Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

"Great atmosphere; archaic "nintendo logic""

The story, interesting enough, is that you start the game as an ordinary man name Kain, and after your staged/tragic death, a necromancer name Mortanius gives you a chance to avenge your death. Kain jumping head first into this almost unbelievable chance, he doesn't take into consideration to the fine print of the deal...

The control is average. There have been a couple times where I'd line up to hit an enemy, and from the looks of it, it SHOULD be hitting them, but I miss. This usually happens next to pillars or a wall corner or something. It's forgivable...

The fun factor for this game starts out great, but by the time you get to the end of the game - it's beyond repetition. The latter part of the game (with the vampire hunters and red-suited warriors) is just club, stun, drain - club stun drain.... over and over again. It is a good thing that this game is so big, but I think the end sequences of the game could have been improved.

The puzzle logic is very 1st generation NES-ish. What do I mean by this!? If you've ever played Castlevainia II (now you'd have to grab a NES rom of it), the puzzles make absolutely no sense. You'll find yourself saying, ''How the heck was I supposed to know that?'' - the same applies with Blood Omen. I had to consult a strategy guide several times (which I NEVER have to do), and to solve the puzzle is so STUPID.

While the camera angle is always constant, doors at the bottom of the screen are easily overlooked. (so easily, that's it's disturbing)

Also for a bad note, the load time is ridiculous. You have to be very forgiving... literally every action besides casting an already selected spell or swinging your weapon requires a game halting load time. This makes listening to the music almost impossible while playing the game.

When you view out with the camera by pressing ''L1'' - the game slows down so much that it's clinically declared slow motion.

On a good note, the music is excellent. (when you aren't between load screens) How good is it!? I'm going to look now for a CD of it. Very nice.

The whole atmosphere of the game, context, FMV's, are drop dead gorgeous.... The spells not only kill enemies, but they humiliate and unnecessarily mutilate them - very nice. (A game has GOT to be good when you have a weapon/item called ''Font of Putrescence'')

Overall, a good game - worth playing at least once...

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/25/00, Updated 09/25/00