Castlevania Lords of Shadow Art Appreciation

Soul_of_Solace

Wanted to make a thread about this game on a forum full of Artists. For myself, this was the first game in a very long time to make me go "wow", especially as an Artist.

From the opening chapters in the Forested and organic areas to the amazing Gothic architecture of the Vampire castle, each chapter/level was unique in its presentation/look and were all just brimming with little environmental details to really make these worlds come alive.

I really enjoyed the game thoroughly, though recognize that it wasn't as well received due to issues regarding camera and gameplay. Art and Music however were simply stunning.

Joseph Silverman

YES! This game is ultra-gorgeous. Screenshots do it no justice.

Lord McMutton

Agreed. The castle level was the greatest thing ever. Especially those enormous stone 'chandelier' platforms held up by the chain walkways.

skylebones

That game is one of the most beautiful games on the current gen console. Very impressive!

yodude87

wow. finally people that agree with me ^^

i didnt play the game (played thru the demo), and it alone was enough to make me go "HOLY COW!!"... i wish more games had this kind of treatment.

Joseph Silverman

yodude nooo the demo has some of the least impressive locations and creatures in the game. Buy it!

yodude87

Joseph Silverman wrote: »

yodude nooo the demo has some of the least impressive locations and creatures in the game. Buy it!

whoa, quick search here and found it for 10 bucks :Q____ _ next game chosen ^^

bugo

It's a well done game, bought it whenever it launched, I wish they do more.
I'm not sure how much it sold, probably not much, it didn't have as much marketing as some other ps3 titles.

It's about the same quality as God of War 3 and Uncharted series.

Andreas

I thought I was the only one who thought that game was very very under-rated. It plays as good as it looks!

bugo

it's true, it's a really good game, I'm not so sure why it got under-rated.

Torch

Remember playing this aaaages ago, forested areas looked crayzeh

yodude87

Torch wrote: »

Remember playing this aaaages ago, forested areas looked crayzeh

:O

Soul_of_Solace

Andreas wrote: »

I thought I was the only one who thought that game was very very under-rated. It plays as good as it looks!

See, we have things in common! (when I'm not being an ass)

I enjoyed the game and didn't go "OH LOOK! GOD OF WAR CLONE!" like a lot of other people, because I honestly didn't get that vibe when I was playing it. It felt different to me than that other game. I also didn't have too many troubles with the camera or framerate like others did too.

Anyway, while the game didn't sell super well, the guys at MercurySteam have supposedly been dropping hints at a sequel for a while now, and reportedly are going to announce a 3DS Castlevania game soon (at E3) too.

Source on that rumor here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=474923

According to Dutch Nintendo site N1ntendo Konami revealed in their E3 Appointment schedule that Castlevania: Mirror of Faith will be announced exclusively for 3DS. No details at this point, other than David Cox, Producer from Lord of Shadows and Enric Alvarez, director/writer of the same game seem to be working on the game

erroldynamic

Very beautiful game indeed! I had fun playing it too, never finished it though... might have to re-visit.

David-J

beautiful game. Tons of art thrown at you all the time. I loved the 2d animations for the attacks.

Saman

I played this game through last year and loved it, too bad the dlc's were such dissapointments. The character art in this game is pretty impressive too, the creatures especially. My only complaint is that Belmont's face is a bit too small for his head(which also is pretty small) which makes him look mentally challenged.

Andreas

I think it not only is better than DMC by a long shot, but it beats God of War (maybe not in visual fidelity, but the overall package) and I think it's the only decent thing Kojima has worked on since MGS2. Wonder if there's another one in the works?

skylebones

I would love a sequel to this game. Especially if they fixed the minor camera/gameplay annoyances.

Tdank

It also had some of the best fully orchestrated music I've heard in a game recently.

For example:

http://youtu.be/3ZsWiIvWeD0

And one more (gets really good around the 4 and a half minute mark)

http://youtu.be/Kvzhoq2SHuk

Hazardous

Totally agree, one of the best looking games environment wise out there

Btw just adding to this, spoilers for those who havent played it:

That undead dragon boss near the end is one of... if not the most memorable boss fight for me in recent times. I was literally sweating after taking that thing down. SOOO FUCKING EPIC!!! Also I went back to try and take the final boss down on the hardest difficulty lol...... LOL

xvampire

the feel and graphic rival Uncharted 2. I have no doubt
one of the best environment art I ve seen in current gen console ( but probably my opinion is a bit bias because I like goth style artwork)
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQtzxlZ0IAw"]Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Gameplay Trailer - YouTube[/ame]


I wonder hows MercurySteam doing? are they working on new games?

easterislandnick

Its a gorgeous game, too long but gorgeous.

xtremepenguin

Ive been raving about this game to anyone who listens since i played it a few months go. So tragically overlooked as well. The environment art is stunning, keep finding myself taking photos with my phone. Its let down by some atrocious level design in some places though...

Lamont

I got it for PS3. Very good game. Looks awesome.

yodude87

mercurysteam is in spain, isnt it?

Torch

yodude87 wrote: »

mercurysteam is in spain, isnt it?

Ah ok, that would explain why some of the character texture names are labeled as stuff like 'gabriel_arrugas' or 'hombreras'

Soul_of_Solace

MercurySteam definitely seems to have found some top tier environmental art talent. I hadn't heard of them before they got Castlevania. Though it seems they developed a few games before:

American McGee presents: Scrapland (2004, 2005) (Windows PC, Xbox)
Zombies (May 2006) (Nokia 6680, Nokia N70)
Clive Barker's Jericho (2007) (Windows PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Irreal

Really enjoyed this game but didn't complete it. It was one of those games that had so many different moves to remember that it made it really difficult to return to. Some of the best environment art I've seen in a game.

[HP]

yeah, one of the most underrated games i can think of

Ark

Environments, textures and lighting are stunning in this game, but oh my is the end boss a pain in the arse!

Xenobond

Here's a bunch that I saved out a while ago-
https://www.dropbox.com/gallery/1352739/2/Castlevania/lords_of_shadow?h=f75ee0

Soul_of_Solace

The sequel rumors are still coming: http://paulgalenetwork.com/home/2012/05/21/its-time-to-share-the-wii-u3ds-game-that-paul-gale-network-hinted-at-2011s-final-hour-castlevania-mirror-of-fate/

Apparently Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 will be coming to the WiiU (in addition to the other platforms), but was originally going to be a WiiU exclusive SKU, but such a thing would be too costly (and risky, given the market these days). The guy seems certain these Castlevania games will be playable at E3. Only 2 weeks to go.

ErichWK

This game brought back my favorite things about games, boss fights. And they did it right. One thing I hate about modern games and shooters, is the serious lack of great boss battles.

HonkyPunch

Game itself wasn't as good as I was hoping, but yes, it is absolutely fucking gorgeous.

Baj Singh

Great game with stunning and diverse scenery. Its major fault, lack of whips .

artstream

I might have to go back and replay this game now on an HDTV, it was definitely one of the most enjoyable games I've played in awhile.

@ Haz, holy shit man, yea, that was an epic boss fight!

ScudzAlmighty

Badass art by Ballo on cghub:



he's got a couple other pieces as well
http://cghub.com/images/view/128625/

alexande

It's a really a good game

Joopson

Man, if only it were on PC!

[EDIT] Oh, what the hell. Ordered a used copy from Amazon for xBox. Maybe now I'll have a reason to play the darn thing.

teaandcigarettes

A great game. The environments were gorgeous and it gets hard as diamonds on higher difficulty levels.

Torch

Awesome boss:

Soul_of_Solace

What really floored me was the design and modeling of the "Titans".

artstream

After seeing that model sculpt, I have to agree with Saman, yea, his head is rather small for his body.

The titans...wow, I remember those battles well. They were some pretty epic game play moments in this game as well, such as this. I forget, how many titans are there again?

glottis8

ErichWK

Oh man, they can take this game SO MANY DIRECTIONS. What if we get to play AS dracula?? Maybe Simon Belmont. . . Oh man.

MrHobo

I just picked this up a few days ago (And this thread appears a day later, weird world). While Im only in Chapter 4 I already know I love this game and quite frankly...
Im shocked this title didnt get more press bigger sales. Seriouly, this game is right up there with the Uncharteds in terms of presentation and I think the combat is actually a bit better than God Of War.
It's just baffling that this flew under the radar like it did. Whatever direction they take the sequel in, I do hope they get a better marketing team.

Soul_of_Solace

The problem is most of the press probably just wrote it off as a God of War clone and such. That and it did have legitimate gameplay issues involving camera and framerate to a lot of people (not me, but whatever). Then you have the "hardcore" fans who foreswore the game because of no IGA director/Ayami Kojima art/Michiru Yamane music/no 2d, etc.

xvampire

http://imgur.com/a/cV52S#0

so still Mercury Stream, Simon Belmont seems to appear, but it seems mainly you play as trevor belmont
the art is mouthwatering !

artstream

Exclusively to the 3DS? Seriously? Well, I guess I'll just have to get my fix with Lords of Shadow.

praetus

Welp, that sucks. I have absolutely no interest in buying the 3DS. Hopefully this is a spin-off and we'll be seeing a console version or something like it at E3.

MrHobo

And I just lost all interest... Just when I thought that maybe Konami would stick to full console releases again for CS, they go right back to handhelds.
Oh well, maybe a PSN/Arcade port in the future?