Grave Gamer News & Views — lords of shadow 2

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Slated for February 2014

First projected for this Winter, MercurySteam’s final act in their critically acclaimed ’Vania saga, Lords of Shadow 2, will make its way to stores February 25th, 2014.

Following the trials of the holy warrior once known as Gabriel Belmont, now the accursed Dracul, the ultimate bastion of darkness, players will face hell’s best and worst in retaliation to Satan’s surgical strike on the mortal coil.

If the date push is too much to bare – and it truly is – Konami and MercurySteam will be dropping an updated HD version of MIrror of Fate onto Xbox Live and PSN this Halloween.  Serving as a bridge between the first and second LoS titles, the 2.5D game also merges the combat and storytelling of the newer titles with the side-scrolling, exploratory gameplay that made the original Castlevania’s widespread successes.

And if you’re still completely unitiated to the reboot legacy by February, the 25th also brings the Lords of Shadow Collection, gathering 2010’s original game along with its two DLC add-on’s as well as Mirror of Fate HD.

Above: Someone’s candid snapshot of Lords of Shadow 2 in action.  It’s been so damn long since we heard anything regarding the game, I thought I dreamed that E3 announcement.

Here’s an official plot synopsis of LoS2.  It would seem we’re wearing Dracula’s cowl this time around, a staggering shift in direction for the Castlevania series.  If you’re memory’s foggy, I’m told Dracula’s sort of the bad guy:

In this shocking conclusion to the Lords of Shadow saga, Dracula returns once again, weakened and yearning for release from his immortal bonds. Facing a new and powerful threat, the vampire lord must reacquire his old powers – and only his castle holds the key. However, the famed Belmont clan also seek his ultimate destruction.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (PS3/360)

Watch the first trailer now.

Possibly the biggest announcement Konami made in their pre-E3 conference stream, we now have officiated confirmation of a sequel to Mercurysteam’s superb Lords of Shadow.  Even though the new trailer parades one of the original game’s hugest plot twists, and even though the first Lords of Shadow has been around long enough for you to know what said twist is, I’ll still kindly warn ye of spoilers ahead.

The narrative seems to fit somewhere between the recently outed Mirror of Fate tie-in and the modern day epilogue found after credits in the first game.  Throughout this period, our hero and holy avenger Gabriel Belmont has fallen from grace, turned into the figure history would fear as Dracula.  And in this Castlevania-redux universe, Dracula is fucking awesome.

The whole trailer is Gabriel ripping into an army of knights, whipping them senseless with his unholy might.  The preview may display Gabriel harnessing hell’s fury on a horde (and then on a medieval mech), but the trailer calls into question just who the protagonist is and how many.  Right after the title reveal, an armored individual with oddly familiar, flowing white hair steps onto the battlefield fully meaning to challenge Gabriel (which, like an immortal BAMF, Gabriel simply smirks at in acceptance).

Mercurysteam has already shown they intend on revisiting – and revising – the mythos of the main series by utilizing both Trevor and Simon Belmont in their handheld LoS.  So, are they hinting that we’ll see, and maybe even play as, their version of Alucard?  Well, that’d be cool.

[Oh, by the by, Wii U fans, I understand initial reports/rumors suggested a LoS2 counterpart on the new Nintendo console is also dropping.  While the trailer doesn’t confirm it, we still have a full week of surprises.]

We Could Be Getting a Lords of Shadow 2 Reveal on the 31st

The unveiling of a sequel to Castlevania’s big budget reboot, Lords of Shadow, just got a little more imminent.  Not only did Konami update their Facebook with the above concept art (without explanation), but you can also find a newly launched site dubbed thedragonreturns.com.  Rested atop the page is the date 31-5-2012.

What does this have to do with Lords of Shadow, you astutely ask?  It’s been pointed out that the source code for the site contains the phrase “CLOS teaser."  So it has to be either LoS2 or a decidedly dark new direction for Contra.  Keep your eyes and ears peeled – yeah, both – for next Thursday’s reveal of, hopefully, Super Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.