Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

"A haunting atmosphere and a brilliant plot make this game a true gem"

To find a video game that captivates you to the point that you simply can’t put it down is not a very common thing. Thinks like friends, homework and sometimes even eating and sleeping begin to seem somewhat trivial in comparison to the thrills that you might be able to experience via your console and the glowing warmth and beauty of your television. For me, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is one of these games.

Set in a world where vampires reign supreme and the human race is all but extinct you play the role of Raziel, a vampire who was betrayed by his fellow rulers simply because he grew wings before his master and father Kain. For this crime you are cast into a swirling vortex of water, a substance which burns the flesh of your kind. A thousand years later you are awoken by a mysterious character known only as the elder god who informs you that he will help you destroy those who crossed you. Throughout your adventure this mysterious helper will act as your narrator and guide, explaining to you where you should head next and telling you about your surrounding world and how it has changed.

As Raziel you are sent out to dispatch your six brothers and your father, Kain, in order to help save a dying world. It turns out Kain had the opportunity to save the world from its plight if he had been willing to sacrifice himself but chose not to, causing the elder god to send you after him.

Throughout the game you will learn more and more through your brothers and other characters about yourself and the world you are in. You begin to feel truly close to Raziel as you learn some of his deepest and most personal secrets about who he is and where he really came from.

Game play takes place through a series of wastelands and gothic castles where your brothers lie in wait for you, protected by their servants. In order to get to them you’ll have to combat numerous enemies and solve several puzzles as well.

The combat system is very interesting in that enemies (aside from the rare humans you will run into can not be killed merely by pummeling them with your fists (or when you earn or find them, other weapons) and instead you must use one of the vampires’ weaknesses against them. You must either burn them, drown them, impale them or expose them to sunlight. When an enemy dies you are presented with an interesting choice – you make absorb their life force in order to regain some lost health or you make let their soul float away and the next time your return to the area (or never again if you leave a weapon inside the enemy) the enemy will not be there. Enemies may also permanently be dispatched by tossing them into shallow water. You can lock on to enemies using the R trigger in which case you will home in on them specifically and your attacks will be more accurate. While interesting the need to dispatch enemies in one of these ways can be somewhat annoying at times - especially when you find yourself trying to impale an enemy on a spike protruding from a wall while avoiding blows from another at the same time, a virtually impossible task. Luckily impaling weapons are very common so the need to partake in this clumsy task is fairly rare.

The boss battles too are not as simple as pummeling your enemies mercilessly – aside from Kain all enemies must be beat using some sort of strategy rather than just raw force. Also defeating bosses grants you new abilities giving you access to new areas a la Blaster Master.

Puzzles involve moving blocks in various positions, either so that their designs will match up with those of murals on the wall, so that the holes cut in them will complete the flow of air in some pipes or some other similar task. While often time consuming these puzzles generally aren’t very difficult and it’s highly unlikely you’d need an FAQ if you put a decent amount of real thought into them.

Sounds simple enough, right? Well Eidos have thrown another interesting twist into the game – your character can exist one two different planes. What are planes? In essence just alternate universes. In the spectral plane enemies don’t need to be impaled to kill and you slowly regain health. This is where you’re sent when your mortal form (which exists in the alternate “material plane”) is destroyed or if you choose to transport there. So why go to either plane? Some places are only accessible in the spectral plan. Also, going to the spectral plane is sometimes necessary because while there you can do things like pass through certain walls and gates and walk under water, which would normally kill you. In addition numerous columns and ledges will bend and twist in the spectral plane allowing you access to areas where you couldn’t have traveled before. It’s necessary to go to the material plane because here is the only place where you can open doors and defeat all 7 bosses.

You transfer between the two realms in several ways – to go to the material realm you must have full life in the spectral realm and find a gate which allows you to transfer. To go from material to spectral you may simply choose to destroy your material body at the press of a button or you are sent there when enemies in the material realm destroy your body. Also after taking damage in the material realm your body begins to slowly lose life, hence the need to devour souls. If you are killed by enemies in the spectral realm (highly unlikely since they are all very weak and only 3 of the 7 bosses exist in both realms) then you are sent back to the chamber you began the game in.

This unique idea alone would have been enough to push Legacy of Kain into the realm of good or even great games, but what makes it unforgettable is the amazing spooky atmosphere the game presents.

Every stone edifice looks like it has been put through all the horrors described in this waste land, this virtual hell on earth that you find yourself in. Music is slow and atmospheric when exploring. It takes advantage of a broad variety of instruments using haunting acoustic guitars, strings and organs to create an amazing feeling of tension as you go around every corner. When you approach an enemy the music begins to speed up and sound more tribal, using lots of speedy percussion to match up with the fast paced and intense battle system.

Every enemy is ingeniously derived as well – they each have their own signature grunts and groans and deviously scary appearance. Cut scenes to introduce new enemies will often show them torturing a lone human in order to demonstrate just how malicious and cruel they are. For example you’ll see a spider enemy wrapping a human up in its trappings intently while letting out bloodthirsty squeals of glee.

Speaking of which, this game produces one of the scariest characters I have ever seen in a video game, the spider vampires. While they only appear in a small portion of the (one of your 6 brothers’ kingdoms), they are without a doubt the scariest within. Usually hiding somewhere within the giant area of the level they let out blood curdling and blood thirsty squeals as they come towards you on their 6 legs as they almost silently click on the ground. Often times you’ll not be quite sure where the squeals and clicks are coming from until it’s too late and they’ve already began biting and stabbing you.

Oftentimes enemies will sporadically hatch out of eggs or appear from other openings where they may be hiding, only continuing to add to the extreme tension.

Soul Reaver is also host to lots of secrets, with several spells known as glyphs that allow you to do everything from roast enemies alive to use kinetic energy to knock them off ledges and into walls as well as an upgrade for your sword and several pie like pieces that will increase your health gauge.

Despite my extreme love for this game though, I must admit it is not perfect.

First of all, the difficulty level is not very high. Since when killed in the material realm you can simply defeat one of the rather weak spectral enemies then warp back in with little trouble aside from the two or three boss battles where the boss exists in both realms you’re in for a real cake walk.

As previously mentioned, most bosses are easy to defeat since all you need to do, with little exception, is figure out a simple puzzle or pattern in order to defeat them. EIDOS could have easily remedied this problem by simply adding multiple difficulty settings, which would have added to the very weak replay value of the game.

So while not perfect, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is definitely a gem every gamer should own in their collection. While it needs some work in the replay and challenge departments it makes up for it with an amazing atmosphere, brilliant plot and being just plain fun.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/27/04