If I remember correctly, Kojima productions is producing this game while a Spanish developer named Mercury Steam is actually handling development duties.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Hands On Preview
With Kojima Productions at the wheel, honestly, I was expecting a bit more.
As we all know, Hideo Kojima and his team are taking a crack at the Castlevania seris with the title Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. I was pretty excited to hear the news as 3D Castlevanias have always been a bit disappointing, and Kojima usually does great work.
The demo I played was very cutscene and presentation heavy, which is no surprise given the fact that Kojima is behind the project. For a demo on the show floor of E3, these lengthy cutscenes really should've been omitted in lieu of gameplay.
Once I did get into it, I found myself on a horse being attacked by wolf like creatures on giant beasts. I had the ability to hit the wolves or the beasts with my whip sword, in order to keep them from knocking me off the horse.
Whether by force or by my poor coordination, I found myself knocked from the horse a number of times which resulted in arena like combat. Unlike most Castlevania games, this one has a distinct Bayonetta feel to it, but far more limited and much less responsive. I was chaining combos and jumping through the air to attack enemies with the A, B, and Y buttons, while rolling and blocking on the ground to avoid attacks.
In general, the combat didn't feel bad, but it clearly wasn't as good as titles that play similarly. The demo wasn't much more than the combat, so it wasn't clear if the game is more than just a hack 'n' slash. What I did play was very underwhelming, and if the final product isn't far off or doesn't contain more than just combat, players looking for a comparable experience should grab Bayonetta or the latest in the Devil May Cry series.
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