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Castlevania Mirror of Fate HD listed for PS3, 360 at Play-Asia
Play-Asia looks into Mirror of Fate and sees an HD port staring back at them, it seems. The Hong Kong retailer put up a new listing for a Castlevania: Lords of Shadow collection, and lurking inside is an unannounced PS3 and Xbox 360 port of the 3DS direct sequel. The PS3 and Xbox 360 collection also features the first Lords of Shadow along with all its DLC, and an "exclusive demo" of Lords of Shadow 2. The release date is listed as October 2013. We've not found other retailers with the listing as yet. However, in December 2012, Mirror of Fate was classified by Brazil's games rating board for PS3 and Xbox 360 as well as 3DS, some three months prior to its arrival on the portable. The Brazilian board also rated the game for PC and Wii U, although these platforms aren't noted in Play-Asia's listing. In February, Konami UK boss Dave Cox said the company would "definitely" consider an HD Mirror of Fate, explaining the studio built the game in HD and "kind of shrunk it" onto 3DS. "We want as many people to play it as possible. Obviously we have an exclusivity deal with Nintendo right now though and they've been very supportive of the product," Cox told CVG. Like a bat out of hell, retail listings like this one are usually gone in the morning, but at the moment the collection is still on Play-Asia's site. We've reached out to Konami for comment.
Lords of Shadow 2 is developer MercurySteam's last Castlevania
Spanish studio MercurySteam will step away from Konami's Castlevania series after it wraps up Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, series producer David Cox told Destructoid at San Diego Comic Con. "I've always thought that this was a torch being passed down," Cox said. "Nobody on the team ever felt like we owned Castlevania. We always felt it was our responsibility now but it wouldn't be ours forever. Let's do what we're going to do, tell our story, and move on." Cox continued: "So we've told Japan headquarters that this is the last one for us... there's nothing worse than when somebody's got something to say, and when they've said it, they just keep talking. We've got a beginning and end, and it's a cool ending and a cool story. Once we've done that, it's time to say to somebody else, 'now it's your turn.' Maybe it will be a young producer in the company looking for his first break. I think you've got to bring in fresh blood." Cox previously expressed interest in heading up a MercurySteam-developed entry in Konami's Contra series. While a new Contra game was teased at E3 in 2011, Konami has issued no details regarding the project.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 rises this winter, features open world
Konami announced new details regarding Mercury Steam's upcoming Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, revealing that a large portion of its gameplay will take place in a modern-day, open-world setting. Expressing a desire for the game's world to "grow organically, and not level-to-level," Mercury Steam's Enric Alvarez notes that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 will allow players to freely explore the game's world without loading times. While much of the game will take place in Dracula's castle, players will also be able to explore a surrounding modern-day city, providing a stark contrast with the franchise's typical medieval fantasy setting. Alvarez describes the game as darker in tone than its predecessor, and notes that its story is defined by "intense and contradictory feelings." Combat will be more strategic and tactical, thanks to more complex enemy behavior. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 will be released this winter.
Konami pre-E3 show gives the scoop on MGS5, Castlevania on June 6
Konami's third annual pre-E3 show is penciled in for June 6 at 1 p.m. ET, streaming live online via Konami's events site, on Gamespot and via the Xbox Live Gamespot app. For the second year in a row, Konami will show off a new trailer for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, which was announced during last year's pre-E3 briefing. Konami also plans to show off some behind-the-scenes footage of the next Pro Evolution Soccer game, and will have "new announcements" from Kojima Productions. Kojima recently made a splash with the Joakim Mogren marketing campaign for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Surely nothing will be able to compete with that.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate review: Symphony of the Fight
If the multi-tiered title didn't make it clear, "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate" is a heavy thing. A glut of gothic gravitas manifests in a huge quest that peels out of its handheld frame, even while anchored by burly protagonists and sullen environments. It's a fine action game fueled by fervor, but in need of some finesse.Mirror of Fate invites a fair comparison to older Castlevania games like Aria of Sorrow, which made light of a somber premise with whip-smart heroes, Michiru Yamane's upbeat score and a crisp, unfurling map of interconnected rooms. Dracula's dire abode was buoyed by brisk exploration, by coloring in each room on the diagram and expanding your navigational knowledge as you went about the business of slaying monsters. The combat found complexity in a large variety of swords, lances, axes, maces and daggers, each of which offered simple, easily decipherable changes.This trip through the horror catalogue curtails the equipment to the chain-whip "Combat Cross," brandished by Gabriel Belmont in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, as well as a small but powerful set of exhaustible sub-weapons. There's more interest in ferocious fighting than traversal, and a far greater demand for concentration and finger gymnastics than you might expect.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 skipping Wii U due to resource restraints
"The reason why we are developing it on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 is simply because that's the amount of people we got," Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 producer David Cox says of development on the upcoming sequel. "If we want to do a Wii U conversion, that's another 20 people. We just don't have the resources or the budget to do it."While Cox showed interest in pursuing a Wii U port of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, he reiterates in this Eurogamer interview that developer MercurySteam just can't handle it right now. "It's not to say we wouldn't do it, it's to say at this point we don't want to lose focus on what we're doing. We've got a certain way down the line, and it would be a distraction to have to do a port to another system at this point. You say to yourself, can I take on another 20 people? It's just a nightmare to manage at this point. That's the only reason why we're not doing any other formats."Cox also painted a pretty rough picture of the MercurySteam offices right now. The studio is "at a breaking point" with 110 employees working in a space that was originally designed to house 60. "People are sitting on each other's laps almost," he says. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 was originally announced for Xbox 360 and PS3 at E3 last year, with a planned launch some time in 2013. Later at Gamescom, Cox revealed the PC port would also arrive this year. MercurySteam has said that after Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 and upcoming go-between Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate on 3DS, the developer would like to take a crack at Contra.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 coming to PC [update: in 2013]
In the quietest "announcement" of Gamescom, producer Dave Cox revealed a PC version of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. The game was first announced at E3 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.Update: A press release has come through (find it after the break), which reveals a 2013 release window for Lords of Shadow 2 on both consoles and PC.
MercurySteam wants to leave Castlevania, to take on Contra next
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow studio MercurySteam will be ready to leave Castlevania behind after Mirror of Fate and Lords of Shadow 2, Konami EU head of development Dave Cox tells VG247. "Well, I think it's about wanting to leave a legacy," Cox said. "And I don't want to be in charge of a series that perhaps over a certain time is going to decline. I'd rather go out with a bang and leave that as our legacy in the Castlevania universe."Cox said he didn't want to be known as "Mr. Castlevania," nor for his team to be "the Castlevania team." Should Lords of Shadow 2 be even more successful, another team can take on the momentum.However, Cox doesn't want to move away from the established Konami canon entirely. "I love Contra. I'd love to do Contra. At Mercury Steam we've got an original idea that I think is really awesome. We'd love to bring that idea to market and I'm hoping that the success of Lords of Shadow 2 will allow us to do that."Konami teased a Contra revival at E3 2011, but it's unclear whether that project is the same as MercurySteam's Contra. If so, that would alter the proposed timeline a bit, as it would suggest that Cox and his team have already been working on the "awesome" idea.
Drac is back in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 media
The screen above represents the natural evolution of Castlevania. Throughout the series, we've been told (and shown) that Dracula's castle is a living organism, that changes form every time it reappears, and attempts to confound the hapless vampire hunter who wanders in.Now, in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, you literally face down a building. The official website reveals where the story picks up: as a weakened Dracula, "yearning for release from his immortal bonds," you go in search of your old powers, in order to stop a "new and powerful threat." So it's like a reverse Simon's Quest.%Gallery-156649%%Gallery-156650%
Konami officially announces Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2
In addition to developing a 3DS game, Mercury Steam is also hard at work on a new console game: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. Announced this evening during Konami's pre-E3 press briefing, Konami had little to offer outside of the brief CG teaser for the Mercury Steam-developed sequel for Xbox 360 and PS3 seen here.Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 will be at E3 and you can bet we're going to get our hands on it. Stay tuned for more next week, when Joystiq lands in LA for the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo.
Star Wars 1313, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 titles leaked ahead of E3 announcements
A landing page on GameTrailers TV [since replaced] for the site's upcoming E3 coverage has leaked at least two big titles ahead of the show itself. According to the page (which has been replaced, screenshot above), "E3 begins on GTTV with the Star Wars 1313 announcement and new trailers from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Tomb Raider, Guardians of Middle-Earth, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, and Dishonored."Most of those we already knew would be getting some coverage at the show next week, but two of those titles are new to our ears: Star Wars 1313, and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2.Star Wars 1313 is a trademark that's been bouncing around at LucasFilm for a while, but there's been no official word on just what it might be yet. In the Expanded Universe, Boba Fett once used the alias "CT-1313," so the best guess is that it's a new franchise based around Fett's story in some way. StarWars1313.com has also been registered by LucasArts, and currently redirects to the main Star Wars site.And Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is clearly a sequel to the 2010 title that's hardly a big surprise to finally hear about. But it's not any less exciting to see these two big names revealed by GTTV's mistake. We'll obviously find out more about both of these when the official announcements are made.Update: Star Wars 1313 now has a Facebook page, also apparently leaked before an "announcement." There's a shot and a description on there, both of which we've reprinted after the break. 1313 refers to "Level 1313," a criminal underground on Coruscant (if indeed this page is real), but there is mention of a certain "bounty hunter," so Boba's not out yet.Update: LucasArts' official site has the shot, logo, and a link to the Facebook page. It's official, this is the new Star Wars game.[Thanks, Jonas]
