Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 combat system trailer

If you like games with combos and tricky combat systems that require you to make good-decisions while making sure your eye-hand coordination is as perfect as you can get it, you’re going to like Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (LoS2). But before you go any further, if you haven’t played Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (LoS) and you don’t want to be spoiled, I suggest you not watch the video below, as it contains potential spoilers. I’ll be keeping the description spoiler-free just in case you really want to know about the details without being spoiled.

Tricky weapon switching

At this year’s Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, a gameplay trailer was released explaining the LoS2 combat system that will require more attention than you probably thought it would. If by any chance you got by in other action games with button-mashing, you are not getting away with that here.

For LoS2, you have the Void Sword and the Focus bar. The Void Sword allows you not only to damage your enemies, but also to acquire life. Keeping it active drains energy. In order to replenish that energy, you switch to attacking using the Focus bar. The Focus bar is at the bottom of the screen and fills up every time you land an attack, but gets drained when you get hit. When the Focus bar fills up, the enemy will drop Blood Orbs with each hit. These Blood Orbs are then absorbed into the Void Magic container, which allows you to once again use the Void Sword. The trick here is to properly time and balance the switching between Void Sword and Focus bar, which, when mastered, can make killing off bosses easier.

Of course, mastering weapon-switching skills won’t be humdrum especially when you have the option to dodge or sync block. Sync block allows you to unleash a powerful counter attack if timed properly. You can also switch between weapons mid-combo.

In addition to that, certain enemies grant you certain abilities when you defeat them. These acquired skills may not only be used against enemies, but also on the environment, allowing you to explore new places. You can go back to locations you’ve already been to and discover new areas. Here’s the combat system trailer:

The deep and strategic combat system of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 seems quite challenging and involved, living up to the legacy of Konami’s famous Castlevania series.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is set for release for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on February 2014. Its first installment, on the other hand is available for pre-order and has a free demo on the PC and will be released on Steam on August 28.

(Editing By Charlie Custer)