Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2

Overview

A sequel to 2010's Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 continues the story of Gabriel Belmont. Unlike the first game, Kojima Productions did not take part in the development of this title, leaving it solely to Mercury Steam. It was released on February 25th, 2014 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Early Reveal

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 was indirectly revealed in tandem with the Nintendo 3DS title Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate in the June 2012 issue of Nintendo Power. Dave Cox, producer at Mercury Steam, was quoted saying that the events of Mirror of Fate would lead directly into Lords of Shadow 2 without the latter having been formally announced at that point. The game saw a more official announcement later that year.

Story

The main character will once again be Gabriel Belmont, who has thrown away his former name and become a powerful malevolent vampire, Dracul ('Dragon' in Romanian) the prince of darkness, eventually becoming feared by the people as "Dracula".

Sometime after the events of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, Dracula is being hunted by his former comrades, the Brotherhood of Light. Also opposing him are his own descendants, the Belmont Clan (of whom a new member debuts), and his son, Alucard. The story itself spans centuries, even going into more modern times.

Unlike the first Lords of Shadow, the story is told in a constant, seamless progression as opposed to chapters, ridding the need to returning to earlier levels if you want to collect everything. However, the story gives the player branching paths at certain points giving an "open world" feel.

Gameplay

Dracula's main method of combat is his vampiric powers taking the form of the Blood Whip, remnant of the Combat Cross of the first game. Replacing the Light Magic and the Shadow Magic are the Void Sword and the Chaos Claws, respectively. While they still have the same attributes of regaining health and dealing more damage, functionally they are quite different as wielding either gives Dracula brand new moves and combos. Another inclusion that was not in the original game is the ability to freely control the camera as opposed to a fixed one.