Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate HD

Editor's Notes

Version reviewed is for the Xbox Live Arcade which, like its PSN cousin, is available as a digital download as reviewed and as part of the 'Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Collection.'

Introduction

Outside the big guns of Mario and Zelda, there aren't that many franchises that can show a steady history of releases. 'Castlevania' however, is one of those few titles, tracking its history back nearly 30 years to the original NES. Over the years, new titles in the series have come at regular interval and with the rise of 3D gaming, the series itself has dabbled in stepping outside its original 2D side-scrolling genre with mixed results. Ultimately, with such a storied history and in the era of a the 'reboot,' 'Castlevania' needed a new starting point for a whole new generation of fans and that came with 2010's 'Castlevania: Lords of Shadow' a well-received third-person action game that told the story of Gabriel Belmont (voiced by respected actor Robert Carlyle). While a numbered sequel is set to hit consoles early next year, a return to the side-scrolling roots occurred on the Nintendo 3DS platform in 'Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate' which has now been remastered with HD graphics and released on the Xbox Live Marketplace and PSN.

The Game Itself: Our Reviewer's Take

The game play of 'Mirror of Fate' is relatively straightforward and a solid throwback to old school no-frills mechanics. You can jump, do two attacks, summon two different elementals to either defend you or aid in attacks, block, and eventually rappel from specifically designated spots in the environment. While the game itself could be mistaken as a button masher, the easy to perform combos (which continually unlock throughout the game) all have their specific purposes against enemies. The easy to master controls make for exploring the very atmospheric setting of the game an inviting task, and though certain areas are unavailable at the beginning, the smooth map system of the game makes backtracking a no brainier. Despite emitting vibes of 'Metroid' or the legendary 'Castlevania: Symphony of the Night,' 'Mirror of Fate' merely uses this mapping approach to encourage exploring the setting and atmosphere and as a means to break up game play between the three main characters.

Speaking of characters, 'Mirror of Fate' offers three distinct acts (with a prologue that lets players control Gabriel Belmont) starting with Simon Belmont, before letting Alucard takeover the story and ultimately ending with Trevor Belmont's tale. It's a reasonably well-woven story, although the plot line of the game itself is simple to a fault: Simon sets off to avenge the death of his parents by the hands of Dracula's army. Of course, once he arrives at his destination, things get very strange and the plot slowly unfolds over the game's runtime (it took me just shy of nine hours to finish the main quest, at far less than 100% completion). Events are never stretched thin enough to get dull and just when you feel like you're heading to a conclusion, you'll likely find yourself at a switch in acts and in control of a whole new character with a new back-story to tell.

'Mirror of Fate' as a whole isn't a remarkably innovative game. It's little more than a 2.5D side-scroller, but all the key ingredients are present to make it well worth the $15 price tag, especially in an era of $60 games often struggling to reach the five-hour mark in a single playthrough. I can't speak as to who seasoned 'Castlevania' fans will react to this offering, but as someone who has come into the series largely via the reboot (I played the original NES game, a SNES offering, and some of 'Symphony of the Night' years ago), 'Mirror of Fate' was a genuinely positive experience and really scratched the itch for something 'old school' done well.