It’s like the story of Cain and Abel… only its Kain and Raziel
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is the follow up to Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. Following a similar third-person action style, it builds on the first game’s concepts adding new powers and a brilliant extra dimensional element.
A tale of revenge
Set year after the first game’s events, humanity has been all but wiped out and Kain rules over the Vampires in Nosgoth. Selecting five lieutenants to help him rule over the lands, the vampire overlord’s rule is absolute.
In Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver you play the part of one of these lieutenants, called Raziel. In the ages of vampire rule, the immortal beings slowly began evolving. Kain was always the first to gain these powers until, one day, you sprout wings before him. Enraged and jealous, Kain confronts you. Ripping off your new wings and your jaw, the vampire ruler casts your broken body into the Lake of the Dead.
A millennium passes, and Raziel lays forgotten until The Elder God resurrects you to kill Kain. He makes you a Soul Reaver – an eater of souls.
Land of the dead
What follows is a fantastical adventure that has you able to warp between the land of the living and dead as you hunt down the one who wronged you.
This third-person action is slick, as Raziel uses all of his skills and abilities to solve environmental puzzles and defeat the monstrous evils that stand between him and vengeance. You must make use of his broken wings to glide, his hand to hand combat skills – which include a glowing blade that sprouts from his arm, and the various other abilities you earn as you progress.
But perhaps the most standout element is how the world shifts as you move between the real and spirit world. Differences between the two environments are slight, but the spirit areas are subtly twists and warped, making traversal different to access new areas and creating different dangers to overcome.
Still a unique idea
Despite some mechanical elements dating Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, its story and the ability to move between the spirit and real worlds ensure that there is still a lot here to keep the game interesting. Old, but still well worth a look.
