Iron sharpeneth Iron

In an intriguing meeting of the minds, publisher 505 Games has announced it has entered into a partnership with Metroid Dread developer MercurySteam to co-develop and co-publ?ish a brand new title, set for a "multiplatform global release."

While neither party is quite ready to reveal the intriguing new project just yet, "Project Iron" is expected to be a third-person action-RPG set within a "dark fantasy world." The final release will be held in co-ownership by 505 Games' parent company Digital Bros. and Mer?curySteam, and is set to have a development budget of around $30 million USD.

"We are thrilled to work with the team at MercurySteam, a proven studio that over the years has created numerous phenomenal IPs �including the recent hit release Metroid Dread in part?nership with Nintendo," said Digital Bros Group CEOs Raffi and Rami Galante in a press release. "With MercurySteam’s creative vision and talent and 505 Games extensive experience, gamers can expect a high-quality, captivating and engaging video game."

It's certainly an exciting prospect. Metroid Dread proved to be a fine release for Nintendo Switch �one of the year's best, in fact �while 505 Games has more than its fair share of excellent IPs and brands within its portfolio, including Remedy Entertainment's Control, Team IGA's Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, All In!'s Ghostrunner, and Ninja Theory's Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice to name but a few. On paper, this new collaboration and its resulting title, Project? Iron, should prove to be a very exciting prospect.

All that's left is the waiting...

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MercurySteam confirms it, referring to its internal standards for getting into the credits

A new report from Spanish-language site Vandal says that several former staffers at MercurySteam, the developer of Metroid Dread, were left ?out of the game's credits. And now, MercurySteam has confirmed it, as part of their policy for minimum participation for accreditation.

Vandal's report (as translated by Kotaku) notes several former developers at the Metroid Dread studio who say they didn't spot their name in the credits. Former MercurySteam 3D artist Roberto Mejías posted on LinkedIn congratulating the team.

"I'm not surprised of the quality of the game though, since the amoun??t of talent on that team was through the roof," wrote Mejías. "I know this first hand because, despite not being included on the game's credits, I was part of that team for eight months."

"While playing the game, I've recognized quite a few assets and environments I worked on... so my work is there," he continues. "Then, I would like to ask MercurySteam: Why do I not appear on the game's credits? Is it some kind of mistake? I would really appreciate hav??ing some answer to this. Thank you in advance."

3D character animator Tania Peñaranda Hernández also noted she was not included in the credits in her own LinkedIn post. "It has been hard for me to see that they have considered that it should be like this when I keep seeing a lot of animations that I made in every gameplay," she wrote. Another, anonymous source also confirmed they were left out of the credits after working on Metroid Dread for 11 months.

Speaking to GameSpot, MercurySteam co??nfirmed the report. The studio outlined its process for including or excluding deve??lopers in the credits of its games, specifying a minimum of "25% of development time" or having made significant enough contributions. The full statement is below:

"We accredit all those who cert??ify a minimum participation in a particular project--usually the vast majority of devs. We set the minimum at 25% of development time. We also credit those who, even though they have not been in the project for too long, have had significant creative and/or technical contributions. A game development is a complex, hard and exhausting endeavor. We understand any of us needs to contribute at a minimum to it, to be accredited in the final product. Thanks for your intere?st."

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Good call

MercurySteam is best known its work on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and Metroid: Samus Returns, but there's also the overlooked Raiders of the Broken Planet, the studio's own online sci-fi shooter/brawler hybrid. The game launched last September, and as we approach its one-year anniversary, big changes are on the way: it's going free-to-play on August 23 and rebranding itself as Spacelords.

Why the new pricing model? Even without knowing the game, you probab??ly know the answer.

"When we launched Raiders September last year, we hoped its low price point ?of $9.99 per campaign would open it up to a large number of users, but it didn't work as we pl??anned," said director Enric Álvarez. "Our vision is to see our game enjoyed by millions of users for years to come and putting all of the game's rich content into their hands for free is the way to realize it."

The studio says it will reward paying Raiders of the Broken Planet players with "exclusive" content for Spacelords. And in the lead up to the free-to-play shift this August, there are a couple o?f tweaks in place: "the free Mission of the Week becomes the Mission of the Day, accessible to all ?players. Similarly, the Gold price necessary for renting individual missions has been reduced significantly."

The launch of Spacelords will also bring out a new playable character named Valeria and the fourth campaign, ?Council Apocalypse, which is set to close? out the game's first story arc.

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Return to form?

I went into Metroid: Samus Returns with what can only be described as pure caution. With such a storied pedigree as a whole and given my personal history with the series, I wasn't su?re that Nintendo and MercurySteam could pull it off.

Alas, the new Metroid is good. It doesn't redefine the series or take as many risks as it should, but it gi??ves people what they've been wanting for what feels like eons.

Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)
Developer: MercurySteam, Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: September 15, 2017
MSRP: $39.99

Its nostalgic as hell intro that recaps the original Metroid with that classic overture theme helps set the mood as Samus heads to planet SR388 to eliminate the Metroid menace. Just like the original Metroid II for ??which this "Returns" moniker takes after, this is an extermi??nation mission, capped with stylish art (which sadly doesn't extend to the in-game engine), and hauntingly beautiful melodies. 

Some of this iconography is re-used, and that's fine, especially the core formula of hunting down Metroids one by one. Yes, that means repeat bosses as there are only a few Metroid evolutions, b??ut the arenas mix things up to the point where I was ne??ver frustrated fighting the same type twice. There's only one big encounter near the end I didn't like actually, and it wasn't even a Metroid.

To beat off the Metroid menace you'll be using the newly acquired Aeion powers, which bring a form of magic (complete with an MP meter) in the fray. Scan Pulse (which shows off hidden areas) is the first, followed by a shield, more powerful bullets, and a time-slower. All of these but the scanner can be useful in combat, and all four funnel back into exploration. Oh, you can still morph into a ball, stick to walls, shoot missiles, jump really high (with an upgrade), take teleporters around, replenish your ammo and health with the appropriate station -- all of that Metroid stuff.

Except this time it's coupled with a handy free aim feature (using the L button), and a melee system. You can hold your sigh in right now (I know you're doing it!), because MercurySteam did not turn this into a hack and slash, far from it. Instead the melee trick is actually a riposte counter, only used at certain points when foes (from regular trash to bosses) prepar??e to charge, christened by a gleam telegraph animation. This melee doesn't annoyingly pause the game, and the tells are challenging enough in terms of timing that it's always satisfying to get a counter off, even against the basest of baddies. It's a great compromise that keeps things honest without devolving into a melee-fes??t, as you don't even have to use it if you don't want to (I'd say I finished most, if not nearly all of the major fights without it).

You might want to though, because while getting around is easier with a perpetual map and a scanner power, enemies hit hard as hell. Even regular denizens, when entering a new area, can lop off half an E-Tank or more, and save points do not bring you back to full health. Occasionally you may even be in the position where you need to farm a bit of energy or head to a health station, and re-save, which might be a little too old school for some. Personally I like that health is a resource, and it's a design choice befitting of a Metroid game.

With that in mind it's easier to complete than Metroid II, which is both good in terms of besting some of its more archaic elements, and disappointing. The original gave off survival horror vibes because of how easy it was to get lost and how fierce everything is. Now, you only really have to worry about the latter, and only if you're not prepared -- something that was never really an option in the first as you could never truly anticipate what's around the corner. So that stings occasionally, and the engine doesn't look as good as it could. I'm not expecting Fusion-level spritework brilliance after a massive hiatus, but there were a lot of concessions made with Returns, I'll tell you that much.

The whole amiibo affair is going to be contentious to some, but I was able to ignore without feeling the need to get my pitchfork out and burn my cart. It's kind of confusing, as hard mode is a pure unlock after completion, but "Fusion Mode" (read: Very Hard) is tied to an amiibo (the actual Metroid, to be precise). Then there's a reserve E-Tank, a sound test mode, and a reserve Missile Tank tied to the new crouched Samus, Zero Suit, and standard Smash Samus amiibo respectively. I did not have access to the Metroid and crouched Samus figures, but I can say for sure that the other two don't add anything of worth other than pointless minor cheat codes. That's way more th?an I wanted to talk about when it comes to amiibo in a review in 2017, but it's a thing.

Maybe the next 2D Metroid will take more chances, but Returns is far better than I expected it to be. The faux magic system, while shallow, a??dds some panache to the action, as do th?e combat animations that work within the confines of the engine.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher. No amiibo were provided.]}

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Expect our review closer to launch

I'm not nearly as worried as I once was. I've been playing Samus: Metroid Returns, and although I'm fairly limited in what I can say about it, I can say that it's been an enjoyable trek so far.

Though I think it's a little more?? retro-minded than a lot?? of people are used to.

One huge thing that I noticed right away is how much damage enemies dish ??out. In many areas, even some of the initial zones before yo?u have E-Tanks, they can knock off half of Samus' life bar in seconds. A lot of this is predicated on failing the counter-attack mechanic, which is a new melee strike that lets Samus swat away enemies at certain intervals (usually a tell, like a gleam on the enemy character model). It's hard to get used to, especially if a foe is charging at you from off-screen, so you really need to get used to sound cues or constantly being aware of your surroundings.

Another big element that adds to the game's difficulty is the lack of health restoration when using a save point. While a lot of even old school games (some Metroid titles included) would give you full health at any given save point, you'll need to earn it through defeating enemies or by locating a health station throughout the game's overworld. There are concessions like checkpoint saves right before you enter a boss room or?? directly after you finish off a big bad, but frequently I w?ould find myself lost in lengthy gauntlets with no respite in sight.

And you know what, in an era of Super Guides (which have their proper place and time), that's actually kind of refreshing. Some will call it outdated game design, but of all action adventures, Metroid II is perfect for this type of mentality. The original felt like a survival horror title at points, and this 3DS re-imagining really nails the idea that Samus is completely alone, taking o??n the entire brunt of the Metroid menac??e.

Metroid: Samus Returns is shapi??ng up to be a whole lot better than I though it would be. Expect our full review shortly before launch.

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At least in this case

This past week I've been really thinking about what Metroid producer Yoshio Sakamoto had to say about the future of 2D Metroid. While you'd assume it would be one of the least risky ventures for Nintendo to handle in-house, they opted to go with MercurySteam for the 3DS-bound Samus Returns.

On paper, it all seems fine. Tasking third party studios with spinoffs and side projects is something Nintendo has been doing for years (and has worked out when studios are proven to produce results, like in the case of Sonic Mania), but this time, it's a little different. Sakomoto is hitching the entire future of 2D Metroid titles to Returns, and by proxy, a developer that has?? had issues? in the past.

All I have to ask in return is "why?"

You don't need to flip too bar back in the history books to see a p??otentia??l disaster scenario in waiting.

Castlevania was basically killed off with a one-two punch, delivered by MercurySteam itself. Not only did they produce the underwhelming Lords of Shadow 2 (which director Enric Alvarez even admitted they made mistakes with), but the uneven Mirror of Fate, a 2D game that was supposed to resurrect a franchise after long laying dormant -- sound familiar? Fast-forward three years later, and Nintendo has hitched its wagon to MercurySteam for the future of the 2D Metroid series. Now, as an overseer, Nintendo is a way better boss than Konami (plus Nintendo ??EPD i??s credited as a co-developer), but there's still plenty of cause for concern.

If this game bombs, either critically or commercially, Nintendo can just blame the series. They've done it once already with Team Ninja's Other M, citing low sales as a reason to ignore Metroid for a while. Now, I'm not suggesting that Nintendo unprofessionally throw these developers under the bus -- a reputable Japanese company wouldn't dream of doing that even if I did. But putting so much stock in them and then killing off (even temporarily) a storied series that internal Nintendo developers put their heart and souls into (again), isn't a good look. And for the record, Retro Studios handling Metroid Prime wa?sn't as big of a risk as you remember -- it was founded as a Nintendo partner and quickly eased into a first-party role.

I hope that Samus Returns lives up to the legacy of Metroid. While some spinoffs and 3D games have been uneven, the 2D portable line has been fairly rock solid for decades -- it deserves the full resources Nintendo has to offer. Or in this case, potentially a second chance. We'??ll see for ourselves when it arrives in mid-September. As always, I'm fine with being pleasantly surprise and having my fears be unfounded!

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Look at that spread

You can't always get what you want, but we are getting two Metroid titles -- one for 3DS, another for Switch -- and that m?akes me so very happy. I honestly wasn't expecting that news out of E3.

Metroid: Samus Returns is getting a collector's edition in North America that's about what you'd expect, but in?? Europe, Nintendo is going a step further. Or several steps further, I should say. Look at this!

I don't know who suggested making the case resemble a Game Boy cart, but?? good on yo?u.

[Via Go Nintendo]

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The surprise of E3?

Nintendo held their E3 Spotlight conference yesterday, which went off without a hitch in less than 30 minutes. But not many people expected so many reveals afterward from the Treehouse segment, much less a brand new 2D Metroid.

Alas MercurySteam (under the guidance of Nintendo) is working on a 2D remake of the second game titled Metroid: Samus Returns, which looks all sorts of wonderful. Let Yoshio Sakamoto explain the proje?ct better by way of this developer diary, where he takes the time to break down the new mechanics like the melee system.

I'm into it. Cautiously into it, granted, given MercurySteam's shoddy history (including that not so great 2D Castlevania), but t??his video does instill a little more confidence.

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A sci-fi action/shooter adventure

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow developer MercurySteam has been teasing a new project for a while now, leading to all sorts of wild speculation that it was going to take on another storied franchise (possibly Metal Gear!), but its next game is in fact a new property: Raiders of the Broken Planet.

Details are fairly light right now, but the studio is billing this self-published, digital-only PC, PS4, and Xbox One title as a "multiplayer online asymmetric adventure" with a mix of shooting, brawling, and strategy. According to producer Dave Cox, there will be a single-player campaign as well.

The titular broken planet is home to an ability-granting substance?? that has all of the galaxy's ne'er-do-wells warring to seize control and bec??ome powerful enough to rule space. Sounds familiar!

There are plans for "multiple" beta programs (sign-ups here) ahead of a full release this year. MercurySteam also notes that the "story-driven narrative will be delivered episodically, with each part selling at an extremely low and attractive price point." I don't know about all of that, and it's hard to get a true sense of this game from a few basic ??images, but I sure do like the look of the skeleton fellow.

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Out on March 25th

Although rumors have been floating around for a short while, Konami has officially confirmed the first DLC pack for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. It's called Revelations, and features? Alucard. The add-on takes place within the same world, but you'll follow Alucard's own tale, where it'll explain more on his relationship with Dracula and the overarching plo??t around them.

He has his own unique abilities, including those of the vampiric variety -- which allows him t?o turn into a wol??f, bats, or turn back time. Why Dracula couldn't have used these powers right away in the game proper is beyond me. Instead, we got rat Dracula.

It'll drop on March 25th, but no price has been given. Based on the previous game's campaigns though, you can expect somewhere around $9.??99.

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Ex-developers cast blame on MercurySteam's managment and culture

Well, this is awkward. Not only did Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 review fairly poorly across the board, now we??'re seeing former developers step into the light and call out Spanish development stud??io, MercurySteam, for poor management and an archaic, ego-driven internal culture.

In threads on NeoGAF, and on the fan forum Castlevania Dungeon, former developers talked openly abo?ut how constant changes and lack of communication led to employees coming into conflict with studio director Enric Alvarez and how many of the talent behind the game quit or were laid off throughout development.

Since their original postings, these anonymous complaints were confirmed and validated by other members of MercurySteam in an article from Spanish gaming site, VadeJuegos. In the original forum post, this anon?ymous developer wrote frankly about their experiences working on the game, even going as far as to saying that the game was not what they wanted to release, and how they anticipated the poor reactions from re??views.

"The vast majority of this team is aware that the game we've done is a real piece of shit that has nothing to do with the first one's quality and production values," the developer explained. "Nobody is surprised by the low reviews we've ??got."

One surprising detail was that the Art Director who worked on the original title, José Luis Vaello, resigned from MercurySteam sometime in the middle of development, moving to Tequila Works to work on its upcoming title Rime. This ?resignation was apparently not amica??ble, as the reasons behind his departure were due to conflicts internally.

As the NeoGAF thread grew with more information, more anonymous MS developers joined the discussion and corroborated many of the details shared originally. Another person went on to state that while the original game's art style was "awesome," the sequel's was that of "Frankenstein" quality. Which was in reference to the cha??nges in the art direction.

They went on to describe how poor communication and lack of guidance was the leading cause for the troubled production. Apparently, it was so poor, that many people on staff found out of about features added to the game from reading press articles. "There weren't a??ny meetings. We found out things lots of times by the press."

Moreover, m??any of the gameplay additions that some developers weren't happy about were added anyway. Such as the criticall?y panned stealth sequences. "Some of us said, 'But what is this? Are we really doing this? Why rats? Really?'"

Just recently, Enric Alverez of MercurySteam spoke with Eurogamer's Spanish affiliate about the poor press Lords of Shadow 2 has gotten. While he didn't comment on any of the recent reactions from former developers, he did express how many of the reactions from the media are without merit, and how most reviewers shouldn't be re??viewing? games in the first place.

It's not uncommon to read about drama behind the scenes in game development. However, it's always sad to read that people were struggling to make it work, while dealing with other issues throughout the development period. As a big Castlevania fan, I was really looking forward to Lords of Shadow 2, but I was pretty disappointed w??ith how it didn't reach my expectations.

With the NeoGAF thread still growing, and more developers coming i??nto the light, it's likely we'll still be hearing m?ore grievances soon.

What do you think, fans? Do you think that Lords of Shadow 2 was a letdown? And were you surprised to read about these sit?uations from former employees?

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 ?thread, MercurySteam vents [NeoGAF]
Enric Álvarez: "Esto que ha pa??sado es injusto" [Eurogamer]
Desvelamos los problemas de desarrollo?? de Castle?vania: Lords of Shadow 2 [VadeJuegos]

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Fangs for the memories

Lords of Shadow may not have been the Castlevania game everyone wanted, but I mostly enjoyed it for what it was, and that ending was to die for. It was the perfect segue into Lords of Shadow 2, which has been teased for nearly four years now as the return of Dracula -- the main man himself -- and a culmination of the Lords storyline.

Whether that wait was worth it or not hinges almost entirely on how much you enjoyed the first Shadow outing -- if it ha??d a few ext?ra problems added on top of it.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360 [reviewed])
Developer: MercurySteam
Publisher: Konami
Released: February 25, 2014
MSRP: $59.99

With all of the pieces in place, Lords of Shadow 2 really has a chance to bear its fangs and show us what the vampire of all vampires is really made of. But I can't help but feel like for the most part, this use of Dracula is a wasted opportunity. The gimmick here is that after many years, Dracula at long last has arisen in a modern-day setting, taken aback by the skyscrapers that tower over his once-great castle. If you haven't joined him on his adventures before, a quick 15-minute intro will sum up the first game and Mirror of Fate.

The story never really drops to the embarrassing levels of "Dracula 2: Vamp in the Big City," but it just feels so uninspired, an??d almost unfinished -- like the writers had a really good idea and had to fill in the gaps along the way. Patrick Stewart's always stellar voicework as frenemy Zobek attempts to save the day despite the script's best efforts, but the generic "Satan is coming, you must prepare" plotline is paper thin.

The problem is we never really have the chance to care about Dracula and his plight, because of so many side distractions tangential to the plot, and the fact that it takes forever for him to "power-up" to his full potential. You're also constantly reminded of areas that you "can't reach yet" by way of ??giant camera pans and on-screen text -- not exactly the most empowering of scenarios.

This is exacerbated by Drac's voice acto?r Robert Carlyle, who doesn't really bring his best to the table when playing the iconic character. It's definitely a big robe to fill, but I was expecting a little more emotion than what he eventually recorded and signed his name to.

One of the aforementioned distractions is the bizarre focus on stealth in many portions of the game. These sections are headlined by "Golgoths," denizens of Satan and essentially demonic cyborgs. In terms of the actual stealth part I'm not talki??ng mildly irritating concepts like "if enemies see you, they'll attack you on sight" -- I'm talking sometimes, it plays out as "if enemies see you, you fail the mission."

While I'm generally a huge stealth fan, I'm of the opinion that it has no place in a Castlevania game -- especially one that boasts the ability to play as the Count in all his glo?ry. Matters aren't helped by the fact that the all-powerful Dracula needs to navigate most of these sections as a rat. Yes, a rat.

Having said all that, Lords of Shadow 2 isn't a complete disaster -- not by a longshot. The vast majority of the game takes place in the heat of combat, which is a blast to play. In fact, it's improved this time around in Lords of Shadow 2. Dracula still has his trusty whip (cleverly explained by his power to harness his blood as a weapon, combined with his ?old Combat Cross training), and two other weapons at his disposal: the Void Sword and Chaos Cl??aws.

The sword leeches health when enemies are struck with it, and the claws break their defe??nses and shields. It's straightforward, but it serves as a nice design that encourages y??ou to use all three weapons in tandem with one another, rather than rely on your personal favorite. I know all too well of the temptation to rely on just one weapon type in action games, so kudos to the team for making them all viable.

Having said that, the way you need to power them up for use is a bit convoluted. You need to constantly strike at foes with your whip to earn "runes," and when your rune meter reaches maximum, you'll start earning magic orbs for your strikes, pressing in the left analog stick to "suck up" said orbs (kind of like Onimusha) and earn MP.

If you're hit at all, your meter goes down. There's no leeway here. While I personally like this system because i??t creates more tactical nuances (like deciding when to gather orbs) and places a higher emphasis on the dodge ability, most people will likely f??ind it annoying and cumbersome.

Speaking of the dodge, there's no invincibility frame on it. Most people don't even notice that in games like God of War, Kratos can't be damaged during a certain part of his roll -- they just chalk it up to skill. But her?e, Dracula can be hit basically at every moment outside of a well-timed block, and ev??en then almost every enemy in the game has some form of unblockable attack at their disposal.

As a result, combat can get heated. It's a good thing too, since the enemy models look and act formidable, and whe??n coupled with the top-notch combat system, it makes for a good action romp. Boss fights in particular exemplify this concept, and they're all wonderfully designed bot??h visually and conceptually.

If the entire game was a string of mild exploration elements and fights, I would have loved Lords of Shadow 2 a lot more than I did. In fact, if you could watch my face while playing it, you'd see my eyes would light up during most of the game's combat seque??nces, and then see me quickly let out a sigh of remorse during a particularly bad transition or over-tutorialized sequence. It doesn't help that the game is around 15 hours long, which wouldn't be a problem if it didn't have so ma?ny out-of-place elements.

It does help that there's an awesome challenge mode built into Lords of Shadow 2 that's similar to the old Devil May Cry trilogy's challenge rooms. You'll have specific goals in mind like "kill each successive enemy wi?thin a time limit," which will test the depths of your action skills. It's here that I found myself longing for all of the winded concepts to be scrapped in favor of more fun arcade-like bonuses such as this.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 could have either used significantly more development time, or significantly less. Either way you slice it, ideas that just have no place in the game could have either been expanded upon or pared down to ??the point where it ??doesn't feel like Dracula was wasted. The good news is action purists looking for a good time will have fun skipping past the story and laying waste to everything in their path -- once they're done doing rat quests, of course.

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Cheers to that

The demo for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 is no longer restricted to owners of Mirror of Fate HD and the Lords of Shadow Collection -- it's out today on PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, and Steam.

If you are sure you're going to get the game, I'd recommend skipping this as it covers an early tutorial section you won't want to go through again.? Otherwise, do check it out. Punching people into bloody explosions while riding on top of a towering automaton that's wrecking your castle serves as a cool introductory sequence. It may just be enou?gh to push you over the edge.

Gabriel also says the infamous line from the opening of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It's silly, but much of this game is as far as the 20-minute demo is concerned and there's nothing wrong with that. I do want to?? fight Satan and his minions as Dracula, thanks.

[Thanks, Emufan]

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Developer video sets the stage for Satan's return

Konami has released another developer diary video for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 where members of the team at MercurySteam describe their approach toward designing the modern city which now surrounds Dracula's castle. In the latter half of the video, attention is turned to the character of Satan and how he will have evolved from his prior appearance in Lords of Shadow.

The setting is my favorite aspect of this new Castlevania. The traditional, gothic elements are still present in the design and they appear to be blended well with the glass and concrete of ??our age. I've long wanted this franchise to experiment with modern periods, so I'm pretty pleased with how this is all looking.

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Trailer lists the talent

A new trailer featuring the principal players of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 emerged today, celebrating the cast of voice talent assembled for the final entry in the Lords of Shadow series. It's hard to go wrong with Robert Carlyle and Patrick Stewart, and the casting of Game of Thrones' ?Ric??hard Madden seems like a solid choice for Alucard.

The last third of the video presents some action-packed sequences, several of which suggest that no fight is complete without a slow-motion leap of some variety. While that may sound cynical, I'm quite excited to play Lords of Shadow 2, as the prospect of finally being able to play as Dracu??la is utterly irresistible. I consider it a scenario which demands epic aerial activity.

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