Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

"Vae Victus - suffering to the conquered."

Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen is the first game to be released in the Legacy of Kain series. The series is more well known for Soul Reaver/Soul Reaver 2, but this is where it all began.

Blood Omen is considered an RPG/Action game. You pick up new weapons and items, as well as spells, and you have RPG-style magic and life gauges, but all the fighting is Action-style and not turn-based.

Story: 10

This game takes place hundreds or even thousands of years before Soul Reaver.

The basic background story: the world of Nosgoth is beginning to crumble. Protected by the Circle of Nine (a group of Guardians who protect the Pillars of Nosgoth,) Nosgoth is in peace. But Ariel, the Guardian of the Pillar of Balance, was murdered. Her lover, Nupraptor (Guardian of the Pillar of the Mind,) went mad from grief and rage. He sent out his madness and drove the other members of the Circle of Nine insane. And the world began to come apart.

You play as Kain. Yes, THE Kain. The evil guy from Soul Reaver who damned Raziel to eternal misery. But was he always this way?

Nope.

Kain was a young nobleman from Coorhagen who stopped at a tavern one night in search of a place to sleep. Turned out by the innkeeper (since the hour grew late,) Kain is set upon by a gang of brigands, who kill him. However, Kain awakes in a strange, fiery place. Mortanius, the Necromancer, offers him the change to get revenge...for a price, of course.

Kain awakens in a crypt. Upon leaving, he discovers that sunlight burns and water is acidic to the touch. He has become a vampire. He quickly sets out, slaughters his killers, and drinks their blood.

But Mortanius tells him that these men were instruments of his real killer. So Kain sets off to destroy that which destroyed him--and is consumed by a quest that will alter the entire world of Nosgoth.

Gameplay: 6

There are only a couple things that bothered me.

1) The game takes around 30 seconds to load the first screen. Don't turn off your system, it just takes awhile. There is usually some slowdown on screens. The good point is that screens are often massive, you it doesn't occur very much. One other problem is that when you move, the camera shifts so that you are at the southern end of the screen. Gah, it makes running (or rather, walking) away from pursuing enemies more difficult. You'll most likely slay them before you flee from them.

2) Kain can't run! And Nosgoth is HUGE! So you walk around a giant world. Blah.

Anyway, besides that, the gameplay is excellent. You pick up new weapons and armor and acquire magic spells to use against your foes. Each weapon and armor have different effects. For example, the Fire Sword incinerates its enemies and you can't drink their blood.

Kain also has ''blood hunger,'' meaning you often have to find a human and suck them dry of blood or you will cease to exist.

The enemies in this game include various forms of demons as well as humans.

Kain also earns the abilities to transform into a bat, a werewolf, mist, and disguise himself as human. All of these things can be used to your advantage, of course.

Some doors open only once in a full moon--literally! These are called Moongates. A full moon occurs once ever two gameplay hours. You'll want to keep track of this because some of the Secrets are behind Moongates.

And yes, Kain does get the original Soul Reaver blade, which he uses against Raziel in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.

Graphics: 10

The in-game cutscenes are stunning. Simply stunning, there's nothing else I can say to describe them. Although Nosgoth itself can look repetitive (you go across it so many times,) it still looks great, as do the magic spells and attacks. Enemies and Kain also look good.

Switches glow, so you'd think it would be easy to see them. However, this is often countered by the dark backgrounds, so you'll usually have to look around twice or so before you notice them.

Also hidden throughout the game are 100 secrets. Getting all of them allows you to earn prestige and can be fun when you don't feel like advancing the story.

Sound:9

The music fits the game, I think. It's not great, but it's dark and gothic.

The voice acting is the best sound in the game, it's done wonderfully. You'll think you're right in the middle of the action listening to someone talk.

One voice acting thing I hate: You just get tired of hearing ''Please, help me kind sir'' in the dungeons. Frankly, I'd like to find those people who need help and drink their blood. Hmm...

When you get new items or spells, Kain gives you a brief description, and stepping on certain ''markers'' triggers other voice sequences.

To Buy or to Rent?

I say buy. It's only around $15. If you don't like gore, though, or if you're not sure, you may want to rent it. Good luck finding one to rent.

Overall: 10

The only real downsides are the inability to run and the slowdown. Aside from that, it's a great game with beautiful cutscenes and impressive voice acting. It's also rather challenging (until you remember the enemies' attack patterns.) Getting all 100 Secrets makes the game a lot easier, but challenge is more fun.

After playing Blood Omen, go ahead and play Soul Reaver and Soul Reaver 2. The basic plot of Blood Omen is revealed in the beginning of Soul Reaver, but you'll understand everything better if you play Blood Omen first. Plus, you find out Kain isn't such a bad guy after all.

Play on, little vampire, play on...

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