Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is the sequel to Lords of Shadow [one], and Mirror of Fate, and was once again developed by Spanish studio MercurySteam, and was first published by Konami in 2014. It ties-up the storyline of Gabriel Belmont, Trevor and Simon Belmont, Alucard, and Dracula – the core characters of the Castlevania series – in a satisfying manner.

Set one thousand years after the events of Lords of Shadow, in Lords of Shadow 2 you actually play as… The Prince of Darkness himself, Dracula. Far from being just “the bad guy” in this story, Dracula (aka Dracul aka Gabriel Belmont) was chosen by God to defeat Satan, way back at the end of the first Lords of Shadow, and in doing so he relinquished his humanity to become an undead immortal vampire. Cut to present day, and Satan and his acolytes are preparing for his return, and Dracula is called upon to stop it. Only by regaining his full powers, will Dracula be able to do that. Which is where you come in…

Lords of Shadow 2‘s gameplay is a mix of exploration, combat, and platforming, and is somewhat ‘open’ in how you can play it. As Dracula, you must explore the modern day city of Wygol to investigate and undermine Satan’s acolytes, and also visit the ghostlike remains of Dracula‘s castle, upon which the city is built, to regain his lost powers.

Dracula‘s default weapon is a blood whip, which works like a regular whip but is made of controlled blood. He can also use The Void Sword, which is capable of draining life from his opponents and replenishing his own health, and The Chaos Claws, which are used to break the shields and armour of enemies. However, after the initial tutorial, he loses these powers and must regain them, falling back onto a rather mundane punch attack until he does so.

Dracula does have two very useful skills, that he can use from the very beginning of his mission. The first is Possession, whereby he temporarily takes over the body of an enemy by infusing them with his blood. This will only last for a short time, though, before they explode in a bloody mess. The second skill is his ability to hide in dark shadows and turn into a plague of rats, in order to stealthily sneak past otherwise dangerous enemies.

Secondary weapons once again play an important role in the game, with Blood Knives being used as projectiles to both hurt enemies, and also remove blockages from certain parts of the scenery. There’s also the Bat Swarm, which can be thrown at enemies to distract them.

Survival means having to keep Dracula‘s health up, which is done by drinking the blood of enemies, using The Void Sword (when you have it), and by tearing the hearts out of statues and dramatically squeezing the blood out of them. If your health runs out, you’re sent back to try again from the last checkpoint.

Lords of Shadow 2 is probably my favourite of the three Lords of Shadow games. The game does push the player to use a gamepad, but I dug my heels in and stuck with keyboard and mouse, and I’m glad I did because using the mouse to control the camera in this game makes it feel much more natural and immediate.

At times the game feels a bit like a horror version of Deus Ex; at other times it feels like a Resident Evil game, and sometimes it feels like Symphony of the Night, but with zippy manual camera controls and really dynamic jumping and climbing. Lords of Shadow 2 is an interesting mix of gameplay styles. It’s also quite shocking at times. Having to drink the blood of a family of three after first being revived made me sit up and take notice – reinforcing the duality of the game’s lead character.

Lords of Shadow 2 is a great game, though. It starts off with a bang, and a dramatic fight against a Titan boss, and a tough Paladin, in Dracula‘s castle. And it continues in a surprising manner, in a city that feels to me a lot like present day London. The visuals are spectacular, and the music is dramatic and atmospheric.

I highly recommend all three Lords of Shadow games to anyone who likes action horror games, or the Castlevania series in general, and Lords of Shadow 2 is a fitting end to an interesting new take on the Dracula/Castlevania mythology.

More: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 on Wikipedia
Steam: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 on Steam