Blood Omen 2

"Delve into your dark side..."

Ah 1996, I remember it well. I worked in a gigantic electronics store as I prepared to go to college. One day, I saw a new game on the shelf. I bought it and immediately knew I had a winner. The game? Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. Skip ahead to 2002. The sequel, Blood Omen 2, (not to be confused with the Soul Reaver offshoots) comes out. Does it disappoint? No, but it does have a couple drawbacks.

Graphics - 9/10
This game looks awesome. The graphics are crisp and fit the mood of the game perfectly. Kain and the other characters look great. Kain's blood-drinking, killing and most everything you do moves well. The only real problem is that with some textures (mostly rock) you can't tell how steep a slope is.

Sound - 10/10
As if there was any doubt. The Legacy of Kain games have always had awesome sound, from voice acting to background music. Blood Omen 2 is no exception. The music adds to the general mood of the area. All in all, this is one of the greatest parts of the game.

Gameplay - 9/10
Controlling Kain is quite easy. The brief tutorial gets you used to sucking the blood out of your hapless victims. The new system for powering up is innovative and welcome. The more blood your drink, the more life you eventually have. The instant death moves are fun to watch as well. There are a couple small glitches though. Sometimes the game hiccups as it loads (always in the same places), making the game jumpy briefly. But hey, it's still great fun because you're a vampire!

Story - 10/10
Let's see. You've been a vampire for 400 years, been asleep for the past 200. Woke up. Want revenge. Want to take over the world. Lots of little fun things. The reason the story is so good, is because of the voice acting. Again, the voice acting rocks.

Replay value - 7/10
Let's face it, Blood Omen 2 is really linear. I'm a little way into it, and there hasn't been much room for exploration. You go along the set path and kill enemies. This could change later in the game though. It's a great game, it'll definitely be played again, but not as many times as games with more to explore.

Rent or Buy?
Depends. If you like the Legacy of Kain games, buy this one. If you think that playing a vampire would be lots of fun, get this game. If you have any sort of question on whether or not you'll like this game though, rent it first. Renting is cheap, and you can at least return it if you don't like it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/23/02, Updated 03/23/02