role-playing

This game is the first of several games in a budding new series. Here is a list of the series so far:

Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (1997) for the PSX/PC

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (1999) for the PSX/DC/PC

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 (2001) for the PS2/DC/PC

Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2 (2002) for the PS2/DC/PC

As you may have guessed from the list above, the series will split in to two later this year. "Soul Reaver" will follow Raziel. And "Blood Omen" will follow Kain. The makers of the popular series (Soul Reaver went GOLD, aka selling millions) plan to make more games so long as the fans keep buying them!

The series itself is very promising when compared to others that have done well even though they had for example, crappy voice acting. The Legacy of Kain series has superb acting, play them and you'll know what I'm talking about. I still believe to this day that Soul Reaver has the best opening sequence in a game EVER! It is truly jaw-dropping. The music, the game play, the graphics, the voice overs, just everything about this series is incredible. Blood Omen may be a little primitive when it comes to graphics, but it is still a great game. The 2 New games coming out look amazing!! I've seen pics throughout the net and it really has me excited.

It has been mentioned by other reviewers that Blood Omen is very hard to find, and they are right! However, I managed to find a BRAND NEW UNOPENED COPY of Blood Omen on Ebay just the other day! In fact, there were at least 10 unopened copies up for bid! Hurry over, as this is truly a great opportunity.

If you're a fan of vampires and darkness, these games are for you! There's just no words to describe them.

Amongst all the mediocore games that are released year after year, one game stands out as a true masterpiece, and that is Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. The game has everything a true gamer would want. It has an intriguing plot, outstanding voice acting, amazing characters, superb gameplay, and possibly the best use of blood and violence in gaming history. Maybe it's just me, but it's use of gore is so good, you actually get EXCITED whenever you see blood fountains, or blood sprurting out of people when you attack them. The weapons and armor you find throughout the world actually matter, and have really cool effects (i.e. When you rapidly press the attack button with the axes equipped, you spin around like a top, destroying nearly anything that stands in your path.). It has non-linear gameplay, although you must beat certain areas to find weapons, items, or secrets that are necessary to get to another part of the world. You're probably wondering, "Well, what about the bad graphics people have been talking about?" Well, for one thing, it's bird's eye view, so naturally, it just doesn't do what other games do. Making it bird's eye view was actually a very good idea, considering what 3D games looked like in 1997. But the movies, which are 3D, do have great graphics. In other words, the people aren't pointy, so to speak. The world of Nosgoth is very detailed, using incredibly lush animation, and realistic looking figures (houses, people, castles, etc.). if any bad came from this, it's the loading times, which you must have heard about by now. They are long and frequent, but it's not that bad. They're really not that long, but they pop up all the time. you have to wait 10-15 seconds every time you pause the game. You do get used to it though. One of the reasons that it has such annoying loading times is probably because of the size of the game. The world is absoluytely huge, and it has 25 minutes of video footage, which have great graphics. While the truth is that this is an amazing game (possibly the best of all time), it would have made a better book, if it was written well.

I first heard about this game from a small preview in EGM back in '95 and even though they weren't big on the details I couldn't wait to play it. I got it shortly after it was released and it's remained one of my favorite games.
First off the game is almost Grand Theft Auto huge in regards to open ended gameplay. You can spend days searching for secret locations and hidden items.
The world is absolutely huge and every area you come to has a unique look and feel to it. From Kain's mausoleum to the Pillars to Dark Eden to Elsivir's Mansion, every step you take yeilds new sights, sounds, and enemies. Also the game moves in day-night cycles which, being that Kain is a vampire, affects your strength. Try to take on a tough enemy while the sun is up and you may have your ass handed to you, but go after the same enemy at night and odds are you'll win. Also go out on a full moon and use wolf form and you're damn near unstoppable.
There are a total of four forms you take as Kain which are wolf, bat, mist and beguile(makes you appear human). There's something like fifty spells which all have different effects on enemies or yourself, five weapons and five suits of armor which likewise all have different effects.
The storyline and voice acting is really what makes this game stand out. The dialogue is so macabre and twisted that I couldn't help but love it, and all the actors did an excellent job at capturing the mood.
I've read alot of the other reviews and it seems everyone's stuck on the load times and graphics. As for the graphics, well, what do you expect from a game that's almost ten years old. Don't get me wrong the areas and characters look beautiful but it's obviously not gonna be up to current standards. The load times aren't as bad as people think. Maybe a five second wait between areas. But it does get annoying when you're jumping in and out of houses in towns and stuff.
Anyways, I could talk all day about this game but I think I'm almost out of room so do yourself a favor and pick this one up, it's a classic. And thanks for reading this really long review.
P.S.
Can't find a copy of this game? Don't trust those backstabbing third party sellers? Well you needn't fret about it anymore. Blood Omen : Legacy of Kain has been recently rereleased as a three pack called Legacy of Kain Compilations. The pack includes the original Blood Omen (choice), the original Soul Reaver (admirable), and a third game called Fighting Force (garbage). It currently sells for around twenty five bucks. You can check it out on this website.