Platform:  PS3 (PSN)

Release Date (NA):  June 21st, 2011

Developers:  Mercury Steam, Kojima Productions

Publisher:  Konami

Genre:  Action / Adventure, Hack and Slash

Nerd Rating:  5 out of 10

Following Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and its first downloadable installment, Reverie, the second and final download pack known as Resurrection continues the story introduced in Chapter 13.  With just 2 small areas, there’s not a whole to be done and Resurrection feels like more a cash grab than anything else.

At the onset of this trek, Chapter XIV, Gabriel has just crossed over the dimensional barrier containing the “Forgotten One,” itself a nod to a boss from Lament of Innocence.  The aim here is to kill the son of a bitch before he gets topside.  The chapter avoids addressing the OMG moment from the end of Reverie, and does little to drive Gabriel’s story forward.

Most of what I talked about in my review for Reverie is still applicable in Lords of Shadow Resurrection.  It does a great job of appearing just like “any other chapter,” but right under the surface it suffers from Reverie’s shortcomings.  Reverie introduced a hitherto unheard of number of demanding platforming sequences, and Resurrection takes it to a whole new level.  Lots of quick work while hanging on ledges quickly becomes the norm, followed by an area full of very difficult jumps to make.  These elements of level design feel wholly out of place since Gabriel goes through the entire “main game” without running into any areas requiring such a level of 3D platforming prowess.  Worse still, the same exaggerated comic book-like drawings replace the cutscens from the original.

What further lowers my opinion of what has now become the final chapter of the first Lords of Shadow is the conspicuous lack of anything “new.”  Reverie at least allowed the player to control the vampire Laura for short periods, but Resurrection has nothing novel, not even something like the (admittedly useless) “Fingers of Frankenstein.”  The ending of Reverie left such a wide window of possibility open when going into Resurrection, but alas, the incident never takes center stage and leaves one a little disappointed.

The end battle itself is cool enough but doesn’t feel much different than the slew of other boss battles.  The “Forgotten One” is, however, one nasty motherfucker and his (its?) defeat would’ve been truly spectacular had it received the full-on animated cutscene treatment.  It’s not really fair to call Lords of Shadow Resurrection a bad add-on; after all, the aesthetics match, core gameplay carries over, new stages and story elements are included, and it does keep the Lords of Shadow fun going a little longer.  It’s a bit of a puzzlement why this would remain a standalone product though.  Not only is it criminally short, but it also won’t make any sense to anyone who hasn’t already played Reverie.  

Check out what one of the Lords of Shadows producers had to say about the downloadable content; even this guy didn’t think it was up to par.

If you’ve already played and enjoyed both Lords of Shadow and Reverie, you should probably tackle Resurrection in the interest of completeness, but be sure to adjust your expectations accordingly.

Reviewed by The Cubist