Xbox 360 PS3

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Hack and slash/Beat 'em upAdventure

Time to beat: about 15 hours
Plays offline: Yes

Overview

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by MercurySteam and published by Konami. It was released on October 5, 2010, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, with a Windows version released on August 27, 2013. The game is a reboot of the Castlevania series. Set in Southern Europe during the Middle Ages, the story focuses on Gabriel Belmont and his quest to defeat a malevolent order known as the Lords of Shadow and resurrect his wife. The player controls Gabriel in 3D environments as he uses melee skills to defeat enemies and solves puzzles to move through the game.

The game was originally announced as Lords of Shadow with no connection to the Castlevania series mentioned. This was done to keep their plans to radically change the direction of the Castlevania mythos a secret and to prevent the announcement of the game from upstaging another series release, Castlevania Judgment. Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear series, helped produce the title. The music was composed by Spanish composer Óscar Araujo, who was acclaimed for his work on the game.

The game sold well and received positive reviews from video game publications. It was praised for new elements it provided to the franchise, with particular praise for its story, combat, visuals, music, and art direction. Konami requested that the development team produce more titles related to Lords of Shadow. This includes two sequels titled Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Mirror of Fate and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2.