The RPG drought on PlayStation is
long over and one of the most
interesting RPGs to quench your
thirst is Blood Omen: Legacy of
Kain. You play Kain, a nobleman
turned vampire, out to quell the evil
running rampant in your homeland
by dismembering, desanguinating,
and destroying your enemies.
The intense story you’re part of is
the best of many strong features in
the game. All of the villains have
unique histories that are integral to
the plot. Exposition is done
exclusively through uncommonly
good voice over. Enemies, peasants
and friends all have distinct voices
and Kain’s own interior monologue
is both gruesome and entertaining at
the same time. The effects and
atmospheric sound are also
extremely well done.
When not running around the
country side sucking blood, you can
use spells and tools like “putresce”
and “implode” to turn evil
henchmen into flesh shrapnel. You
can also change your form to
become a wolf, bat, or mist. Each
shape has its own use and
mastering the forms is integral to
reaching the end of your quest.
Controlling Kain is simple. D-pad
movement is quick and responsive
and all your spells and artifacts are
just a button or two away.
Unfortunately, there just aren’t
enough keys to load more than one
spell or artifact at once so you have
to stop the action to switch
inventory items.
Like all disc-based games, the load
time is agonizing. It’s not as bad as
the scene changes in Resident Evil,
but when you move from screen to
screen, there is a delay of a few
second as the map is loaded into
memory. Crystal Knights should be
credited, though, for making the
loads as unobtrusive as possible.
Most RPGs are good for one play
through and Blood Omen: Legacy
of Kain is no different. There are
minor variations based on decisions
you make, and the developers have
included temporarily inaccessible
areas to encourage you to “come
back” to them, but it’s mainly a one
shot title. On the upside, there’s
easily 50 to 70 hours of game play
here.
Overall, Blood Omen: Legacy of
Kain is a great RPG. If you enjoy
RPGs and you’re not playing
Suikoden right now, you should
definitely pick up Legacy of Kain.
By the time you finish, Final Fantasy
7 will be almost upon us.
SCORE: 8.0
