PlayStation 2

Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2

All in all, Blood Omen II is a very good title. It is well worth a look if you are tired of MGS2 and such, and is one that vampire 'fans' should search out straight away. It gives you a rare chance to control a true vampire. It may be a little rough around the edges in places, but it is a worthy addition to any PS2 owner's library. Damn. I was hoping to slip in one about this game 'sucking'. Shame it doesn't then, eh?

By revealing yet another vision of Nosgoth and the demons and saviors who populate it, Eidos and Crystal Dynamics have delivered another well crafted story that excites and intrigues while giving us some more insight into, arguably, the coolest bad guy in the history of games. With some of the most violently compelling imagery ever witnessed in an adventure game as well as solid gameplay and above average graphics, Blood Omen 2 is a more than satisfying action adventure game. While not for the faint of heart, or for younger gamers in general, Blood Omen 2 is a great title for the adult gamer and a worthy addition to the Legacy of Kain series as well as the PS2 library.

Well, the Blood Omen 2 is maybe a bit repetitive - still the same combats, puzzles and sucking action. I believe some gamers will get extremely bored, however I didn't. I found Blood Omen 2 very addictive for me If you are a Vampire fan, Blood Omen 2 is definitely worth playing!

Crystal Dynamics created a game that strikes an interesting balance between exploration, combat and puzzle solving. The dingy, antiquated atmosphere of Nosgoth has never looked so good, and some of the stages look absolutely stunning. Aside from the few nagging issues like intolerable collision-detection, choppy frame-rates and thoughtless puzzle-design, Blood Omen 2 is a memorable and entertaining addition to the Legacy of Kain series. Getting to the end credits of this game is going to cost you around 20 hours so take my advice and reserve a weekend or two to playing all the way through because when Blood Omen 2 is done with you, you're gonna need a lot more then a box of ouch-less Band-Aids.

And so this chapter in the Kain Legacy rises above all the crate-pushing thanks to a solid story, cool array of Dark Gifts, and high frequency of wholly immoral acts of horrifically violent fun. You?ll probably wish there was more behind Blood Omen 2?s bloody fa?ade than just another 3D action/adventure?but then you?ll realize there?s not, and suck it up and un-live with it just fine.

Si Blood Omen 2 n'est incontestablement pas le méga-hit que l'on attendait, il parvient tout de même à conserver l'ambiance particulière du jeu original pour proposer au final une aventure particulièrement jouissive. La progression est toutefois assez linéaire et le jeu n'est pas le plus impressionnant que l'on ait pu voir sur PS2, d'autant que cette version souffre de quelques problèmes de frame-rate difficilement pardonnables.

Blood Omen 2 is a fairly straightforward action adventure game, only with a lot more blood and a better main character than you'd normally find in such a game.

Steeped in story and atmosphere, Kain's comeback is rough around every edge.

Der erhoffte enge Zweikampf mit Raziel löst sich leider in Wohlgefallen auf. Grafisch eine ganze Klasse schlechter als Soul Reaver 2 und dazu noch mit teils massiven Problemen behaftet können nur die Story und der famose Sound-Hintergrund ansatzweise Gefahr für Kains Kontrahenten bieten. Zwar liegt der Schwerpunkt bei Blood Omen 2 mehr auf den Kämpfen als bei Soul Reaver 2, das doch sehr Rästel-lastig ist, doch die Art und Weise wie die Kämpfe zelebriert werden, bleibt ebenfalls hinter den Erwartungen zurück und ist auf Dauer zu simpel, um für langanhaltende Freude zu sorgen. Einzig die viel zu selten einzusetzenden Spezialfähigkeiten Kains und das Blut-Management sorgen dafür, dass Blood Omen 2 gelegentlich aus dem Durchschnitt heraus kommt. Und das ist eindeutig zu wenig, um Raziel die Stirn zu bieten - selbst ShadowMan Mike Le Roi kann an Kain vorbeiziehen.

Schade. "Blood Omen 2" ist in meinen Augen eine echte Enttäuschung geworden. Wie sehr hatte ich mich auf das Spiel gefreut, aber selbst mit gutem Willen kann man nicht viel gutes Haar daran lassen. Wenn es nicht "Legacy of Kain" wäre, gäbe es wohl kaum einen guten Grund, viel Zeit mit "Blood Omen 2" zu verbringen. So macht es immerhin noch Spaß, sich mit den dunklen Gaben einen Weg durch die Gegnerscharen zu bahnen und seine finsteren Vampirphantasien auszuleben. Damit rettet sich der Titel noch einigermaßen in den mittelmäßigen Bereich.

Don't buy Blood Omen 2 for the graphics, the music or the story. Buy it for the gameplay and ONLY the gameplay! Soul Reaver-lovers will get what they paid for, and patient newcomers may find that BO2 is the game they've been dying to sink their teeth into.

We'll skip over the often juddering framerate, the inconsistencies of Kain's jumping and grabbing platforms (some he can, some he can't), the fact you can't skip any of the in-game cinemas, and other logical discrepancies (such as a rampaging demon on the final level that punches through solid walls and creates tunnels of rubble, but can't smash a window or large crate to grab you), and simply state the following: This is Soul Reaver Lite -- undoubtedly fun, but light on puzzle complexity, light on varying action, and unfortunately, more than a little insubstantial in the replayability department. If you're a fan of the series, you'd be wise to rent this for three nights, complete it, and howl at the moon for a little more innovation next time.

So what can you "count" on from Blood Omen 2? Not much more than a heaping bowl of mediocrity that quickly turns soggy in drenched pints of blood. While fans of third-person adventures will find enough ubiquitous, familiar gameplay to keep playing, I'd recommend most of you to skip this breakfast.

So then overall the game looks as though it's a good one, that is until we get to the appropriateness for deaf gamers. The only text feedback in the game is where you are having the controls and gameplay commands being described to you by Umah in the first level. There are no subtitles. The cutscenes cannot be skipped and there are no mission briefings in text at all. This is a devastating note to finish on but Blood Omen 2 is going to be a poor experience for a deaf gamer which is a shame because had access, via subtitles etc., been provided then we would be looking at a score of at least 8/10 instead of the one we are forced to give it.