When Konami revealed that Hideo Kojima would be taking control of the upcoming Castlevania: Lords of Shadow title for the Xbox 360 and PS3, many assumed it’d be the best 3D Castlevania game in recent years. While the 2D incarnations have been stellar, the 3D titles haven’t done well in terms of gameplay and exploration or in sales. While talking with Official Xbox Magazine UK, David Cox talks about the changes the development team made in order to bring the series into 3D properly.
The key changes made to the game to make it more 3D friendly are on the gameplay front and the game is sounding an awful lot like God of War or your typical action game. He notes that you’ll now learn new moves and abilities as your progress. Players will have the option to upgrade weapons and this will open up new attacks.
"As you progress you will learn new moves and combos," Cox explains. "[You'll] upgrade the weapon to allow additional attacks and features. For example, you get a grip ability that allows you to latch on to scenery in the game and indeed on to enemies too."
The game will also be designed as a linear experience. Nearly all the Castlevania entries since Symphony of the Night have had the world open for you to explore at any given time, this entry will instead resort back to the original level design with separate stages.
"The game is in linear stages and is level-based, much like the original Castlevania games," Cox explains. "Some levels are huge and offer multiple routes while others are more 'go from A to B.’”
With every 3D Castlevania disappointing fans, Lords of Shadow will either continue that streak or it’ll be the first solid 3D Castlevania title. Though the game isn’t scheduled to release until later next year, we’ll surely be seeing and hearing a lot more on the game as 2010 rolls on. With the game sounding more like God of War and other action games, things are certainly looking promising for this title.
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So this is a good thing right?
Pixel Art can be fun.
