So, What was Sir Patrick Stewart Even Doing? The "Castlevania: Lords of Shadow" review

I am fully aware that this review should've been done a long time ago. Normally, I'd have no one but myself to blame, but that isn't just the case. I blame the game as well. It wasn't that it was a bad game, it was that I wanted to relish the story, take in the sights of the world around me... And question why Pan was in a game that was supposed to be a "religious" story. But, I digress. I finally beat Lords of Shadow, and this is what I have to say: It's frustrating, hard, annoying... but worth playing for the story and graphics alone.

You play a Gabriel Belmont, a knight for The Order, who seeks to defeat the titular characters so that he can rebuild the God Mask and bring his dead wife back to life. Along the quest, he meets Zobek, and older knight voice by Sir Patrick Stewart, and fights many familiar monsters such as werewolves, vampires, and grim reapers. Where the story takes a turn is the fact that you don't fight Dracula, opting more for a religious epic instead of a fantasy epic. This is truly bizarre when through half of the game, you're aided by a Satyr... for reasons I don't want to spoil. Despite not being able to make up its mind in the beginning, the story does invoke a grand scale that warrants appreciation.

In speaking of grand scale, the graphics are beautiful, especially the many vistas that are shown off in the game's twelve chapters. When not admiring the view of a beautiful landscape while platforming, you're either fighting detailed monsters, or climbing a massive titan. The titan battles seem to be taken right out of Shadow of the Colossus, but, to me, feel more natural in this game. To round out the presentation, the voice acting is very well done on most parts, but I really wish Gabriel wasn't as pathetic sounding as he was in the game. Granted, he's been through a lot, but he goes through most of the game sounding like he's feeling sorry for himself.

The game is naturally difficult. Enemies will swarm you, only retreating upon defeat or during quick time kills. Bosses are relentless and fierce, and platforming, despite being made simpler by paths that light up, is pretty tricky at points. Unfortunately, the game does have a major flaw that I only noticed during the last half of the game. The controls are extremely unresponsive, and not friendly towards some of the precise moves you have to make. Several times, I tried to walk so I could jump, and my character wouldn't move an inch. I waited a bit and tried to go again, and he sprints off of the ledge. This is also a major problem where you need precise movements during the last boss. While this does add to the annoyance and frustration, it's not so bad that it's game breaking.

As much as I liked the game, I can't say that it was necessarily the right game for me. It's beautiful, epic, and fun to play, but I can't say that it drew me in, personally, as much as Dante's Inferno or even Splatterhouse (part of that last one is nostalgia, though). But, unlike games like Halo, I can understand why people would love this game as much as they do. It would have been a discredit to myself if I hadn't played this game through. Despite some issues, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is worth at least one playthrough.

Overall: A-

+ Beautiful design and graphics

+ Epic story

+ Great voice work and soundtrack

+ Challenging

- Unresponsive controls at points

- Precise jumps + bad controls = wrong kind of challenge