Preview: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Eidos Interactive Format: 2
Release Date: March 2001
By Erik Reckase
When Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver was released, it was immediately hailed as a technological achievement on the Playstation console. Although many PSX games suffer from “Long Load Syndrome,” Soul Reaver found the cure somewhere and presented a fantastic gaming experience with virtually zero loading times. Soul Reaver also featured smooth, lifelike character animation, a handful of puzzles, and a compelling storyline. The public rewarded Crystal Dynamics/Eidos for their efforts by purchasing over one million copies of Soul Reaver.
That is not to say that the game was perfect–for example, a few features discussed in the game’s instruction manual were not included in the final distribution of the game. There were also some plot inconsistencies, and of course, the “hidden” audio tracks on the game disk that detailed an ending very different from the standard one. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent playing Soul Reaver, and I have been looking forward to the sequel, Soul Reaver 2, for months. Eidos released a few tidbits about Soul Reaver 2 during E3–here are some highlights.
Story: In pursuit of Kain, our “hero” Raziel travels back through time into the dark past of Nosgoth. Your goal is to uncover Nosgoth’s mysteries and the cause of the vampire extinctions. If you are not familiar with the story, don’t worry! Soul Reaver did a great job of bringing you up to speed with the story during the introductory movie, so I expect that Soul Reaver 2 will also be given this treatment.
Atmosphere: The original Soul Reaver storyline, as well as the in-game environment, was very gothic, down to the 18th-Century costumes worn by the human characters encountered by Raziel. Soul Reaver 2 will have the same foreboding gloom, with additional enemies (inquisitorial Sarafan warrior priests and malevolent demons from a parallel dimension will be keeping you company) and additional new abilities, weapons, and spells.
Techno-features: The successful “continuous data streaming” architecture, allowing zero load times during game play, will be retained from the original Soul Reaver. As well, Soul Reaver 2 will keep what I consider to be one of the niftiest gimmicks in the last five years of gaming: the ability to play on both the material plane and the spectral plane. Having trouble getting where you want to go? Switch planes and watch the architecture twist and morph into a new path. Enemy a little harder than you thought? Switch planes and you’ve got a new lease on life. It takes a little getting used to, but it’s a great feature.
Platform: Much of the discussion surrounding Soul Reaver 2 has been with respect to the release platforms. Originally, Soul Reaver 2 was to be released on the Playstation, but with the new features of the Playstation 2 generating considerable interest, the development team switched platforms in mid-stride. Soul Reaver 2 will also be released on the PC and Dreamcast platforms.
For more information, visit the Eidos web site. (Currently, there is only sketchy information on their E3 page, but as the release date approaches, there will inevitably be more information on the main site.)
