The Legacy of Kain is Crystal Dynamics hack-and-slashing-blood-sucking-vampire-platform-game made up of five games which tell the stories of the series’ main boys, Kain and Raziel.
Kain is a brutal anti-hero vampire who’s trying to fight off the shackles of fate and pre-determinism and Raziel is a wraith who’s trying to find his fate. The story is too complex to even give an overview – the game makes use of time travel paradoxes and mysteries so thick that you couldn’t spread it on a sandwich even if you used a really big knife.
The storytelling characters and voice acting throughout the series are some of the best that can be hoped for even by today’s standards. The visuals are fantastic and even the soundtrack fits in perfectly with the atmosphere so it might come as quite a surprise when I say that as a series of games they’re just not that great and it’s due to the keyword “games”.
Half of the series (the Blood Omen-titles) sees you take on the role of Kain and plays out largely as a hack and slash idea, broken up by some puzzles and large sections being linear runs from point A to B with a handful of random encounters sprinkled here and there.
In despite of your vampire’s strength and agility a lot of the combat involves blocking and waiting for a chance to pull off a button mash combo attack, making the whole thing feel slow. Thankfully this was remedied in the final installment where the combat feels a lot more free flowing and fun – although to counteract this point Crystal Dynamics seems to load you up with even more meal tickets to kill.
The other half of the series sees you play as Raziel and the problems which the Blood Omen-games have these games have, plus even more problems of their own. If it’s possible the combat is even more uneasy and in the last installment, where a lot of the combat issues were dealt with, it feels quite stiff. As well as all the hack and slash puzzle action there is also an element of platforming, which is made almost impossible by the worst camera work in the world. This is coupled with the game often feeling very repetitive. To go to seven identical temples and solve the same basic puzzle and get a new power and then go to the next temple is made even worse by Raziel’s ability to shift between the physical realm and the spectral realm, where the room is slightly distorted. It allows him to reach a platform or pass through a barred gate and it makes a boring puzzle seem twice as long.
Don’t be put off from playing the games though, they’re worth it for some of the best storytelling you’ll ever hope to come across. Although I feel that I should warn you – the fifth and what looks to be the last game doesn’t really finish the story and fans (including myself) are still waiting for a conclusion to the story. The series have a fantastic idea and is largely let down by game play. I can’t help but feel it would have been better as a movie or TV-series or even a puppet show.
The storytelling characters and voice acting throughout the series are some of the best that can be hoped for even by today’s standards. The visuals are fantastic and even the soundtrack fits in perfectly with the atmosphere so it might come as quite a surprise when I say that as a series of games they’re just not that great and it’s due to the keyword “games”.
Half of the series (the Blood Omen-titles) sees you take on the role of Kain and plays out largely as a hack and slash idea, broken up by some puzzles and large sections being linear runs from point A to B with a handful of random encounters sprinkled here and there.
In despite of your vampire’s strength and agility a lot of the combat involves blocking and waiting for a chance to pull off a button mash combo attack, making the whole thing feel slow. Thankfully this was remedied in the final installment where the combat feels a lot more free flowing and fun – although to counteract this point Crystal Dynamics seems to load you up with even more meal tickets to kill.
The other half of the series sees you play as Raziel and the problems which the Blood Omen-games have these games have, plus even more problems of their own. If it’s possible the combat is even more uneasy and in the last installment, where a lot of the combat issues were dealt with, it feels quite stiff. As well as all the hack and slash puzzle action there is also an element of platforming, which is made almost impossible by the worst camera work in the world. This is coupled with the game often feeling very repetitive. To go to seven identical temples and solve the same basic puzzle and get a new power and then go to the next temple is made even worse by Raziel’s ability to shift between the physical realm and the spectral realm, where the room is slightly distorted. It allows him to reach a platform or pass through a barred gate and it makes a boring puzzle seem twice as long.
Don’t be put off from playing the games though, they’re worth it for some of the best storytelling you’ll ever hope to come across. Although I feel that I should warn you – the fifth and what looks to be the last game doesn’t really finish the story and fans (including myself) are still waiting for a conclusion to the story. The series have a fantastic idea and is largely let down by game play. I can’t help but feel it would have been better as a movie or TV-series or even a puppet show.
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