![Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow - Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) (Konami - 1) video game collectible [Barcode 083717202189] - Main Image 1](https://www.icollecteverything.com/images/videogame/main/103/1030012_1.jpg)
![Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow - Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) (Konami - 1) video game collectible [Barcode 083717202189] - Main Image 2](https://www.icollecteverything.com/images/videogame/main/103/1030012_2.jpg)
Title:
Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow
Rating:
M
Genre:
Action
Adventure
Show More
IGN Score:
7.2
Release Date:
2010-04-10
Date Added:
2018-07-03 12:49:25
Game Summary:
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is a video game in the Castlevania series, and a reboot of the franchise. It is an action-adventure game in a horror/fantasy setting in Southern Europe during the Middle Ages. The game was developed by MercurySteam and Kojima Productions and published by Konami. Hideo Kojima, producer of the Metal Gear franchise, was involved with the title.
The game was originally announced as Lords of Shadow with no connection to the Castlevania series mentioned. According to Konami, this was 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 their other series release at the time, Castlevania Judgment.
Development
Longtime producer of the Metal Gear series, Hideo Kojima, had an advisory role in the game’s development.
There were a number of prototypes in parallel development competing to continue development as the next Castlevania title. Konami told MercurySteam the game would be an original IP when it was first greenlit as a Castlevania title. They eventually asked them to cease work on Lords of Shadow while it was still in its early stages, until Cox showed the Japanese senior management the game and was offered help by Hideo Kojima. Konami then chose the pitch for it as the next Castlevania entry. The original concept for the game was to remake the first Castlevania starring Simon Belmont, but it was later decided to make a reboot of the franchise. Lords of Shadow still drew inspiration from earlier titles in the series, most notably Castlevania for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and Super Castlevania IV.
Kojima’s involvement in the development of the game allowed him to assist with things based on his creative viewpoint. Examples include advising Cox’s team to redesign some of the lead character, Gabriel, who he felt needed a ”more heroic face”. Originally, Gabriel’s design resembled a classic barbarian, before Kojima then advised the staff to refine him into a character that was more relatable for the player. David Cox mentioned ”you can see a little bit” of Robert Carlyle’s visage in Gabriel, who provides the voice for the character. Kojima also oversaw the Japanese localization of the game, employing a number of voice actors from the Japanese versions of Metal Gear Solid. Cox stated that he has otherwise allowed them a lot of freedom with the project. MercurySteam wanted to depart from the art style of the other games in favour of one that was darker. Cox further elaborated, saying ”The old games had this boyish depiction of vampires and monsters and we wanted them to have a darker edge this time around.” The gaming press have drawn comparisons between the art style and Guillermo del Toro’s work.
The developers claimed to avoid the use of quick time events during combat, stating that it distracted the player from the action, but the game features several instances. When the game was 60% complete, MercurySteam were aiming for 30 frames per second performance, as opposed to 60 frames, which they said was not a priority at that stage. The game reached gold status following an announcement on Twitter made by David Cox on September 9, 2010. There is DLC available, furthering the game’s plot.
Audio
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Óscar Araujo
ReleasedOctober 5, 2010 (North America)
GenreVideo game soundtrack
The game’s musical score was written by Spanish composer Óscar Araujo using a 120-piece orchestra. It also features previous Castlevania musical themes. A soundtrack CD was also included in limited editions of the game, with twenty tracks in total. Araujo was nominated by the International Film Music Critics Association for breakout composer of the year for his work on Lords of Shadow. He won ”Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media.”
Lords of Shadow features voiced dialogue by a professional cast recorded in London; an aspect which has been acclaimed by the gaming press. Of note is Robert Carlyle, and Sir Patrick Stewart as the swordsman Zobek. The part of Gabriel was originally going to be offered to Gerard Butler, but he was not available. The cast would make their own contributions to the characters during the recordings. ”What could have been an ‘in and out’ voiceover job for them wasn’t. Instead, their love of the script and praise saw them developing their characters and working through the motivations for them.”
Reception
Film Music Critics AssociationBest Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media.
During its development, Lords of Shadow was placed on several lists for most anticipated video games. GameTrailers ranked it at number 7 for Top 10 Most Anticipated Games of 2010. Explicit Gamer wrote ”With so many great games in store for us in 2010, you should be sure not to overlook Castlevania: Lords of Shadow when it hits the shelves.” Games Radar placed Lords of Shadow at number 26 for 100 Most Anticipated Games of 2010, stating that ”This could be a megaton release.” 1UP.com’s top 50 most anticipated games of E3 2010 ranked Lords of Shadow at number 17. Following the event, the game won the People’s Choice Award. Despite the heavy anticipation, Cox noted there was still a small number of fans who did not like the game’s transition to the 3D format. While he acknowledged this, he asserted ”Fair enough, some people aren’t going to like what we’re doing and we accept that but generally what we’re trying to do is bring the fans with us ... there’s no point in going back and making the same game again – the point is to make a clean break and move forward with the series.”
Reaction to Lords of Shadow was mostly positive. GamesMaster described the game as ”a strong contender for action game of the year. The triumphant reimagining the series has always deserved.” Official Xbox Magazine lauded the size of the game’s content, writing ”... [it] is big. Actually, big’s too little a word. It’s monolithic... From the Resi 4 mood of the scarecrow puzzle to the unexpected oddity of the music box level, this is a game that seemingly hasn’t heard of DLC – and decides to offer you immense value for money instead.” The publication concluded it was ”an epic and slightly unexpected triumph”. Despite its reception, Lords of Shadow was not without criticism. Some reviews noted that it was very derivative of other games and that it was unlike the classic Castlevania series. GameSpot’s review calls the game ”a good start for a series in need of some new blood – so to speak – it’s just unfortunate so much of it comes from other games and not an original source.” 1UP’s review states, ”altogether, the game spins an interesting tale, and though it might borrow some ideas a little heavily from certain other games, it implements them well.”
The game was originally announced as Lords of Shadow with no connection to the Castlevania series mentioned. According to Konami, this was 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 their other series release at the time, Castlevania Judgment.
Development
Longtime producer of the Metal Gear series, Hideo Kojima, had an advisory role in the game’s development.
There were a number of prototypes in parallel development competing to continue development as the next Castlevania title. Konami told MercurySteam the game would be an original IP when it was first greenlit as a Castlevania title. They eventually asked them to cease work on Lords of Shadow while it was still in its early stages, until Cox showed the Japanese senior management the game and was offered help by Hideo Kojima. Konami then chose the pitch for it as the next Castlevania entry. The original concept for the game was to remake the first Castlevania starring Simon Belmont, but it was later decided to make a reboot of the franchise. Lords of Shadow still drew inspiration from earlier titles in the series, most notably Castlevania for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and Super Castlevania IV.
Kojima’s involvement in the development of the game allowed him to assist with things based on his creative viewpoint. Examples include advising Cox’s team to redesign some of the lead character, Gabriel, who he felt needed a ”more heroic face”. Originally, Gabriel’s design resembled a classic barbarian, before Kojima then advised the staff to refine him into a character that was more relatable for the player. David Cox mentioned ”you can see a little bit” of Robert Carlyle’s visage in Gabriel, who provides the voice for the character. Kojima also oversaw the Japanese localization of the game, employing a number of voice actors from the Japanese versions of Metal Gear Solid. Cox stated that he has otherwise allowed them a lot of freedom with the project. MercurySteam wanted to depart from the art style of the other games in favour of one that was darker. Cox further elaborated, saying ”The old games had this boyish depiction of vampires and monsters and we wanted them to have a darker edge this time around.” The gaming press have drawn comparisons between the art style and Guillermo del Toro’s work.
The developers claimed to avoid the use of quick time events during combat, stating that it distracted the player from the action, but the game features several instances. When the game was 60% complete, MercurySteam were aiming for 30 frames per second performance, as opposed to 60 frames, which they said was not a priority at that stage. The game reached gold status following an announcement on Twitter made by David Cox on September 9, 2010. There is DLC available, furthering the game’s plot.
Audio
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Óscar Araujo
ReleasedOctober 5, 2010 (North America)
GenreVideo game soundtrack
The game’s musical score was written by Spanish composer Óscar Araujo using a 120-piece orchestra. It also features previous Castlevania musical themes. A soundtrack CD was also included in limited editions of the game, with twenty tracks in total. Araujo was nominated by the International Film Music Critics Association for breakout composer of the year for his work on Lords of Shadow. He won ”Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media.”
Lords of Shadow features voiced dialogue by a professional cast recorded in London; an aspect which has been acclaimed by the gaming press. Of note is Robert Carlyle, and Sir Patrick Stewart as the swordsman Zobek. The part of Gabriel was originally going to be offered to Gerard Butler, but he was not available. The cast would make their own contributions to the characters during the recordings. ”What could have been an ‘in and out’ voiceover job for them wasn’t. Instead, their love of the script and praise saw them developing their characters and working through the motivations for them.”
Reception
Film Music Critics AssociationBest Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media.
During its development, Lords of Shadow was placed on several lists for most anticipated video games. GameTrailers ranked it at number 7 for Top 10 Most Anticipated Games of 2010. Explicit Gamer wrote ”With so many great games in store for us in 2010, you should be sure not to overlook Castlevania: Lords of Shadow when it hits the shelves.” Games Radar placed Lords of Shadow at number 26 for 100 Most Anticipated Games of 2010, stating that ”This could be a megaton release.” 1UP.com’s top 50 most anticipated games of E3 2010 ranked Lords of Shadow at number 17. Following the event, the game won the People’s Choice Award. Despite the heavy anticipation, Cox noted there was still a small number of fans who did not like the game’s transition to the 3D format. While he acknowledged this, he asserted ”Fair enough, some people aren’t going to like what we’re doing and we accept that but generally what we’re trying to do is bring the fans with us ... there’s no point in going back and making the same game again – the point is to make a clean break and move forward with the series.”
Reaction to Lords of Shadow was mostly positive. GamesMaster described the game as ”a strong contender for action game of the year. The triumphant reimagining the series has always deserved.” Official Xbox Magazine lauded the size of the game’s content, writing ”... [it] is big. Actually, big’s too little a word. It’s monolithic... From the Resi 4 mood of the scarecrow puzzle to the unexpected oddity of the music box level, this is a game that seemingly hasn’t heard of DLC – and decides to offer you immense value for money instead.” The publication concluded it was ”an epic and slightly unexpected triumph”. Despite its reception, Lords of Shadow was not without criticism. Some reviews noted that it was very derivative of other games and that it was unlike the classic Castlevania series. GameSpot’s review calls the game ”a good start for a series in need of some new blood – so to speak – it’s just unfortunate so much of it comes from other games and not an original source.” 1UP’s review states, ”altogether, the game spins an interesting tale, and though it might borrow some ideas a little heavily from certain other games, it implements them well.”
Platform:
Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3)
Publisher:
Konami
Barcode:
083717202189
Developers:
Mercury Steam
Show More
Players:
1
Country of Purchase:
United States
Graphics:
256-bit
Input Devices:
Controller Game Pad
Show More
Media Type:
Blu-Ray Disc
Game Modes:
Single Player
Show More
Special Edition:
Yes
Discs:
1
Packaging:
Snap Case
Automatic Estimated Value:
~$15.00
Automatic Estimated Date:
2026-01-12
Date Added:
2018-07-03 12:49:25
