Castlevania Lament of Innocence

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=========================Castlevania Lament of Innocence=============================
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Castlevania Lament of Innocence
Game Type ........ : Horror Action Adventure
Origin ........... : NTSC         
Release Date ..... : Oct 21, 2003  
Platform ......... : PS2   
Media  ........... : DVD  
Filename ......... : Castlevania Lament of Innocence**
RARs ............. : Rar`s: 1x2.10MB, 1DVD: 2.10GB   
Developer......... : Konami, KCET
Also on .......... : PS2
Oficial Preview and Screens Presentet By GameSpot:
http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/castlevaniat.../index.html
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Lament is a fun, though fairly short and simple, 
game that marks a promising new beginning for 
this beloved series.
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Vampires, whips, and gothic horror are together in full 3D for the first time in 
a while in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, arguably the first polygonal 
Castlevania that's deserving of the name. Konami's ageless series of action games, 
which has enjoyed something of a renaissance these past few years on the Game Boy 
Advance, makes its inevitable debut on the PlayStation 2 with considerable aplomb. 
The game looks great, runs silky smooth, and features the best soundtrack heard in 
the series since the now-legendary 1997 title, Symphony of the Night. And, unlike 
the recent 2D Castlevania games, this one had to start from scratch and couldn't 
reuse a lot of the same graphics, sounds, and mechanics as its predecessor. This 
means that Lament of Innocence will offer an original experience to fans of the 
series, who'll undoubtedly enjoy seeing some of their favorite Castlevania monsters 
and gameplay rendered this well in 3D. On the other hand, this latest game in the 
series feels rather stripped down compared with, say, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, 
which was released earlier this year for the GBA. Lament is a fun, though fairly 
short and simple, game that marks a promising new beginning for this beloved series. 

Every Castlevania game pretty much tells the same story: It's you, the lone 
adventurer, versus a deadly vampire, usually Dracula himself, and an evil 
castle filled with monsters that stand in the way. The particulars this time 
involve one Leon Belmont, who's every bit the dandy that the last few 
Castlevania heroes have been. He's a former aristocrat who's abandoned his 
title and courageously set forth in an attempt to rescue his beloved, who was 
apparently abducted by a vampire. Leon is just a short distance from the 
vampire's foreboding castle when he meets Rinaldo, a wise old alchemist who 
(in a surprisingly long-winded opening cutscene) gives to Leon a whip imbued 
with the power to thwart evil. Leon can't say no to that, and, whip in hand, 
he walks straight into his enemy's fortress. There, he'll face legions of 
skeletons, ghouls, demons, and more before he finally confronts his sworn enemy. 

Any longtime Castlevania fan, when faced with the reality of a new 3D installment 
in the series, is concerned with just one question: Seriously, is it a 
Castlevania game? The straight answer, in this case, is yes--for the most part. 

On the plus side, even if this game were called something other than 
"Castlevania," fans of the series would still, by all means, recognize it as such. 
It features many of the particular elements that fans of the series know and love, 
and while you might expect that it would be easy to brand just about any game 
featuring medieval weapons and undead monsters as a Castlevania, this one 
distinctly captures much of the look and feel that the best games in the series 
share in common. But, on the downside, Lament of Innocence simply lacks the depth 
of games like Aria of Sorrow and Symphony of the Night. Unlike those games, 
this one has virtually no role-playing elements to speak of, the level design is 
particularly simple and repetitive, and, overall, the game just has less content 
by comparison. There are fewer types of enemies, fewer types of weapons and items, 
and so forth. Series fans may find all this a little disappointing. However, they, 
and anyone else, should rest assured that, on its own merits, Castlevania: Lament 
of Innocence is by every means a fast-paced and entertaining action game whose 
main strengths lie in the execution of its action. 

It's at least a little ironic that this new Castlevania is clearly inspired by 
Capcom's terrific 2001 game Devil May Cry, which was apparently inspired by the 
Castlevania series in the first place. Like Capcom's game, this one is 2D at heart 
despite the fully 3D visuals. The play mechanics are highly responsive, and the 
emphasis is on fast action rather than on camera manipulation or any cumbersome 
controls. In fact, like in Devil May Cry, you have no control over the camera at 
all; it shifts automatically as you proceed through the game's countless series 
of corridors and antechambers. 

The camera angle is rarely a detriment, though there will undoubtedly be times 
when you'll be struck from offscreen; another minor issue is that the controls 
are always relative to the camera, so as the camera angle shifts, you'll need 
to compensate with the left analog stick to keep Leon moving straight ahead. 
Also, the combination of the constantly shifting camera angles (which tend to 
shift jarringly as you move from room to room) and the absence of a compass 
needle on the main game screen means you'll constantly be referring to your 
automap of the castle. The map is clear and easy to read and comes up quickly 
when you hit the select button. Still, you'll need to glance at it all the 
time as you try to plot a course from point A to point B, since it's so easy 
to become disoriented while traveling through the castle's same-looking hallways. 
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