During its keynote press conference, Konami confirmed that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, the Kojima-assisted, MercurySteam-developed 3D reboot of the classic series set to vanquish the forces of evil on the Xbox 360 and PS3, would arrive "later this year." Word came from producer David Cox, who emerged before a new trailer was shown to attendees. We'll try to get our hands on said trailer and whip it up on the site.
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Given Castlevania: Lords of Shadow star Gabriel Belmont's situation in the screen shot above, we'd offer the advice "Don't look down." But if you want to see how the new PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 game is shaping up, do just that. More »
Sure, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow was always meant to be a Castlevania game, but that's only part of the story. Last night, David Cox, producer of the game at Mercury Steam, revealed to us that his studio's title was originally pitched to Konami as a 3D remake of the very first game in the franchise.
"The original concept was to remake the original, classic 8-bit game in 3D," Cox said. "That was our original pitch, funny enough -- with Simon Belmont and everything."
While the nostalgic NES gamer in us would probably have swooned over such a project, we're actually kind of glad this one became Lords of Shadow. It is looking really good, after all.
It wasn't the playable demo I'd been hoping for, but I did watch an awful lot of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow gameplay yesterday. The footage was screened during the Konami Gamer Night 2010 event and was narrated by the game's producer, David Cox, from developer Mercury Steam, as a remixed version of a Super Castlevania IV track played in the background. (Cox would later tell me that I'd "feel chills" when I heard the finished game's updated, fully orchestrated takes on many classic tunes from the series.)
Lords of Shadow looks absolutely incredible. From the opening seconds of the preview, there was no questioning that this was a Castlevania game -- a proper, "next-generation" Castlevania with visuals that immediately drew comparisons to God of War III. Now, again, I don't know firsthand how well Lords of Shadow plays, but there was nothing in the footage to indicate that the final product wouldn't be anything less than a competent action-adventure. In fact, it showed the promise of being a great one.
Click to Enlargania
This post may not offer any new Castlevania: Lords of Shadow details, but you can find new pictures and art in the gallery below. Those looking to do creature comparisons should check out the enemy renders -- the warg from Symphony of the Night has certainly grown in both size and definition.
Fanboys will likely never agree on whether or not a 3D gameworld is appropriate for the Castlevania franchise. But if Castlevania: Lords of Shadow producer Dave Cox is to be believed, there won't be any forum bloodshed over which version, the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 one, looks and runs better.
Cox told VG247 that the PS3 was chosen as the lead platform solely because that was the best way for developer Mercury Steam to make both versions of the game identical, though he understands the risk, admitting, "If you develop for Xbox 360 and port to PS3, or indeed vice versa, you can end up with a game that is great on one but lousy on another."
Even if Lords of Shadow isn't up for any GOTYs, perhaps a Nobel Peace Prize could be in Mercury Steam's future? The NPPOTY, if you will.
In an interview conducted last summer with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow producer David Cox, we found out that the much loved Castlevania: Symphony of the Night music composer Michiru Yamane wouldn't be joining the team at Konami to compose the upcoming game. What was unclear at the time, however, was who exactly would be assigned the task of creating the game's score. David Cox explained to Joystiq this morning that Oscar Araujo, a Spanish symphonist, has been granted that burden.
"Our composer for this game is Oscar Araujo who is a Spanish composer. He is creating a very epic yet sad and melancholy score that perfectly suits the game and emotion that we are aiming for." While Cox added that he's "a big fan of Yamane-san's work," he admitted that her music wouldn't have been a great fit for Mercury Steam's take on the Castlevania series. It certainly doesn't hurt that, according to Cox, she's no longer an employee of Konami. "Yamane-san left Konami quite some time ago as I understand it. She is currently working freelance, though I am not 100% sure.
"Yamane-san has a style that fits perfectly to the previous Castlevania games but this game is very different to those more recent 'vania's in style and direction. I don't think I would be doing her any favours by including her music in the game." He also pointed out that we'll understand his point more clearly when we "eventually get to see the game." With any luck, that'll be sooner rather than later.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow may be in development for both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, but the game's producer David Cox recently pointed out via his Twitter account that the "PS3 is the lead platform" for the upcoming game. That isn't to say the Xbox 360 version will be lesser for the fact, as he quickly followed up his statement with the assurance that "the game is identical on both formats [Xbox 360 and PS3]." He's also noted a few times recently that we'll be hearing more about the game sometime "soon," so in lieu of no new information, at least be contented with the thought that you'll get some additional Castlevania deets sometime in the near future. Maybe.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow may be in development for both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, but the game's producer David Cox recently pointed out via his Twitter account that the "PS3 is the lead platform" for the upcoming game. That isn't to say the Xbox 360 version will be lesser for the fact, as he quickly followed up his statement with the assurance that "the game is identical on both formats [Xbox 360 and PS3]." He's also noted a few times recently that we'll be hearing more about the game sometime "soon," so in lieu of no new information, at least be contented with the thought that you'll get some additional Castlevania deets sometime in the near future. Maybe.
Being Dave Cox, head of European development for Konami, can't be an easy job. For one, he's not Hideo Kojima, so he's already got that going against him. Worse yet, he's had to tow the company line and let his upcoming Castlevania: Lords of Shadow languish out of the spotlight while Castlevania Judgment got all the attention. It seems Konami didn't even have the confidence to allow Lords of Shadow the Castlevania license -- nor did fans. "It was quite a radical departure from what had gone before with Castlevania, and there was a little bit of nervousness that perhaps it wouldn't be accepted as a Castlevania game," Cox told GameReactor. Though he claims the project was approved originally as a Castlevania game and was built from the get-go with the vampire-hunting series in mind, the folks in charge at Konami had cold feet going into the big reveal at Games Convention 2008. "Senior management took the decision that we were going to announce it as Lords of Shadow, see what the reaction is, and if it's a good one then this would become a fully-fledged Castlevania." It was definitely a good one.
[Via VG247]
