Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

Written by David Ball  on June 29, 2000

Review: Seeking revenge for his eternal damnation, Raziel is not a happy guy

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Soul Reaver is a sequel to the Playstation game Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. Essentially a port from the Playstation Soul Reaver, has you play Razil a half dead vampire seeking revenge for suffering a fate worse than death by his master Kain.

LoK: SR's visuals are far better that the Playstation original. Character animation is smooth and lighting effects are beautiful. One thing that really stands out is the gothic scenery and architectural beauty of the world that Razzed travels through. One of the most impressive graphical tricks in the game is when Raziel shifts in and out of the "spectral plane" the world morphs around him, which looks very impressive as pillars change height, and walls distort. There is a huge sense of scale in the game as there are no levels just one huge playing environment. All this runs at a slick 50 frames per second.

LoK: SR's audio is effective but subtle and blends in with the action. The music in the game is an eerie mixture of orchestral music and strange audio effects. The speech in the game is good and certainly adds to the plot. All the creatures in the game have their own audio effects to the extent that you can tell what hideous beast is waiting for you around the corner by what sound it's making.

The thing that first struck me was the gameplay and how easy it was to control Razil, there is no worrying about timing jumps or having trouble with the controls it is just one of those pick up and play games. What really adds to this playability is the compelling story line, which really immerses you in the game. I liked the fact that there were no levels in the game and that the world was non-linear so I could explore different sections and choose whether collect certain spells and items. There are plenty of puzzles in the game most involving moving blocks, turning gears, as these are very repetitive they get very frustrating, and I would forgive you for glancing at a walkthrough. However Soul Reaver is quite gory, Raziel can defeat enemies by impaling them, burning them drowning them etc, needless to say this isn't a family game.

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver features visual memory and vibration pack capability. Soul Reaver has may have no multiplayer support, but is still a great one player game.

Poor replay value will take effect shortly after you complete the game. Soul Reaver will take on average a week to 2 weeks to complete. As it is not much of an arcade game and is 1 player and there are no bonus modes, you won't be playing it much after you have completed the game.