REVIEW: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Resurrection DLC

29 Jul, 2011

Title: Castlevania Lords of Shadow: Resurrection (DLC)
Platform: Xbox Live / PlayStation Network (reviewed on Xbox Live)
Developer: Mercury Steam
Publisher: Konami
TL;DR: DEATH.
Family Friendly? Click here for more information.

The story of Gabriel Belmont continues in this short addition to the world of Lords of Shadow. With the ending of the Reverie DLC, we watched as Gabriel strode confidently into the unknown, now protected by the tainted blood of Laura. Perhaps this foreshadows what happens to Gabriel at the end of the original game, but unfortunately we’re nowhere closer to an explanation or a reason why.

I’ll be incredibly honest here. I was not terribly impressed with this DLC. If anything, it was still just as frustrating as Reverie, and it had even less variety. This time around, Resurrection gives us only two sections to play through, and one of them is a game of hide-and-go-kill-yourself-seek.

We begin Chapter XIV with Gabriel having just stepped into the prison of The Forgotten One, the penultimate baddy of all bad guys who is the epitome of depravity and darkness. Or so we’re told. Let the games begin, because you’ll be playing cat-and-mouse with this monster for the whole entire section. If he even sees you, Gabriel will be immediately vaporized and you’ll be forced to replay from the nearest checkpoint. On top of that, you must navigate the walls and ledges with your combat cross to avoid lava. It’s a lethal game of Goldilocks at this point, and you’ve got to make it just right. It might sound like fun to some of you, but for the rest of us we found it quite infuriating.

Peppered in between the sections of climbing, jumping, and even more climbing, you’ll be asked to fight the occasional skeleton or so, and twice you’ll be pitted against The Forgotten One himself. A quick battle later, and it’s back to following quietly in the shadows.

While Mercury Steam has shown incredible prowess in rendering beautiful environments, here the lack of variety seriously hampers any sort of enjoyment. I suppose it was necessary, given the progression of the story, but there’s only so much burning fire one person can stare at in half an hour. You spend a majority of your time climbing up walls, fighting against a rising tide of fire and lava that threatens to consume you if you take one misstep. That, coupled with the fact that you’re constantly trying to hide to avoid an untimely death, tries the patience of even the most die hard Castlevania fan.

The second part of the chapter is none other than the inevitable confrontation between man and demon. Much like the final battle between Gabriel and Satan, this battle requires a lot of patience and also a lot of analysis of your enemy. Rushing in with a battle cry that would make Braveheart proud will get you killed faster than you can even open your mouth. Don’t expect this fight to be a cakewalk either. It rivals even Satan’s fight, as The Forgotten One has more tricks up his sleeve than a man cheating at a game of cards. If you’re a patient fighter, then your efforts will be rewarded. If you’re a hot-headed trigger-happy button masher like me though, you’ll find the fight exhausting.

Once again, like its predecessor, Resurrection also highlighted hand-drawn images to tell the tale as opposed to CG rendered cut scenes, and once again like Reverie, it reflected the care and attention of the artist. And once again, I felt as if much of the emotional punch was stolen away from the lack of any animation. The scene of Gabriel sliding across the screen to beat The Forgotten One in getting out of that prison almost had me laughing – while the artistic efforts were appreciated, it simply didn’t carry the gravitas of what a full blown CG scene would have done.

There was, however, a silver lining. It’s not the brightest one out there, but it’s one nonetheless. We do gain a little closure on the story arc that was originally introduced in Reverie. With the defeat of The Forgotten One, we now know that Gabriel has become infected with Laura’s blood. Whether this is the reason why he became what he did, there’s no telling, as the ending is still very much open, which could suggest more DLC in the future. It certainly feels unsatisfying that we’re still left guessing as to what really happened, but perhaps Konami will be kind to us and give us more DLC to bridge the gaps. Maybe there will be a Lords of Shadow sequel to help out with all that, then?

Ultimately, Resurrection did accomplish its purpose – finality. It finished a story, but did it in very brief and frustrating fashion. Maybe Mercury Steam was aiming for something a little higher than the end product, but it is what it is. Players looking for substantial DLC to the Lords of Shadow universe will be severely disappointed – the lack of variety in the stages and the length of the whole entire affair is certainly not worth the 800 Microsoft Points nor the $9.99 on the PlayStation Network. Again, the core experience offered by Lords of Shadow will still give you more satisfaction than this brief entry. Unless you began the journey with Reverie, Resurrection can easily be passed over.

The Good

Accomplished its goal of finishing Reverie‘s story arc.

The environmental art still doesn’t fail to impress.

The Bad

An incredibly short and frustrating journey that highlights some platforming issues.

There’s a distinctive lack of variety.

Missing by one-quarter of an inch has never been so frustrating.

The Resurrection DLC is currently available on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.

Family Focus
Nope. Rated M (ESRB) and 16+ (PEGI) for a lot of violence and other nasty things your kids shouldn’t see.