If you have listened to any of our podcast then it will come
as no surprise that the members of Dashfiles are no strangers to video games.
Cutting my teeth at a young age with Final fantasy 4 and Zelda: A Link to the
Past I have been gamer since the young age of four. I was never really picky in
the games I would play at first but since then I have grown older and videogames
have become a more prevalent form of media, one must be careful in which games
they dedicates their time. I have played my share of bad games but it only took one
truly horrible game from a developer who promised almost everything he never
put in his game for me to be careful of what I play. With the sea of games out there now it might be hard to sort
through the rubble and find the gems but I have decide to lend a hand to those
seeking advice. I will be writing up recommendations (not reviews) of games I
have found very enjoyable and mention the things that caught my eye. The first
game I will be recommending is Castlevania: Lords of Shadows for Xbox 360.
The Story
Castlevania surprised me most with how attached I became to
the main protagonist as I watched him walk down the path of self-destruction in
the name of love. Facing monsters known as the lords of shadows, that would
frighten even the bravest men, Gabriel blindly marched forward on a course
laced with his fallen comrades in hopes of fulfilling a prophecy that could
resurrect his dead wife. Often games don’t focus on the story as much as they
should and hope that the experience of racing from start to finish holds enough
reward. Castlevania goes against this trend and starts to develop crucial story
plots in the second chapter (there is a total of 12 chapters including DLC) and
continues with plot twist that will leave you hungry for answers. The story
keeps this pace until the very end leaving those who enjoyed the game praying
for a sequel in hopes to find some closure. Laced with trickery, treachery, and
false hope this story will keep you guessing until the very end.
Gabriel Belmont
is a true martyr as he sacrifices his humanity to save humanity.
The Artwork
Another note worthy feature of this game is the artwork and
level designs. The game is designed as if it was a novel with each page coming
to live as you progresses and the book theme remains consistent through out the
game. In fact the pause menu is actually a pulled out view of the book and
allows you to turn the pages to look at your inventory and monster bestiary.
The bestiaries’ pencil drawings matched with all the informative descriptions
creates a well-put together collection of info that will have you pausing the
game every time you encounter a new monster just to see the new artwork. The
level designs in themselves are grand works of art and will have the player
pausing to take in the view as you turn a corner and the camera sweeps over to reveal a backdrop of
a cold frozen Transylvanian like castle looming in the distance as if a beacon of impending doom. The levels are immensely
varied having the protagonist travel through swampy villages haunted by
scarecrows, frozen castle ruins plagued by vampires, and even lush tropical
jungles overwhelmed by werewolves. However, the level that I enjoyed the most
all took place inside of a music box with probably my favorite music piece from
the game.
The Music
The score for Castlevania was composed
by Óscar
Araujo and it does a wonderful job of tying the beautiful environments with the
journey at hand. Whether you are scaling the remains of an old castle or
fighting an army of skeleton warriors there will be a beautiful soundtrack to
accompany it. As I mentioned before one of my personal favorite songs in the
game is the Music box theme called “Vampire Killer.” Even the music that plays
when you die has a very epic feel that never lost it luster even after hearing it thirty times in a row
because of an unforgiving checkpoint.
There is a few hiccups in the game such as unforgiving checkpoints where you will be saved with a sliver of health in the middle of a boss fight and difficult jumping mechanics, but the overall package is worth the price tag. If your looking for a great adventure with fun combat and an entrancing story you can pick this game up brand new off Amazon for only twenty dollars.
Also for those who have played this game just know that there is a rumor out there that Óscar Araujo tweeted Castlevania Lord of Shadows 2 has a soundtrack that will dwarf the previous. So it looks like the answers we are patiently waiting for is on the horizon.
-Chris
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