EIDOS INTERACTIVE Legacy Of Kain: Defiance

by Eidos

Product Features

• The story of Nosgoth continues as two mighty vampires, Kain and Raziel, fight to break the cycle of destiny and escape death -- to lead the new race of vampires and forge an empire
• As either Kain or Raziel, you'll feed your dark hunger by devouring the souls & blood of enemies
• Continue the legends of Kain and Raziel as you use their powerful abilities to commit acts of war
• Powerful new telekinetic abilities lets you hurl enemies into obstcales, impale them on sharp objects or just throw them off ledges
• Incredible combo moves as you use the Soul Reaver, telekinesis and pure physical prowess to beat human & undead foes

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0001DZGXM
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,242 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The next chapter in the epic Legacy of Kain series is a cutting-edge action/adventure game featuring more action then ever before. Take control of two powerful and highly evolved vampires: Kain, an all-powerful demigod, and Raziel, a demonic angel of death. Each equipped with a legendary sword, Kain & Raziel must battle through a world loaded with conflict and intrigue as they attempt to unravel their destinies and defeat the dark forces that seek to condemn their world to eternal damnation.

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Features:

• Play as both Kain and Raziel, two powerful and highly evolved vampires with unique abilities
• Engage in intense combat utilizing thrilling combo moves, and physical agility to destroy hordes of human, demonic, and undead foes
• Utilize telekinetic powers to manipulate the environment and hurl your enemies into obstacles, impale them on sharp objects, or throw them off ledges to their deaths
• Feed your dark hunger by sucking the blood and devouring the souls of your enemies to survive
• Possess the bodies of unsuspecting victims to shift between the shadowy and sinister Spectral Realm and the rich and beautiful Material Plane

Product Description

Legacy Of Kain: Defiance - Return to a dark wasteland as you fight for the right to claim it -- and decide your own future! Return to the dark intrigues of Nosgoth as you fight to claim your destiny!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars will we ever know the full story?, March 28, 2005

By 

Jones (England) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: EIDOS INTERACTIVE Legacy Of Kain: Defiance (Video Game)

I was hyped for this game, there's no denying that. I'm a big fan of the series so to hear that a fifth game was coming was like a dream come true, not least of all because of the prospect of being able to play as Kain and Raziel, alternating through levels. I'll touch on this issue first, as it's the first thing that I noticed about the game.

I have a perhaps odd fascination for Simon Templeman's voice, and thus for me playing as Kain seemed the obvious choice. You do not have an option of course, it's decided for you, but I was convinced I would much prefer playing as Kain than Raziel. For the first couple of levels, this was true. Kain seemed, overall, quicker and able to dispatch enemies much more efficiently. Once Raziel began to gain a few more advanced techniques, however, I was thinking the opposite. Kain became sluggish and awkward to play with, simply because Raziel is so much quicker and more fluid in combat.

Graphically, the game is superb. Everything is smoothly rendered and attention to detail is great. I actually must have spent about half an hour in total just looking at the murals and paintings that adorn the various areas within the game - in particular the gigantic portrait of Kain as a human noble man that you see within the vampire mausoleum. Each character looked excellent too. Kain improves from game to game, excluding Blood Omen 2. Moebius... I'm not too sure about. He is well rendered but looks a lot less sinister than he did in the Soul Reaver games. Raziel doesn't ever seem to change, aside from his hair.

The sound was great too. The voices were perfect, for the most part. I did have a one issue with them, however. The decision to recast Mortanius' voice irked me slightly (I heard this was done so that newcomers to the series wouldn't be confused as to who he was... Tony Jay, who voices the Elder God also, originally did his voice, so I can see how their might be a problem there, I suppose). He ended up sounding like Alan Rickman as Professor Snape. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but I preferred the booming voice he had in Blood Omen 1. Everyone else was spot on for voices, although Michael Bell (Raziel) did seem to waver about a bit with his accents. I am sure he sounded Irish at one point.

You get to meet an impressive array of Nosgoth's denizens in this chapter. Janos Audron, Vorador, Moebius, Mortanius, the Elder God and Ariel ("All you have is time"). Aside from the Elder God, I like see all of them. They all have great voices and usually provide some interesting plot development. One surprise appearance was Turel! I'll give you a bit of background info on him, just because I can - he was the only member of Kains brood that you didn't get to destroy in Soul Reaver 1. Every one of Raziels other brothers were laid to waste, and again in Soul Reaver 2, when you met and killed their human counterparts - but until now, you haven't had the chance to meet the mutated Turel. I actually remember seeing some concept art of him ages ago and wow... what an ugly bastard. He proved an interesting fight though, as did Janos Audron.

The bosses throughout the game varied, ranging from awesome to tiresome. Those which fell into the latter category were the spirits of the pillar guardians. Each one looked identical to the next, and therefore was indistinguishable. What confused me more was that you apparently absorb eight of the nine guardians (excluding Ariel), despite Moebius and Mortanius still being alive, unless I am mistaken and they were already dead in the time when Raziel visited the temples - regardless, I don't think it would make sense for him to absorb Moebius/Mortaniuss. Whatever the explanation, I disliked them. The temples were repetitive and predictable. Luckily, past Chapter 11, things got interesting.

Fighting Janos Audron was probably the most difficult part of the game. Of course, there is always a method to defeating enemies, and it just takes an attack or two to realize what that is. It just so happens that Janos had a more random method than the rest of the cast. Turel, on the other hand, was simple to defeat. The Elder God took two shots to kill - somewhat disappointing, considering he is supposed to be the hub of life and death and so forth. I forget what Raziel says exactly, but he makes a scathing remark about an eternity of damnation being having to listen to the Elder Gods voice. Too right! He never shuts up about being the purifying cycle, etc. ("There's some grim satisfaction in infuriating you.")

By far, the best part of the game for me was fighting Raziel and Kain.

"Your pawn has reached the end of the board, Kain. And now my powers may even surpass yours. How ironic if the creature that you made should prove your own undoing. Now, we finish this."

Yes, you heard me. Since you switch between characters, you are given the chance to fight yourself. In Avernus Cathedral, no less. Of the two of these fights, I think Raziel versus Kain was the easiest, which proves my earlier point about Raziel being the stronger in combat. When you play as Kain, Raziel cackles while fighting you, which amused me greatly. You also get a blast of Ozar Midrashim during the fight, which always fires me up - this only happened two or three times elsewhere in the game, I think. Outside Vorador's mansion was the first occasion, and I think I almost wet myself then. Kidding, of course.

The ending, to me, was a let down. It left Kain directionless. Where is he to go now that the Elder God is defeated? The pillars remain corrupted, Nosgoth is falling into decay, and I haven't got a clue what is going on with the Hylden - who I'm sure possessed Raziel while he was in Avernus - his eyes occasionally flashed greened, as the others who had been possessed did. I understand that he was both the vampire and hylden savior, and that he had a choice of which to be, but I am still confused about the story. I guess no one but the creators of the game will ever really know what is going on in the state of Nosgoth.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars So good but one huge problem, February 2, 2006

By 

Dominic Lacasse (Calais, ME USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: EIDOS INTERACTIVE Legacy Of Kain: Defiance (Video Game)

This game is really well designed- the combat system works well, the graphics (as always) are incredible, the story is intriguing, everything about it is great- except one thing, the camera.

The camera is fixed-position, which means that whereas in other Soul Reaver games you had a camera behind your character and 'move forward' would move you in whatever direction you were looking, this one has a fixed camera in every room. So not only can you not even see your character if he goes somewhere the camera can't see (read: half the room), it's nearly impossible to move him correctly given that 'move forward' won't move you in the direction the camera's looking but rather the direction the character is looking. This makes normal movement difficult and irritating and more tricky stuff, like jumping puzzles and walking narrow ledges, next to impossible.

It's a shame, really- this is a nearly perfect game, but some really really stupid decisions were made by the people designing the camera-work- which they probably thought was ground-breaking and amazing, because video game developers as a rule don't quite understand the concept of not fixing what ain't broken.

If you're thinking of buying this game, I'd suggest getting SR2 instead. While the graphics aren't as great and the combat / powerup system isn't as detailed and cool, it's a much more enjoyable game because it just works better.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Frustrating..., March 2, 2006

By 

TheButton (USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: EIDOS INTERACTIVE Legacy Of Kain: Defiance (Video Game)

I love the Legacy of Kain games. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Soul Reaver 2. This game, however, frustrates the heck out of me. I don't know why I'm still playing it. First off, I have to admit, I have not finished the game yet. I am only to the fourth chapter.

First and most annoying is the camera. It would be fine if it followed right behind you (I don't need to see Kain's face, he looks like a turtle...) or if you were able to move in yourself but instead it sticks itself at weird angles and moves around sporatically so you can never walk straight. There's a part in the game where you have to walk up a ramp and there are holes you have to jump over. It took me no less than 25 minutes to get past this seemingly easy place all because of the camera. My character actually died once (as fans know, the health of the character constantly decreases, something I am fine with except when you are forced to repeatedly do the same thing over and over...) while doing this. The camera makes the game practically unplayable.

The second thing is the repetativeness of the scenary. What I'm going on for this part is the Sarafan Stronghold. I constantly get confused on where I am because every room looks the same. I suppose it made it very easy for them to program. Just make a few rooms and then copy them when needed. The least they could have done is moved around the tapestries or something.

The third thing is just a technical problem for me that probably just has to do with my computer or something. In certain parts of the game everything starts going practically in slow-motion. It turns really jerky and slow. I have a very new computer so it can't be that. I've downloaded all the patches and still nothing works.

So overall this game has been a dissappointment to me. I'll probably keep playing it because I want to know what the story is (I have no complaints about that). Luckily I only spent $5 on this game so it's no huge loss. If you're intersted in getting into the Legacy of Kain games, I'd definetally recommend one of the earlier ones like Soul Reaver 2 instead.

2 1/2 Stars