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Blood Omen 2 Arrives on PS2 and Delivers Little

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: March 31, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I was very excited to get BO2 as I have been playing the series since the beginning. And when I played Soul Reaver 2 for PS2 I was even moe excited for BO2 since I loved SR2. But I picked it up the other day and was rather disappointed. First off, let me say that I didn't hate the game. It's a decent game and true to the storyline. However, it looks like this game was thrown together in a big rush. There are many problems within this game. First and Foremost I thought the graphics were rather sub-par when considering the PS2's capabilities. The characters could have been much more detailed and the lands are rather bland and boring. Nothing too incredible in this department. Also, there are some quite annoying frame slow downs all through out the game. Just out of nowhere the FPS will just slow down rapidly for a few seconds and then speed back up again. It isn't the worst thing that could happen but is annoying. Also, I thought the gameplay was a little rough. Could have been smoother and more fluid.

Overall, not a terrible game but could have been a lot better. For those of you who are Legacy of Kain veterans, I would say, play it for the storyline but for those who are new to the series, I would stay away as there are much better games of this type you could be playing. Either way, I recommend renting it before buying it.

Yup,another great installment in an excellent series!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: May 26, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First off,let me just say that I bought this game EXPECTING it to be dissapointing with all the negative reviews that the
"professional" game critics(and some ameatuer ones) gave it.I can
honestly say that Blood Omen 2 is an excellent game,and all the "horrific" frame rate problems and load times that people have been squawking about,have been extremely exagerated!The only real problem with frame rate speed I encountered were whenever I would first enter into a room every now and then;and even THAT wasn't very often!Also,it should be noted that these frame rate "problems" NEVER occured during any of the actual fight/combat action sequences.That is something that I think all players would be relieved to know,as fighting is the most crucial
element of Blood Omen 2!

Now for writing the things that this game DOES do(all of which are great!)If you are intrested in this game,then 9 out of 10,you
already know the very complex and addicting storyline....so I'll skip the whole history lesson!In a nutshell,you awake some 200 years after the events in Blood Omen 1,but about 1000 years before Soul Reaver 1 and 2.The Sarafan(religous zealots sworn to wipe out vampires)have taken a fascist-like control over the land
of Nosgoth.Kain's former vampire lieutinants have also betrayed him by joining forces with the Sarafan.Naturally,Kain is enraged
and wants revenge(have we ever known Kain for anything else??) Thus enters Umah:the very feminine,very sensuous,very partially dressed vampire(yeah,I LIKE Umah!)

As for Umah,and Kain and all of the other characters,they are excellent;visualy.The graphics of Blood Omen 2 is great eye candy;not so much in the fantasy sense of Soul Reaver 2,but in more of a macabre,industrial sense.But that only helps to emphasize the nature and storyline of the game.

Both the storyline and voice-acting are first class(would you come to expect anything less from this series?)The gameplay is very easy to get the hang of and so much fun!-pick up a guy by the throat!lop off a guy's head from behind!-Very sadistic yes, but very addicting!As for all the whining over quoate/unqoate
"way too easy block and switch puzzels",hey,they're more than welcome in my book!I'd rather dive straight into the action and learn more of the great story than burst my brain trying to solve some puzzle!Just on a quick note,I thought there were WAY too many puzzles in both Soul Reaver 1 and 2!And let's face it, most of us only solved those puzzles by looking in a strategy guide cause we couldn't figure them out ourselves!So bring on the easy puzzles say I!

All and all,this is a great game that you should definatly buy esp. if you are a fan of the series!As for the one reviewer who wrote that "it doesn't play as smoothly as the XBOX version",I hope he realizes that you can only play Blood Omen 1 and Soul Reaver 1 and 2 on Playstation.After all,Sony started this great epic legacy......NOT Bill Gates!!

Great story hindered by AWFUL controls and HORRIBLE glitches

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: March 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Eidos really dropped the ball here, folks. As usual the story is great, although there are a few notable inconsistancies that will hopefully be explained in the next game. However, the poor controls and obvious lack of beta testing kill this game. First, to attack you have to target an enemy. Usually not a problem, but while targeting, you cannot jump. You can also only dodge left-right, not back or jumping. Second, while sucking blood, you're stuck in the equivalent of a very repetitive cutscene, where you are still vulnerable to attack though can do nothing to avoid the blow. Third, if you die, you have to watch any cutscenes between you and the last checkpoint over again, no way to skip them.
As for glitches, there are hundreds if not more. Clipping is horrible, people fall through walls. Not a problem, unless you wanted their weapon. Well into the game, many people, myself included, lose the ability to save, by either getting a Save Failed message or a corrupt new file, which has led to a few people having to start over. As much as I love the story, this hardly seems worth the hassle and frustration of playing a game Eidos and Crystal Dynamics failed so horrifically on.

Perfect for insomniacs.......

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: April 20, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I never expected to fall asleep playing Blood Omen 2. That's what repetitive (BORING) gameplay will do to the most zealous of gamers. I expected so much more from this overly HYPED game. Instead I got this snoozefest. Much of the game revolves around flipping switches, not my idea of a challenging puzzle. Enermy AI is at an all-time low. Just slap them around like ragdolls. The monotony induces sleep. This game has some of the most poorly designed and BORING boss fights I've ever nearly slept through!!! In some places and battles, the game slows severly due to inconsistent framerate. The only saving grace is the story, characters, and voice acting, which is all excellent. If you think that's enough to make this game worth playing, get it. I barely made it through due to the boring gameplay.

Legacy of Kain Series = Excessive Gore

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 10
Date: March 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Here ye, here ye, thou`s beloved bloodsucking vampire has awakened, and he wades amongst fiery depths of pure, uncompromising vengeance.

After what's been six years, the bona fide sequel of blood-fest Legacy of Kain, has stepped up to the plate. Now on the PS2, Blood Omen 2 has been developed by the boys from Soul Reaver 2 and published by either hated or respected Edios. This time, however, a mob of overjoyed gamers should lift those teams off their feet in praise, for Blood Omen 2 bears the grandeur of the PS1 original.

400 years have dragged by since the fall of Kain. Cabal, an organization of vampire resistance, has taken Kain under their care. Enraged of his fall, Kain must redeem himself and do battle with the Sarafan Knights. Worse, Kain's most loyal commanders have taken ranks with the menacing Knights to cleanse Nosgoth of vampires. With all this the player must take the role of [] Kain, and let retribution rain!

Into the graphical faucets, Blood Omen 2 gleams with red, searing waxes of blood and gore. The original game was overflowing with all crimson brilliance, but the sequel is just an overkill of it. I'm surprised that the game nor my television set wasn`t amplified with such cascades of bloody mess. The world of Nosgoth is ruled with a dark, pessimistic outlook. Extremely gothic, the atmosphere leaves a murky expression throughout the game. Although certainly not eye-candy, the foggy surroundings and sinister atmospheric tones are a nice change over the garishly colorful.

Playing in full 3D and Real Time, Kain has never felt so good to sink duty into. At the beginning of the game, the player is squat on strength and on weaponry. It's up to the player to hunt down Sarafan Knights, steal their advance weapons, and have Kain be armed to the teeth. Progressing in the game, means Kain gains a multitude of skills that is related to vampire mythology. Relying heavily on stealth, the players are usually urged not to be seen in towns, and kill when absolutely necessary. Equipped with powerful vampire abilities, Kain is to use them intelligently like his Telekinesis ability. Taking control of humans means easier mobility, such as commanding human folk to activate switches. Other than that, Kain also has abilities such as bloodsucking, super jumps, roof stalking and several more.

On the whole though, Blood Omen 2 is a hack &slash dungeon crawler. Though, not as action-oriented as Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Kain's quest is much slower paced. Although its not to point at the game and declare that it doesn't have its strong suits. Blood Omen 2 has an excellent battle system. Sometimes intense, the combat is a joy to play with the defend system and not to mention the long and challenging boss fights with other vampires. Kain also accumulates a vast collection of weapons which behave realistically. Swift daggers, sluggish axes, etc. The level of depth in the game isn't quite as high as I wished it would be, but it does have its moments. Completely linear, Blood Omen 2's puzzles, move from point A to point B progression, and hammering wrath on the side of Good, sums up the experience to be had.

Of course the reputation of Crystal Dynamic's stunning voice-overs and sounds prove to move into a higher spectrum of glory. Kain has never sounded so deadly and the voices and sounds is utterly flawless. The plot and script is written with so much intensity, I wonder why if there could be a Halo book why not a Legacy of Kain one?

Blood Omen 2 is nothing new in an overpopulated world of hack & slash games, especially in the PC threshold. Kain's adventure is well enough to be considered a decent caper. I must admit playing through the demon-invested Nosgoth was much as an enjoyment as the first Kain game. Additionally, it's a blessing for players to finally take role of an evil manifestation and spread panic and death throughout the innocent populace.

Fun and action packed, but a little short...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: April 02, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Well, I bought Blood Omen 2 three days ago, and it offered three days of fun and excitement. Here, you once again take up the mantle of vampire dominance, playing as their leader Kain. Kain has been laid low by a mysterious being called the Sarafan lord, who has revived the vampires ancient enemy and is beginning the purges anew. As Kain, you must regain your former glory and defeat the Sarafan lord, retrieving your dark blade, the Soul Reaver, in the process. The voice acting is good (as usual), and the gothic environs really mesh well with the dark tone of the game. However, as is the case with Soul Reaver 2, the game is a bit too short. I wish that Eidos would flesh out the world of Nosgoth a bit, and not merely add to the mythos surrounding Kain...
Oh, and for the fool below, Soul Reaver 2 WAS a cliffhanger, and playing all of the games from the beginning doesn't change this fact. However, Blood Omen 2 does answer one of the questions we are left to ponder at the end of SR2: the identity of the mysterious Hylden, whom Kain seems to fear at the end of SR2. However, could someone tell me why Vorador is still alive in BO2? Don't give me some stupid reason, either; I HAVE played all of the games...
Anyway, back to the game, I think it deserves a purchase (it is fun to play again), but I am still disappointed with the brevity of the quest.

Get ready...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 14
Date: February 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First off i have to say from the review i just read. Soul Reaver 2 is not a cliffhanger. Blood Omen 2 is going to be best understood by those who have been playing the Legacy Of Kain Series since Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. Everything fits together like a puzzle once you finish Soul Reaver 2. There are still a few un-answered questions to what happened with some characters such as Ariel,(the foreshadowing from Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver when she was slain by the Soul Reaver by Raziel). If you really want to enjoy Blood Omen 2, which i know will help, Play every game in the series. Starting with Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain to see how Kain began as a vampire. Then everything will make much more sense.

BLOOD "BORING" 2

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 12
Date: April 22, 2002
Author: Amazon User

"KAIN'S BACK FROM THE DEAD...AND THIS TIME, HE'S BORING AS ...AND LOVING IT!"

Despite having a gripping, dark tale to work with, and superb graphics to match, this game sequel is just too pain-stakingly slow and poorly paced for effective and fun gameplay. Here's some PROS and CONS, and, unfortunately, the CONS win:

PROS:

>>> Dark, creepy tale --- fun to jump into this world, if just for a short while.

>>> Good graphics, voice-overs, and music. Kain's jump and glide move is a cool way to cruise around town. Also, the side-kick vampire chick is a hottie.

CONS:

>>> Slow, slow, slow. I'm ready to play, but have to wait through seemingly endless hours of painful dialogue.

>>> Awkward fighting. I know this Kain guy can tear some action up, can leap 20 feet into the air, can suck blood, and vanish into the mist, etc. --- but he fights like a total ..., with a big, "...here it comes, I'm about to hit you with my claw, look out, ready..." One would hope he'd be a little more coordinated. "...wait, I'm turning around, wait, hold on, I, just, I..."

RECOMMENDATION: All in all, solid package, but not paced quickly enough to keep my interest --- finally, when the fighting does begin, it's just a little too awkward, and sucking blood out of these corpses tends to get old after the 23rd time. Rent first, then buy.

A sore dissapointment for those following the story closely

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: April 05, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Continuity is a beautiful thing. At times it may be acceptable to ignore continuity that is ancient history. Grant Morrison refuses to deal with past issues in X-Men, the Marvel Ultimate line has thrown continuity out the window entirely, but these are stories that are some forty or fifty years old, Legacy of Kain isn't even ten yet. Soul Reaver has had extreme attention to detail, and only one issue of continuity remains in Soul Reaver, leaving out the fact that Vorador attacked the Sarafan with the Soul Reaver in the original Blood Omen, a plot element that seems to have been forgotten, but is a nit pick and not that important.
Kain has always been about the story, and no other series has had such critical continuity, but in playing Blood Omen 2, which lets the player reprise the role of Kain himself, it would seem that the development team (which is different from the minds behind Soul Reaver) has not played any of the previous games. There are some serious plot issues in hand that contradict the original Blood Omen, as well as work against Soul Reaver, most notably, Vorador, love him as we all do, and his dealings in this game. It seems to me that someone on the writing staff wasn't informed that Vorador was decapitated by Mobious in a public execution toward the end of the original, a fact that was reiterated in Soul Reaver 2. This issue creates a massive hole in the timeline that is frustrating me because I want to know how Vorador managed to survive having his head taken off.
The game is a lot of fun, and sadistically satisfying. A lot of games have been very tame of late, and it's been hard to find a game that's been ridiculously gory. This game has plenty of blood, and doesn't hold back at all, and for that I have to give it praise. However, despite being fun there are a few issues that plague the game. How hard would it have been to build this game on the Soul Reaver engine? The control is more similar to Tomb Raider than it's predecessors and that is a serious draw back for the intense combat situations, it makes it harder to get away. While Raziel could literally run circles around groups of enemies at a time swiping every which way at his whim, Kain is stick with the pivot, press up to move forward garbage that has plagued many of Eidos' games for ages, an archaic style that I had hoped died. There is also an unreasonable amount of slowdown where the frame rate drops significantly. This is especially annoying when taking on multiple enemies at the same time.
Over all Blood Omen 2 is a good game, but if you are a Kain Devotee, then you will likely demand an explanation for Vorador, among other holes this game puts into the over all Nosgoth timeline. This game raises more questions than it answers; in fact it fails to answer any questions at all. I still like the story, but for continuity's sake, one may need to dismiss this game the way we have to dismiss "Never Say Never Again" for the Bond franchise.

Kain Lives! The Ultimate Bad Guy finally returns!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: April 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I have read a lot of the other reviews and it seems that a lot of people are fans of the series. I am not. I am a fan of Kain, the cruelst, most vicious, badass ever to grace a gaming system. I personally think that the Soul Reaver games were nothing more than alternative versions of the Tomb Raider series, with boring block pushing and weak soul-sucking combat. Eidos seems to keep making the same game over and over again and I don't think Blood Omen 2 is an exception. The first installment of the Legacy of Kain series was Blood Omen and I think that it was one of the finest games ever created. The storyline was one of the most original and entertaining ever conceived and I credit this with the fact that the story did not have to be translated from another language. Another major plus of the game was the ability to morph into Wolf, Mist, and Bat (you couldn't actually play as a bat, but you could assume the form to fly all over Nosgoth) forms. There was also an incredible array of spells such as flay and implode, which allowed for some of the most gruesome demises ever and weapons such as mace, swords, dual axes, and the now infamous Soul Reaver. All of these things added to one of the most fascinating and exciting gaming experiences ever. But by far the best element of the entire game was it's main character Kain. Tragically slain, then reborn in the form of a blood sucking vampire seeking only one thing, Vengeance and later Domination, but that's another story. Kain roamed the countryside of Nosgoth slaying anything that stood in his way, including peasants who only served to satiate his unending need for blood. If you played your cards right you could make it through the entire game with out losing your life and isn't that how a game should be? Long enough and entertaining enough to get your money's worth, without having to throw in a series of tedious puzzles or inescapable deaths to slow your progress. Hypothetically, if you die even once during a game can you technically be victorious? Anyway, enough of the first game and I'll let the other fans who enjoy the Soul Reaver games to talk them up. Blood Omen 2 once again allows you to control the king of all characters, Kain and that may be the best part of this game. Kain is still wonderfully voiced and a remorseless, power hungry, bloodsucking, fiend! This is an action game, and on that level it is entertaining, but flawed in that all the enemies you face can use varied attacks, while yours stay pretty limited by your Rage Guage, which is only increased when you block others attacks. Kain is certainly not as tough as he was in the first game, which is explained by his untimely defeat at the hands of the Sarafan Lord, who now possesses Kain's old weapon, the Soul Reaver. Kain gets tougher as the game progresses, as each boss or unique level adds to your Dark Gifts. The puzzles are easy, most opponents can be dispatched easily with stealth or with careful manuevers during combat and even the bosses aren't too tough once you figure out the strategy. But, the game does move and blood does spill by the gallon (something that was seriously lacking in the Soul Reaver games). All the problems that were discussed in other reviews are present and frustrating. The frame-rate problems and constant glitches sometimes make you wonder why you spent, so much money on a PS2 when you could experience the same problems a lot cheaper with a PS1. The bottom line is that if you are of tired similar game-play, you won't be impressed with this game, but if you are a fan of Kain, it's definitly worth the price of admission. And if I had to choose I would take Kain over Raziel any day of the week, but let's face it, in the end the bad guy never wins.

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