Soul Reaver 2

"The Dark Side"

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver was one of the most technically impressive games on PSone, and right from the off it's clear that this, the follow up to Raziel's adventures in Nosgoth, is aiming for the same accolade on PS2. It's a fabulous looking game. The opening cut-scenes are beautifully done and will impress anyone new to this gothic world of ragged vampires and betrayal. Raziel's perhaps not the most sympathetic character ever devised, however, and if anything this feeling is (ironically) magnified by his impressive new character model. Certainly anyone who connects deeply with this clumpy footed, raggedy-winged, intestine-less blue freak in his musty wool scarf would deserve the contents of the collection plate. You can't argue that he's beautifully realized, but he's no Sonic.

Still, if you get your kicks staring sadly from beneath an enormous black fringe behind the local Chapel of Rest, this is probably exactly what you want. And while there are plenty of chapels, churches and other huge (and hugely impressive) gothic structures around, there's not nearly as much rest. There's far more combat than in the first title, which is always a welcome way to add a little excitement to the exploration, especially when you're able to righteously impale enemies on their own weapons. You know they deserve it. Kill them. Kill them all.

So it's perhaps unfortunate that the environments are usually more interesting than the enemies themselves. They vary quite widely in effectiveness, with the 'human' types outstripping the ghouls by an order of magnitude. The guards will even shoot at you now, though their projectiles are slow enough to dodge - fair enough I suppose, you are a vampire - so they're rarely a problem unless standing on the sidelines, taking pot-shots. The chaps armed with giant axes get an even harder time and if you're too low on energy to use the Reaver, you can steal their weapons to set about the others once you've finished them off. Just remember to pick it up again after impaling somebody, as Raziel rather forgetfully drops it. The spook-realm enemies are a less impressive sight, by and large, so you're more inclined to just whack them as quickly as possible without lingering.

It's perhaps not so much the enemies themselves that are so disappointing, but the various fights you have with them; it's too easy to just keep pressing the same button over and over, without really thinking about much other than to keep Raziel pointed the right way. There are actually two attack types at your disposal - the square button launches a fairly low-powered harassment, while the triangle will instigate a full, Soul Reaver-charging persecution of whoever is unfortunate enough to be in front of it. The second type stops you briefly in your tracks, though, so it pays to pacify a scurrying enemy with less damaging but more mobile swipes before wading in with the big stuff. This at least adds a small variation, but it's still not enough to get you that excited. Rucks are strangely pathos-inducing affairs, with far too many wild misses and eccentric moonwalking moments from your opponents, and targeting a specific adversary only makes things worse, as an atmosphere-breaking red ring appears around the feet of the unfortunate one. Meanwhile, the slavering hordes cue politely to attack you once you've finished that one off, throwing the occasional half-hearted punch to keep up appearances.

But Raziel's key ability remains his intra-reality twirl. While in the Material Realm his energy, indicated by the Swiss roll at the bottom right of your screen, constantly drains. And in order to replenish it he must devour the souls of dead enemies. Letting the energy fall all the way will relegate him to the Spectral Realm, where his health slowly regenerates...so, unusually, your character can never die. He can also devolve to the Spectral Realm at will and this is often the key to progress - certain barriers can be ghosted through and impassable areas may morph elegantly into navigable shapes.

Deal with the aggressors, however, and there's plenty to impress the eye. The architecture is stunning, with plenty of curved surfaces and complex gothic arches working hard to evoke a suitably vampiric atmosphere. Swimming beneath the lakes is also incredibly impressive and the trail of bubbles left after a burst of sub-aqua speed is effortlessly beautiful. It's all built on an admirably grandiose scale, which only makes the smooth, if not plain downy and baby's bum-like 60 frames per second progress all the more impressive.
On a wider note, it's odd that highly detailed games as silky as this are swiftly growing in number, while a welter of blocky and poorly textured ones continue to chug horribly into the shops regardless. Early in the PS2's life, certain developers blamed the machine for everything, and nobody knew any better. Titles like this only serve to show the fault lay elsewhere. Jerky and ugly games have nowhere to hide anymore. (End of miscellaneous rant)

It's a shame, even ignoring the slightly weedy combat and despite the lusciousness of the visuals, that if you're new to Soul Reaver you may well be disappointed. The environments are certainly grand, but they can't dispel a feeling of emptiness. There's little connection with your surroundings, as so little of it can be affected. Too often you're faced with a room that needs you only to kill a couple of enemies before the other door mysteriously opens and you move on. They might be big and impressively made, but there's rarely any need to look at them. Granted, there's now a greater selection of locations, including cities, forests and swamps, but there's little to hold your attention long enough to get you there.

Those who completed the original game might feel differently about all this - the story actually begins at the exact point the first one left off, a famously truncated ending that left many frustrated. This episode is story-heavy to say the least - the cut-scenes are impressive, with some great looking characters and even a smattering of telling body language to beef up the language, but boy, are they long. Each one is overstuffed with 'ye olde' speeches and dense exposition, and their incredibly frequent and protracted occurrence swiftly makes them a challenge rather than a joy. The hammy voice acting doesn't help either.
Should you have forgotten anything important as your stupor progressed, then there's always the easily accessible Dark Chronicle to remind you of the main points in full. An example? ''If I tell Moebius he's worshipping a giant squid, do you think his faith will falter?'' Cut! I don't know about Moebius, but mine certainly did.

In fact, even with a slew of new abilities, the majesty of the game's world and all-new puzzles with nary a block-pulling event in sight (Huzzah!), it's as if the developer spent so much time on an epic story they forgot to make a compelling videogame. And that's a disappointment.
Soul Reaver 2 is likely to please fans of the first with its increased rosta of characters, but mere mortals may find its dreary combat, cut-scenes and uninvolving emptiness too much. I'm a semi-fan, therefore a 7.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/27/02, Updated 12/27/02