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Hideo Kojima wants to show a game of his own at TGS 2011
While a new Kojima Productions game was on display at TGS 2010 -- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow -- Hideo Kojima's direct involvement seems limited to providing the voice for a mischievous chupacabra. In a tweet, the game director expressed his interest in showing a true Hideo Kojima game at next year's event. Kojima said "I think it would be nice if next year I can do not just editing, but introduce my own new game (game design, script and direction)." During the Metal Gear Solid cosplay event at TGS, he also jokingly said "It's 5! Shall we make 5! With this, I won't have to quit Konami. I'll be there for 3 more years." This was in response to a prompt to "say something shocking," however, and not "say something true." A grain of salt is advised.
New Castlevania: Lords of Shadow screens: Witch you were here!
To go alongside the decidedly batty TGS trailer, Konami has released new screens of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. They show off Gabriel Belmont doing what Belmonts do best: Slaying demons, exploring castles and ... chatting with Baba Yaga? Even witches need some company now and then, right? %Gallery-102608%
New Castlevania: Lords of Shadow trailer is positively nuts
What's in this Castlevania: Lords of Shadow trailer? The more appropriate question might be what isn't? Werewolves, faeries, vampires, angels, giant chess boards, giant eagles, giant giants -- even the grim visage of Death makes an appearance. It is absolutely the nuttiest and most awesome thing you'll see today. Well, maybe not, it is TGS week ...
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow preview: The first two hours
Lords of Shadow is going to be a great game and, more importantly, a great Castlevania game. The MercurySteam and Kojima Productions collaboration offers everything you'd want from a modernized Castlevania adventure: platforming, puzzle solving, and, yes, even some backtracking and exploration, with a level of polish that catapults it all into a sublime experience. At Konami's "Boot Camp" event, I was able to spend time with a near-final version of the game and play as much of it as I wanted to. This wasn't a cleverly cut demo reel, highlighting the game's best moments. This was the full game -- all I had to do was press the Start button. Immediately, I was drawn into the world through the powerful soundtrack, beautiful graphics and the spot-on narration. As the game begins, the solemn protagonist approaches a rain-soaked town besieged by werebeasts. He's not as flamboyant as Kratos or Dante, but no less deadly. The game immediately throws you into battle against the beasts as tutorial on the basic mechanics of the game. It's no surprise that comparisons to God of War have been made: Gabriel's whip feels a lot like Kratos' Blades of Chaos. With Square, Triangle and X performing the same functions as in Sony's brawler, it's very easy to get a feel for the combat. (There's even a counterattack that works just like GoW's Golden Fleece.) But it's not just the combat that invites comparison to other games. The violence is no less graphic and gruesome than in God of War.%Gallery-100509%
How disc swapping works in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow for Xbox 360
If you haven't heard, the Xbox 360 version of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow will ship on two discs (Limited Edition pictured above). Here's a tip: You can save yourself some precious disc-swapping time if you install at least Disc One to your hard drive. Although Lords of Shadow's story is told in an episodic, linear fashion, you'll want to revisit earlier levels to find missing collectibles and beat any additional challenges. Without installing, you'll have to swap discs every time you want to revisit earlier levels. However, if you've installed the data, you won't ever have to swap discs again; you'll be able to continue playing with just Disc Two in the drive. It's an interesting way of overcoming the DVD format's size limitation -- a clever trick that could be employed by future multi-disc releases.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow sinks teeth into North America Oct. 5, DLC planned
Konami has announced that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow will be whipped onto North American shelves starting October 5. This puts the American launch just shy of the October 7 and 8 release dates for Europe and the UK, respectively. In related news, Lords of Shadow Producer David Cox informed 1UP that two DLC packs are planned for the game. Cox offered few details, though both packs will feature new areas to explore and enemies to slay. He also attempted to assuage fears that the revelation of DLC means the full game will be less than complete, saying that it "absolutely has an ending." Check out the full interview for Cox's thoughts on working with Kojima Productions and how Mercury Steam approached making a 3D Castlevania title. Update: Check out some new screens, renders and box art in the galleries below! %Gallery-99909% %Gallery-99907% %Gallery-99906%
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow whipping up Oct. 7 EU release date, Oct. 8 in UK
During a Konami press conference at Gamescom, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow producer David Cox took to the mic to announce European and UK release dates for the forthcoming game: October 7 in Europe and October 8 in the UK. Furthermore, Konami UK rep Richie Churchill revealed via his Twitter account that the game will be getting a distinct collector's edition for (at very least) the UK, featuring the game's original soundtrack and a "replica God Mask in awesome packaging." Wait a minute -- why don't we get a God Mask?! Anyway, given the way European and UK releases work, it's fair to guess that Lords of Shadow will land stateside on October 5 (as compared to the Halloween release date Amazon gave it), sans God Mask. That's exciting enough, we guess.
Amazon: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow LE out in October
Amazon sent out word of a Castlevania: Lords of Shadow limited edition a bit early this week by releasing a mockup image of the package. Now the retailer has boldly tweeted (if one can do something called "tweeting" in a bold manner) release info for the limited edition, pricing it at $79.99 on PS3 and Xbox 360. The image is exactly the same as this week's mockup, meaning that we will get that nice hand-painted artwork on the box (that looks a lot like the work of longtime Castlevania artist Ayami Kojima) along with the soundtrack and artbook, that were shown before. The Amazon listings also show a Halloween release date for both the standard and limited editions, though we're hesitant to confirm any release dates from retailers as "official" without checking in with Konami -- which we're doing now.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow special edition mockup outed by Amazon
An image spotted on Amazon (and since removed) suggests that there will be a special edition release of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow -- as if its status as a major game from a large publisher didn't already make that clear. The image shows a package comprising two Xbox 360 game discs, a soundtrack, and a "The Art of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow" book. Lords of Shadow producer David Cox told Joystiq, "The images of the special edition leaked onto the net are mock ups and NOT final," before adding that the retailer "jumped the gun" by publishing early images. Though neither Cox nor Konami had anything official to announce about a special edition, someone at Konami is mocking up special edition images. Probably in advance of a real special edition. That would just be a weird hobby otherwise.
Kmart deals: $25 credit with Singularity, $20 credit with Lords of Shadow pre-order, more
Kmart has quite a slate of deals lined up this week. You want cheap Ninety-Nine Nights 2 and Naughty Bear? You got it. $25 game credit with Singularity? Why not? $20 pre-order credit for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow? Oh, fine.
Preview: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
It's difficult to comment on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow as a product of the long-running (and now rebooted) gothic action franchise. Abandoning large-scale exploration in favor of linear action -- which was itself abandoned when Castlevania: Symphony of the Night debuted in 1997 -- Lords of Shadow invites comparison to God of War more than any other modern game. That's an admittedly tiresome shorthand as far as game previews go -- "It's like God of War but with whip-swords!" -- but it's still useful in conveying how Lords of Shadow plays. Your attacks are sweeping and imprecise, yet bolstered with enough combos and violent flourishes to make you feel in charge. Castlevania's sub-weapons return to your repertoire as well, with the first two levels of the game allowing you to quickly dispatch a flying dagger into approaching enemies. The resulting explosion of bloody mush is a fair indicator of the game's disgusting, wonderful violence. Even the most trivial battle, such as Gabriel Belmont's tutorial tussle in a rain-slick village under siege, is given a certain gravitas by the game's tight camera and atmospheric visuals. And if there's one thing that brands Lords of Shadow as a promising 3D Castlevania game, it's the effort that's gone into creating dark, imposing environments that feel like they extend far beyond the boundaries of the level. Developer MercurySteam has delivered an impressive showcase of scale and animation here, with even the lowly warg becoming a pouncing cause for concern. So yeah, it's a few steps up from recycled Game Boy Advance sprites. %Gallery-95596%
Meet the cast of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Okay! So, forget everyone from those twenty-odd Castlevanias from the past three decades. Just crumple up that whole ludicrous timeline and throw it right in the garbage. Lords of Shadow is a reboot of the franchise, and with it comes a new Belmont, a new quest (his lost love!) and ... Patrick Stewart. Get familiar with the rest of the cast in the E3 gallery below and trailer posted after the break. %Gallery-95596%
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow slays retail 'later this fall'
During its keynote press conference, Konami confirmed that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, the Kojima-assisted, MercurySteam-developed 3D reboot of the classic series set to vanquish the forces of evil on the Xbox 360 and PS3, would arrive "later this fall." Word came from producer David Cox, who emerged before a new trailer was shown to attendees. We'll try to get our hands on said trailer and whip it up on the site. Get it? Whip? Anybody?
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow began as remake of NES original
Sure, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow was always meant to be a Castlevania game, but that's only part of the story. Last night, David Cox, producer of the game at Mercury Steam, revealed to us that his studio's title was originally pitched to Konami as a 3D remake of the very first game in the franchise. "The original concept was to remake the original, classic 8-bit game in 3D," Cox said. "That was our original pitch, funny enough -- with Simon Belmont and everything." While the nostalgic NES gamer in us would probably have swooned over such a project, we're actually kind of glad this one became Lords of Shadow. It is looking really good, after all.
Impressions: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
It wasn't the playable demo I'd been hoping for, but I did watch an awful lot of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow gameplay yesterday. The footage was screened during the Konami Gamer Night 2010 event and was narrated by the game's producer, David Cox, from developer Mercury Steam, as a remixed version of a Super Castlevania IV track played in the background. (Cox would later tell me that I'd "feel chills" when I heard the finished game's updated, fully orchestrated takes on many classic tunes from the series.) Lords of Shadow looks absolutely incredible. From the opening seconds of the preview, there was no questioning that this was a Castlevania game -- a proper, "next-generation" Castlevania with visuals that immediately drew comparisons to God of War III. Now, again, I don't know firsthand how well Lords of Shadow plays, but there was nothing in the footage to indicate that the final product wouldn't be anything less than a competent action-adventure. In fact, it showed the promise of being a great one. %Gallery-90088%
New 'Castlevania: Lords of Shadow' screens, artwork
Click to Enlargania This post may not offer any new Castlevania: Lords of Shadow details, but you can find new pictures and art in the gallery below. Those looking to do creature comparisons should check out the enemy renders -- the warg from Symphony of the Night has certainly grown in both size and definition. %Gallery-86910%
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow producer striving for platform parity
Fanboys will likely never agree on whether or not a 3D gameworld is appropriate for the Castlevania franchise. But if Castlevania: Lords of Shadow producer Dave Cox is to be believed, there won't be any forum bloodshed over which version, the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 one, looks and runs better. Cox told VG247 that the PS3 was chosen as the lead platform solely because that was the best way for developer Mercury Steam to make both versions of the game identical, though he understands the risk, admitting, "If you develop for Xbox 360 and port to PS3, or indeed vice versa, you can end up with a game that is great on one but lousy on another." Even if Lords of Shadow isn't up for any GOTYs, perhaps a Nobel Peace Prize could be in Mercury Steam's future? The NPPOTY, if you will.
David Cox details the 'epic yet sad' score of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
In an interview conducted last summer with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow producer David Cox, we found out that the much loved Castlevania: Symphony of the Night music composer Michiru Yamane wouldn't be joining the team at Konami to compose the upcoming game. What was unclear at the time, however, was who exactly would be assigned the task of creating the game's score. David Cox explained to Joystiq this morning that Oscar Araujo, a Spanish symphonist, has been granted that burden. "Our composer for this game is Oscar Araujo who is a Spanish composer. He is creating a very epic yet sad and melancholy score that perfectly suits the game and emotion that we are aiming for." While Cox added that he's "a big fan of Yamane-san's work," he admitted that her music wouldn't have been a great fit for Mercury Steam's take on the Castlevania series. It certainly doesn't hurt that, according to Cox, she's no longer an employee of Konami. "Yamane-san left Konami quite some time ago as I understand it. She is currently working freelance, though I am not 100% sure. "Yamane-san has a style that fits perfectly to the previous Castlevania games but this game is very different to those more recent 'vania's in style and direction. I don't think I would be doing her any favours by including her music in the game." He also pointed out that we'll understand his point more clearly when we "eventually get to see the game." With any luck, that'll be sooner rather than later. %Gallery-65043%
Upcoming Castlevania's 'lead' console is PlayStation 3, Konami producer says
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow may be in development for both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, but the game's producer David Cox recently pointed out via his Twitter account that the "PS3 is the lead platform" for the upcoming game. That isn't to say the Xbox 360 version will be lesser for the fact, as he quickly followed up his statement with the assurance that "the game is identical on both formats [Xbox 360 and PS3]." He's also noted a few times recently that we'll be hearing more about the game sometime "soon," so in lieu of no new information, at least be contented with the thought that you'll get some additional Castlevania deets sometime in the near future. Maybe. %Gallery-65043%
Why 'Lords of Shadow' wasn't 'Castlevania: Lords of Shadow' at first
Being Dave Cox, head of European development for Konami, can't be an easy job. For one, he's not Hideo Kojima, so he's already got that going against him. Worse yet, he's had to tow the company line and let his upcoming Castlevania: Lords of Shadow languish out of the spotlight while Castlevania Judgment got all the attention. It seems Konami didn't even have the confidence to allow Lords of Shadow the Castlevania license -- nor did fans. "It was quite a radical departure from what had gone before with Castlevania, and there was a little bit of nervousness that perhaps it wouldn't be accepted as a Castlevania game," Cox told GameReactor. Though he claims the project was approved originally as a Castlevania game and was built from the get-go with the vampire-hunting series in mind, the folks in charge at Konami had cold feet going into the big reveal at Games Convention 2008. "Senior management took the decision that we were going to announce it as Lords of Shadow, see what the reaction is, and if it's a good one then this would become a fully-fledged Castlevania." It was definitely a good one. %Gallery-65043%[Via VG247]
