Legacy of Kain: Defiance (Xbox)

To bring the newbies up to speed, Legacy of Kain follows Vampire tyrant Kain and his vengeful prodigy Raziel as they battle for supremacy across time and space in a mythical world of supernatural mystery. Both protagonists wield an ancient sword, the Soul Reaver - Kain's is the physical body of the sword, while Raziel is fused to the spectral essence of the mighty blade. The time sorceror Mobius has cast both vampires back into the past, to the roots of Nosgoth's history, and it is here that we pick up the latest chapter.

Soul Reaver is a 3D action adventure in which players alternately assume the roles of Raziel and Kain. Each character is unique in that Kain requires blood to keep his health up, while Raziel, a spectral vampire, requires souls. To this end each vampire has a unique repetoir of combat and finishing moves to dish out on enemies, such as Kain sinking his fangs in his dizzied victim's throat. In addition, both characters are able deploy complex sword combos, as well as magical powers in combat - one that looks particularly satisfying is the ability to telekenetically pick up and hurl opponents off of cliffs, or into nearby spikes, impaling them. Indeed, much of the focus for this game is an overhauled combat system, and the player will often find themselves attacked by multiple foes.

In keeping with the traditions of the series, there will also be plenty of mind-bending puzzles to deal with. Raziel is capable of shifting between the living and spectral worlds, and in each environment is able to achieve different things to solve a puzzle.... For example, while Raziel cannot pick up objects in the spirit world, he can warp through gates and other thin obstacles, or jump to otherwise inaccessable areas. This gives the game a fantastic degree of scope and depth to 3D problem solving.

The graphics for the series are top notch, and its one of the first series of games to do away with loading screens - clever coding allows the game to load upcoming environments before you reach them, allowing a seamless transition through the vast land of Nosgoth. The world is realised in beautiful, lovingly crafted architecture, spooky, mist filled forests and flickering caves. The spectral world, which Raziel is tied to is rendered in eerie blues and greens, and there's a lot of excellent lighting throughout. Its one of the most atmospheric games you'll play this year.

One of the chief critisisms levelled at the last game, Soul Reaver 2, is that it was too wordy and complex a plot, with not enough action and exploring. This latest title seems to have addressed those concerns by upping the action in spades, while staying true to the devious twists and turns of the series. This should be on every fan's wish list, and I'd recommend it to anyone in search of an offbeat and spooky adventure game. Read more ›

The Soul Reaver story tells the tale of Raziel and Kain. Raziel was the focus of the previous game, a former vampire turned vampire soul devourer seeking revenge against his former lord, Kain. The twisty turny story so far has seen him follow his quest as instructed by the ancient god, to questioning his past and his future. While jumping through time he learns that perhaps Kain isn't quite the villian he once though, and the righeous human crusaders and the ancient God are perhaps not the saviours of Nosgoth. This game takes on a new twist, you switch between different stories, Kain as he looks to escape from the cycle of destiny that eventually leads to him destroying Nosgoth, and Raziel as he tries to escape his destiny to become the soul trapped within the spirit blade, the Soul Reaver.

That just about scratches the surface of the story, which spans several hundreds of years through time travel and paradoxes. Its worth investigating the previous games just to know how you arrive at this point. Defiance doesn't leave you in the dark if you've not played the series before, the wicked cut scenes play out the story to gripping effect.... Whether its the Peter Parker-esque monologues of Raziel as he uncovers his history or the spats between Kain and the time streamer Mobeus, you'll be hooked in until you reach the climax that you've been waiting 3 games for!

As far as the mechanics of the game go, it now looks less Tomb Raider-y and a bit more Devil May Cry as far as camera angles go. Nosgoth looks better than ever, the graphics are wonderfully gothic. The combat aspect of the game is unbelievably many times better than it ever has been. You can now have proper full on scraps with groups of people, flinging them about with telekinetic powers before finishing them off by devouring their soul/draining their blood (depending on character). Great stuff. Plus its nice (yet sad ... you'll see) to see this chapter in the story of Nosgoth come to a well crafted conclusion.

I think this series is fantastic, perhaps not the greatest games ever, but they strike a chord. The characters of Kain, Raziel, the ancient God and Mobeus are wonderful to see in action and so well fleshed out. Its a shame to see this series at an end after spanning 3 of my consoles. One for the lovers of a good story. Read more ›