Blood Omen 2

by Eidos

Product Features

• Assume the role of Kain, vampiric tyrant defeated in the previous Blood Omen game
• Kain has been stripped of his powers and mus now haunt the landscape of Nosgoth, draining victims to build his strength
• As you drain mortals, and complete tasks, you'll be awarded more powers & abilities to further your quest for vengeance
• A dynamic new fighting system gives you unstoppable new attacks & combos
• Build your stealth, infiltration and exploration skills --

Product Details

• ASIN: B00005YVTX
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,913 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

You are the vampire Kain, the most evil figure ever to appear in a video game. Cloaked in stealth, you will move through crowds unseen, travel stories above the peasant herds on which you feed--leaping from rooftop to rooftop--and use mind control to overcome vampire-proof inventions. The combat choreography in Blood Omen 2 unfolds with dancelike precision as Kain engages armies of demons and humans alike. The comprehensive menu of unstoppable attacks, nimble combos, and special moves are designed to appeal to even the most jaded of fighting game fans. The world that Kain moves through is a lushly detailed gothic environment that is not only gorgeous to the eye, but also alive with the soon-to-be-dead. The AI behavioral response makes peasants and enemies variously flee, take up arms, or remain unaware as Kain moves through crowds or charges, sword raised, into open areas.

Product Description

Blood Omen 2 is a bloody new 3D action game with combat, magic, and puzzle-solving! Intuitive AI control the behavioral responses of peasants and enemies -- watch them flee, fight and more Dazzling in-game cinematic sequences help advance the story of the vampire lord's attempts to re-conquer the world!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but not great either, March 27, 2002

By 

Michael Pappalardo (Ronkonkoma, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood Omen 2 (Video Game)

As a fan of the Legacy of Kain series since the very first Blood Omen, released on the PSX in 1996, I was dying to get my hands on this game. Finally being in control of Kain again after all this time was quite a pleasure, but unfortunately, the game is not all its cracked up to be...

First off, the gameplay is strictly mediocre. Soul Reaver veterans will recognize the mechanics right away. Unfortunately, it seems the problems of the Soul Reaver games have come over as well. This game focuses more on combat than anything else, and is designed as such. However, given that the game is loosely a Soul Reaver clone, you'll find yourself wanting to avoid combat more than actually throwing yourself into it. Unfortunately, the game's central focus is combat, and successful progression in the game is based on your ability to fight. A pity, because the problems begin there.

Enemies, just like in Soul Reaver 2, are always better fighters, with many more attacks than Kain, and a plethora of unblockable moves. You may find yourself outnumbered, and while you can easily handle your enemies if you're good, Kain will probably just end up on the ground, and you'll be shaking your head in frustration. And once again, the ATROCIOUS auto-targeting system of Soul Reaver 2 has returned. When you auto-fix on an enemy, all it takes is a sidestep, and you'll have Kain hacking away in the opposite direction while the enemy charges up his unblockable attack or unleashes his own combo on you.

'Stealth Kills', like in such games as Tenchu, are probably one of the better parts of combat, but serve little purpose. The only time a 'stealth kill' can be performed is if there is mist on the ground. Even if you sneak up on an enemy without mist on the ground, you cannot perform a 'stealth kill', which makes stealth kills utterly useless and just forces more of the mediocre combat on you.

Collision detection is pretty awful. In fact, it seems to be 2-d, shown in the simple fact that you cannot seem to jump over enemies. If you are standing in front of an enemy, although you clearly jump higher than his head level, you cannot jump OVER him, thus making you an easy aerial target. Also, your weapon seems to pass through enemies more than it hits them, leaving you as an open target yet again.

Sound is strange...often times, ambient sound that is completely inappropriate for the moment(such as the blood guzzling sound) begins to play out of nowhere during cutscenes. The sound is so loud that it drowns out the voice-overs, effectively ruining whatever story element there is(and there isn't much). There are also many other glitches in the game that are just too glaring to be overlooked.

Story.....all the games in the past had a great, involving story. This game lacks the gripping story element of the previous games, which is why even die-hard LoK fans may overlook this game. What little story there is gets expressed through small cutscenes, which could basically be considered 'Mission Briefings' as opposed to story progression. Sometimes there are cut-scenes during the mission which convey the story rather well, but overall, the strongest element of the previous games is very weak in this game.

The bottom line: Only Die-Hard LoK fans will enjoy this game, and even as such may find the game to be bland, devoid of story and interesting gameplay. By today's standards, this game is mediocre in every sense of the word. Gamers who are not knowledgeable about the LoK series will definitely want to avoid this game all together, and LoK/SR fans also may want to avoid this game due to lack of story and good gameplay. Being a diehard LoK fan, I found the game remotely enjoyable, but the game simply gets too repetitive as it goes on. Very disappointing, but good entertainment for a little while.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, large game, April 1, 2002

By 

Gadgester "No Time, No Money" (Mother Earth) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Blood Omen 2 (Video Game)

Rented this over the weekend and I actually enjoyed enough that I'm thinking of buying it. First off, I'm not into vampire stuff, but I did find this game a lot of fun to play. I had seen some screen shots and didn't like them because of their messy look, but turns out the graphics is excellent and actually quite clean. (Saw some kids play the PS2 version in store and I'm happy to report that the Xbox version has much better graphics and also smoother framerate.)

One thing that I really like about the game is the easy-to-master controls. A lot of first-person adventure games [are bad] because playing them requires more skills than fighting an F-18. But this game is easy to learn. At the beginning Umah, a female busty vampire, trains you in the basic controls. It's important to master them as you'll get quite busy later on. The environment is large and well done. Occasionally you do run into a camera-angle problem (i.e., you can't really see what you are doing), but that's rare.

While Kain looks pretty ugly -- this is my first LoK game -- I have to admit that I actually liked him a lot by the time I finished the trainings. Which, of course, made me enjoy the game more. :)

Excellent game, and there is more than enough content to make it more than a rental title.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good game, though the first Blood Omen was better, May 10, 2003

By 

Ironblayde (Omaha, Nebraska, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blood Omen 2 (Video Game)

Kain finally returns in Blood Omen 2, but this latest installment in the series is missing some of what made the first Legacy of Kain such an enjoyable game.

Gameplay is very straightforward. Kain must progress through the world of Nosgoth by killing his enemies and solving puzzles. This is where some of the problems come in. Combat is all right, but Kain has very few options available to him. Attack, block, grab, and that's it. Occasionally you can use a Dark Gift (more on that in a minute) in battle, but it's nothing more than a stronger attack. Boss battles are usually more interesting, but in general, combat leaves something to be desired. The puzzles in the game are all very simple, and so they get tedious. Finally, the game is linear in the extreme. There is never a time when you can deviate from the path and explore a little; you're always on the one, pre-set course through the game.

Kain also has a number of Dark Gifts at his disposal, which he collects throughout the game. These can be pretty interesting. For example, you can change into mist (if there is mist present) and sneak past guards, or kill them stealthily, instantly. You can make insanely long jumps from one rooftop to another, like you'd see in The Matrix. You can control NPCs and force them to do your will. This is good stuff, but I wish there had been more of a focus on it, and that Kain had more varied abilities. The first Blood Omen had more variety.

Graphically, the game is fairly good. The atmosphere of Nosgoth is conveyed very well; it's definitely not a place you'd want to live, and it shows in the scenery, the ambient sound effects, and the bits of overheard conversation. The character models (other than Kain) seem relatively basic. There are some clipping problems as well. All in all, the graphics could be better for the XBox version of this game. They're decent, and get the job done, but it's not a game you'd use to show off the graphical power of the XBox.

The cutscenes in the game are top-notch. The first Blood Omen featured some of the best voice acting you could find on the PSX, and the quality does not disappoint here either. Plus, Kain is such a cool character, you look forward to seeing him interact with the other characters in the game (aside from drinking their blood, that is).

Ultimately, the game's many good points can't completely make up for the often-repetitive gameplay. Nosgoth is a fascinating world, and Kain a fun character to play, but the game can get boring at times, and with its very strict linearity, replay value is virtually zero. It's definitely worth a purchase, since you can now buy this at about half its original price (or less), but the first Blood Omen was the superior game.