Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

"Excellent, given what was offered"

Intro
I typed many games onto the illuminating screen. The ink then striking the paper as I printed out the list. That is, 1999's Chirstmas list. Inked and dried at the top of the screen was one game that I played over at Dagganoth's house a while back. Yep, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. As you can guess, my parents always grabbed what was first on the list if they could. It was a priority dealy. I waited long enough and eventually got the game. I played it all the next day and was largely impressed with the game, albeit the disappointing ending.

Who is This... Raziel?
In this installment to the Legacy of Kain series, Kain has succeeded in conquering the world. In his court exists his brood. Five powerful generals who wave their iron fists about Nosgoth. Of all the generals, there is one that seems to concern Kain. That is Raziel. In an act of malice, Kain tore the bones from Raziels vampiric wings and had him cast into a massive body of water. The water dissolved most of his flesh and left him a tattered freak. After what seemed like centuries, Raziel is resurrected by an unknown force. This force shows him the twisted state that Nosgoth has slowly become. Everything seems to be a perversion of what it once was. All this was caused by Kain and the remaining members of his brood: Melchiah, Rahab, Zephon, and Duma). Raziel decides it's time to take matters into his own hands to exact revenge on Kain and the others for his murder.

Gameplay
You have a vast environment in Nosgoth. It's been very well put together, too! Obtaining new abilities can eventually get you to new areas. Spread throughout Nosgoth are various enemies, most of which are vampires. Your obvious objective here is to pound the enemies into an unrecognizable mound of flesh. The battle system is actually quite simplistic, but not bad all in all. You basically just punch the crap out of your enemies. Some may require you to do a little dodging, but it's nothing really complex or strategic. Then... There's the kill system! Each vampire enemy cannot be killed by just beating it to death alone. There are several different ways to defeat the different enemies. They can only be killed by being impaled, set on fire, thrown in water, or thrown in sunlight.

Phasing
While exploring, it is necessary to phase between world. In this game, you can phase between reality and the spectral realm. Sometimes, being in the spectral realm can change different areas which can be necessary for progression. For example, in one scene you will see a bunch of vertically standing pipes in the material realm that will actually twist around the room in the spectral realm and allow you to get to different areas. In the spectral realm exists different enemies than the material world.

Soul Suckers, Inc.
Anyone remember one of the coolest things about Blood Omen? I do. The ability to suck blood from various victims when they are dizzy, bound to the wall, or sleeping. They didn't quite carry the same tradition here, but you can eat something vital to the enemies of this game. Due to his deformation, Raziel has lost his hunger for blood. Instead, he hungers a new type of sustenance... Souls! After killing your enemies, you can actually suck their souls! Is this as cool as Blood Omen's ability to suck blood? In my opinion, no, but it does have a more brutal sound in the idea. Eating souls is vital to the gameplay as eating them can restore life. Not only do you lose life from fighting, but also from hunger. While hunger is satisfied when you have the Soul Reaver equipped, if you do not have it, Raziel will slowly start to deteriorate. So, eat up as often as you can!

Special Abilities
What? You think Raziel is just going to brave the fierce waters without oars or a life jacket? You can gain different abilities and spells that can be gained by fighting bosses or finding special runes. These abilities aid Raziel on his journey and give you specific advantages such as cause a huge explosion to engulf your enemies in fire or using the swim ability which nullifies your weakness to water and allows you to swim freely.

Graphics
In terms of graphics, this is one of the best games graphically for the PlayStation. Everything displayed a basic beauty that fit the game quite well. The environmental graphics are some of the best I've seen on PSX. They gave you the feeling of a gothic land that was falling apart and becoming more monstrous by the passing days. General climate and atmosphere conveyed along with the lighting, setting, colors, and well designed areas and levels really helped build this sense. Let's not forget the character and enemy designs. They looked really smooth and showed some very creative design behind them. The textures were also very smooth for a PSX game.

Sounds
This also helped build the atmosphere of the game. The soundtrack fit well with the desolate and grim surrounding of a dying Nosgoth. The voice acting is some of the best to grace gaming. The actors seem very involved and also seem to have a good sense of their roles and who they play. Everyone had the voice sounds they needed to fill the character. The sound effects also filled a good role in this game and added to the action and exploration senses of the game.

Final Word
Many compare this to Tomb Raider. In my opinion, this game is leagues ahead of Tomb Raider. For one thing, Tomb Raider was more level by level where this was one contiguous world. The controls and camera angles were also a hell of a lot better in this game. All in all, I thin Eidos really proved to me that they can do good games if they set their mind to it.

Is this game totally original? No, certainly not. Is it fun? Yeah, I think so. The decent storyline and the great exploration factor kept me going all through this game. I feel the graphics, sounds, and all around environment are the strongest points in this game, as well as the gameplay. I still think there was a little room for improvement. Ending the game with a major cliffhanger really hit hard below the belt. I wait this long for a Legacy of Kain game and I get a half-baked ending? Oh well... I also think that replayables would have been nice. The game had little replay value expect maybe if you missed something in the storyline and want to look back to find out exactly what it was. It builds nicely into Soul Reaver 2 and fills its rightful spot in the Legacy of Kain series.

FINAL JUDGMENT
Graphics: Very nice 10/10
Sounds: Good voice acting and great music/sound effects 10/10
Controls: Good response, but there is a little complexity that can be very easily tackled. 10/10
Plot/Storyline: Suffered slightly from being rushed, but good outside of that 8/10
Gameplay: Lots of action and adventure, but the game seemed too short and at times too easy 9/10
All Together: 10/10

Perks
*Great graphics
*Very good sounds
*Awesome voice acting
*Environment to die for
*Nice plot
*Good exploring factor

Downers
*Lacking replay
*The ending...

Recommendations
If you enjoy third-person 3D action/adventure games, then you will most likely enjoy this one. It's a lot of fun in my opinion. I got it for Christmas, but would've gladly paid it's

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/07/00, Updated 12/29/01