An updated trailer shown at the 2009 Gamescom in August showed a clip which strongly implied that the antagonist was in fact Dracula, however, this was not confirmed for certain in later interviews. Recently according to Dave Cox's twitter page Gabriel has been confirmed as a Belmont. He also stated that the Combat Cross would not replace the Vampire Killer that the Belmont Clan has used in previous games and as well as stating that the game takes place in 11th century 1047 predating the events of Lament of Innocence, though Dave Cox has stated that the game does not follow the established timeline. .

Press Releases
Konami unveils details of incredible new 3D action-adventure title from European Product Planning department

Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has used Europe’s leading video game event, the annual Games Convention in Leipzig, to unveil a landmark new title for PLAYSTATION®3 and Xbox 360 from its European Product Planning department entitled Lords of Shadow, which is due for release in 2010.

Developed by Madrid-based Mercury Steam, Lords of Shadow is a stunning new action-adventure IP, boasting an incredible level of visual detail and far-ranging gameplay. Set in Southern Europe during the middle ages, Lords of Shadow has beautifully-realised locales that play host to an epic battle between good and evil. This is a story of one man’s journey to discover the true meaning of sacrifice amidst murder and betrayal.

Best described as a dark fairy tale, Lords of Shadow casts the player as the mysterious Gabriel. At its heart it is a vast third-person-viewed adventure, but combat and puzzle solving also play a major part in the main quest, while dark artifacts can be used to enhance Gabriel’s powers.

Lords of Shadow also utilises a unique multi-functional weapon system called the Combat Cross™, wherein Gabriel’s favored armament can serve a multitude of purposes. For ranged attacks, an extendible chain can cause major carnage but also grip enemies, for melee the Combat Cross™ can be extended into a stabbing weapon, or changed into a heavier night stick style device for defensive capabilities.

With a play area that spans forest glades, underground catacombs and snowy wastelands, Lords of Shadow is a key title for Konami. It represents the most ambitious offering from the European Product Planning department to date, with the beautiful visuals married to fine-tuned gameplay that features a wide range of monstrous enemies and huge, screen-filling boss creatures.

“Lords of Shadow is a momentous title for us,” commented Dave Cox, Executive Producer and Head of Product Planning for Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH. “Every element of the game pushes the host hardware to its limits, with Mercury Steam producing a game that has breath-taking visuals, incredible cinematic qualities, and varied and engrossing gameplay. It is truly an epic game but telling a human and emotive story. This is a title we hope will set a new standard for action-adventure titles.”

Lords of Shadow will be released for PLAYSTATION®3 and Xbox 360 in 2010.

Konami takes the Castlevania series in a bold, new direction as European Product Planning team unites with Mercury Steam and Kojima Productions to deliver an epic fantasy adventure!

Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH has used the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) event in Los Angeles to premiere the first footage of a brand new Castlevania title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Developed by Madrid-based Mercury Steam, the game also marks a ‘dream’ development collaboration with Konami’s lauded Kojima Productions studio, led by Hideo Kojima.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow will be released in 2010 for Playstation 3|PLAYSTATION®3 and Xbox 360 and will open a new era for the Castlevania mythology. Konami has worked to take the long-running series in brave new directions with a fresh and radical re-imagining, and the result is an epic tale of love and loss that befits the series.

Shown previously as Lords of Shadow in summer 2008 with a short teaser, Konami has kept under wraps its intention to radically take the Castlevania myth in a bold new direction until now. Konami has used E3 to showcase what it considers one of its most ambitious and innovative titles to date and reveal how it will present Castlevania to a wider audience of players hungry for genre-defining entertainment.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow takes place at the end of days. The Earth’s alliance with the Heavens has been threatened by a dark and malevolent force – the mysterious Lords of Shadow – darkness reigns the world. Across this shattered land, the souls of the dead wander unable to find peace, whilst creatures of evil roam free wreaking chaos and death upon the living.

Gabriel is a member of the Brotherhood of Light, an elite group of holy knights who protect and defend the innocent against the supernatural. His beloved wife was brutally murdered by the evil forces of darkness and her soul trapped for eternity. Neither living nor dead she realises the horrific truth of what is at stake and guides Gabriel to his destiny – and hopefully salvation for the world… but at what cost?

Thus, Gabriel must travel the destroyed world, defeating the evil tyrants in order to use their powers to bring balance back to the world. Armed with the versatile Combat Cross™ – the world’s last hope must encounter the three factions of the Lords of Shadow and end their unholy rule.

Mercury Steam has created a rich, open game world that traverses snowy mountain ranges, Gothic castles, and undead-strewn wastelands in a devastated Southern Europe during the Middle Ages. The production is being overseen by the European Product Planning office with advice and support from Kojima Productions. This multi-cultural dream collaboration will move the Castlevania brand to a whole new level, with rich storytelling, innovative gameplay and state-of-the-art technical elements brought together to form a revolutionary new direction for a modern 3D fantasy action epic.

Konami is premiering Castlevania: Lords of Shadow with a stunning trailer detailing the expansive nature of the game and its unique combat elements. It will also introduce the game’s stunning voice acting cast, with Gabriel voiced by Robert Carlyle (Stargate Universe, 28 Weeks Later, Trainspotting, The Full Monty), and Patrick Stewart (X-Men, Star Trek: Next Generation) as the mysterious Zobek. Natasha McElhone (The Other Boleyn Girl, Californication, The Truman Show) and Jason Isaacs (Black Hawk Down, The Patriot, Harry Potter series) round off the talent.

"Castlevania: Lords of Shadow will take the Castlevania series into brave, uncharted territories, and is a breath-taking adventure that boasts stunning aesthetics, deep and challenging game play, and a truly inspirational voice cast to deliver the games dramatic depth", commented Dave Cox, Producer on the title and Head of Product Planning for Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH. "We are also delighted to be working with Kojima Productions who have supported the development of the game and our intended goals with their keen vision and expertise," he added. "This is a world's first! A dream team up between a western development studio and one of Japan's most revered and innovative creators".

"We at Mercury Steam are pushing the envelope of today's technology. Our goal is to create an incredible piece that will answer many people's hopes and desires of what a next generation Castlevania game should be," said Enric Alvarez, Studio Head at Mercury Steam.

"Kojima Productions had learned the differences of western development teams and Japanese studios" added Ken Imaizumi, Senior Producer of Kojima Productions. "Mercury Steam is definitely one of the most talented studios in the world. We quickly agreed that we should work together and exchange ideas and knowhow across the board. We have full trust that the next generation Castlevania experience will deliver a high quality intense experience worthy of the Kojima Productions name and we are proud that this title will mark a new global direction for Konami as a company dedicated to breaking new ground in digital entertainment."

Trivia
The game includes injokes and easter eggs nodding to elements from previous Castlevania games, and even other franchises.
 * At the end of the Enchanted Forest is a note from a knight that describes background for the stump, calling it the great Dekub Tree. This is a reference to the Deku Tree of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
 * Another knight in another level mentions starving, and hoping to find food. At the end of his note he says "The 'Cake' is not a lie". This is a nod to the game Portal. In which it is learned that the "...the cake is a lie".
 * The original Lords of the Vampires castle was the Bernhard family. This is a nod to Walter Bernhard of Lament of Innocence.
 * It is rumored that Gabriel Belmont is the son of one of the nobles of the Cronqvist family this is a nod to a character in Lament of Innocence, Mathias Cronqvist.
 * Rinaldo Gandolfi is the creator of the Combat Cross, nicknamed 'Vampire Killer'. This is a nod to the character of the same name in Lament of Innocence. The nickname is a nod to the whip in the original series that Rinaldo Gandolfi gave to Leon Belmont.
 * The Lord of the Lycans is named Cornell, this is a nod to the character from Legacy of Darkness & Judgment, the beastman Cornell (Blue Crescent Moon).
 * The name of one of the dead knights' girlfriend is Iris. The name of one of the characters in Rondo of Blood.
 * The name of one of the villages is called Wygol, which is the main village from Order of Ecclesia.
 * The name of the Abbot is Vincent Dorin, which is the seller/monk's name of Portrait of Ruin.
 * The name of one of the vampire commanders is Brauner. This is the name of the vampire lord in Portrait of Ruin.
 * The name of the other vampire commander is Olrox. This is the name of a boss in Symphony of the Night, whose character is based on Count Orlok.
 * Carmilla and Laura are common boss characters or enemies seen throughout the original series.
 * The Evil Butcher was originally an enemy in Aria of Sorrow.
 * Malphas is a new take on a classic Castlevania boss/enemy.
 * Veros Woods in chapter 5 is also the name of a location in Castlevania II: Simon's Quest.
 * The Music box in chapter 9 plays the theme "Vampire Killer" form the original Castlevaina.
 * A deceased Slogra form Super Castlevania IV and Symphony of the Night can be seen in the background during the post-credits scene.

Related Products

 * Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Original Soundtrack - the soundtrack for this game
 * Castlevania: Lords of Shadow collector edition - collector edition of this game
 * Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Challenge - A facebook app related to this game
 * Castlevania: Lords of Shadows Playstation Home Virtual Items - A set of virtual items that can be used in the virtual world of Playstation Home.
 * Super Castlevania IV - Inspiration for the development of this game

External Videos
thumb|left|300px|Castlevania Lords of Shadow trailer from E3 2009

thumb|right|300px|Castlevania Lords of Shadow trailer from E3 2010

thumb|300px|left|Castlevania Lords of Shadow - Hideo Kojima Special Trailer