Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, MercurySteam’s last Castlevania title before they hand the reins over to another developer, is coming out soon. End of the month soon. But you can spend a special moment with Begbie Dracula tomorrow, February 13th, when Konami releases the demo.
While the Lords of Shadow titles are a massive departure from classic Castlevanias, adding in a slice of God of War and a dash of Devil May Cry, I confess that I’m a big fan of what MercurySteam has attempted. And now you play as Dracula, which is just lovely. He projectile vomits blood. It’s great.
The demo covers the prelude to the main game, essentially a tutorial, but it’s a fun one. You start off as Dracula at the height of his power, facing an army of holy warriors besieging his fortress. You can play around with his gory blood whip, his life-sucking void sword and his armour-slashing chaos claws before he loses them all.
This is all just a build up, really, to a big ol’ boss battle against a rampaging Titan. He’s massive, he’s made of metal and he’s wrecking your bloody castle. The fight is all very God of War/Shadow of the Colossus, as Dracula scrambles up his gargantuan foe, dealing with soldiers, flying enemies, traps and the Titan itself. It’s a suitably epic beginning.
Lords of Shadow 2 is available for pre-order on Steam, with a 10 percent discount.