E3 2012 | Castlevania: Lords of Shadow– Mirror of Fate May not be What You Want

A new Castlevania on a handheld system? That sounds great… wait, this doesn’t look like what I thought it would be.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow– Mirror of Fate may have the traditional 2D Castlevania ‘boxy’ map on the bottom screen of the 3DS but don’t let that fool you, the game is in full 3D. At first glance it looks like it might play the same as a 2D Castlevania but I quickly realized that it doesn’t. Once the camera swoops across dramatically you know that this is going to be a different experience. The new dynamic camera is actually pretty nice and exemplifies the action well.

The gameplay is pretty much taken exactly from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow except not as robust. The combat didn’t have any force; you were just wailing on skeletons, who didn’t even recoil, until they died. Quick time events also felt hollow in a similar way. Despite this, it was fun pulling off combos and jumping over enemies to get to a better strategic point.

It wasn’t all combat though; there were a few platforming sections that involved swinging to ledges. This was handled well but felt a little slow and clunky. At least there were still secrets hidden away to discover.

Map exploration is still something that was a decent part of the demo but it’s nowhere near that of traditional 2D Castlevania standards.

The visuals looked good but the charm and beauty of the 2D Castlevania art is lost and we are left with a somewhat generic looking castle.

Sure I would rather this be a 2D Castlevania game but it was still pretty fun once I got over that it wasn’t what I initially wanted. Hopefully they tighten up the combat and make the game a bit more about exploration before it gets released.

If you want a portable version of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, this is for you. The rest of you should still give Castlevania: Lords of Shadow– Mirror of Fate a shot when it releases, just so long as you know what you are getting into beforehand.

Share this article:

Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
Share on tumblr
Tumblr
Share on email
Email
Share on whatsapp
WhatsApp

Recent Posts

Marvel 1943 cover art. Captaint America and Black Panther Gaming News

Get a Closer Look at the New Black Panther and Captain America Game | Marvel 1943

It’s been a while since we first got word that the great Amy Hennig was working on a new Black Panther and Captain America game. After creating something like Uncharted, …

Mad Catz Strike 11 Keyboard. A keyboard with red and black keys Hardware & Tech

Mad Catz S.T.R.I.K.E. 11 Mechanical Keyboard Impressions

I have been on the search for a decently priced wireless keyboard and there is no shortage these days. Our friends over at Mad Catz sent over their S.T.R.I.K.E. 11 …

Hardware & Tech

Level Up Your Set Up with Nanoleaf

Nanoleaf has been one of the market leaders in the gaming lighting space for years now. They have a variety of products to level up not only your office space …

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Gaming News

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and What’s Next For Xbox | Let’s Chat

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is the next big game set for release and the rumor mill has been set ablaze with talks of Xbox going multi-platform. We take a few …

Gaming News

The Pimax Crystal 8K VR Headset | CES 2024

AR and VR were some of the bigger topics during this year’s CES. Last year I was able to go hands-on with the Pimax Portal but this year it was …

CES

NVIDIA Announces 40 Series Super Cards and More at CES 2024

A year can’t go by without a huge announcement from NVIDIA. During CES 2024 in Las Vegas, NVIDIA announced an upgrade to its 40 series cards. The GeForce RTX 40 …