Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (Dreamcast)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 4.5 stars Outstanding
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 9.0 (4.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Joe Fielder
• Reviewed on: 01/27/2000
• Updated on: 05/05/2000
• Released on: 01/27/2000
• Originally published on GameSpot: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (Dreamcast) Review

One of the best 3D PlayStation adventure games from last year has now arrived on the Dreamcast. In fact, it's an exact port, with graphics that are as impressive on this platform as they were on the original, and with control that's almost as tight. But to back up a bit, Crystal Dynamics' sequel to the first Kain game, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, is a far different animal from its predecessor. Instead of being a top-down RPG, Soul Reaver is a 3D adventure game similar to Eidos' Tomb Raider. And Kain? This time he's the main antagonist.

The game begins hundreds of years after Blood Omen and works on the premise that when you, as Kain, were given the choice of sacrificing yourself to save the world of Nosgoth or ruling it, you chose the latter, plunging the world into darkness. Over the millennia, Kain and his vampiric lieutenants evolved new abilities, with Kain always developing them first and the others soon following. When Raziel, the "hero" of the new game, grew wings before his leader did, Kain saw it as blasphemy, tore them from Raziel's back, and cast him into a giant, swirling, watery grave. But the long-winded story doesn't end there.

After his features have been almost completely eaten away by the water, Raziel is saved by a being known as the Elder God, who sets him on a quest to free the world from the parasitic influence of the vampire clans and to destroy Kain. Raziel finds himself transformed so that he no longer drinks blood but devours souls (luckily, since he no longer has a jaw). Also, he can no longer die; instead, he is transported to the Spirit Realm - a shadowy distorted version of the Material World - after sustaining heavy damage. And surprisingly, his wings still work after a fashion, at least letting him glide for short distances.

These are the tools you start the game with. You can also move and stack large stone blocks and switch over to the Spirit Realm whenever you like. You can only transport yourself back to the Material World at select locations and only once you've filled up on souls. This ability comes in handy, since the netherworld often bends platforms and structures out of shape so that you can climb them more easily and then flip back to the Material World and continue on. Why not just stay in the Spirit Realm? Because you can't open doors or move objects there. You can now begin to see the shape of many of the game's inventive 3D puzzles. But that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to your skills. Kain's other lieutenants have evolved in different ways throughout the last few hundred years, and each of them acts as a stage boss in the game. One has a spidery form, another has grown a tolerance for water, and so on. After destroying each one, you gain his special ability, which then opens up new areas in the environment for you to access. Beyond that, there are bonus areas (which you don't need to complete to beat Soul Reaver). In these areas, you can acquire elemental glyphs, which grant you new powers that work well against the game's standard stock of vampires.

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