Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2

Hi all, For me, this game did not even start. When I start the game, the screen goes black, then it goes back to desktop and the exe stops. I have tried to reinstal the game, run as admin, full screen, not allow full screen, no browser open(yes they recommend this), run in compatability mode windows 7 and xp. Nothing seems to make this game run. To even contact them for support you need to export your system file and loads of work just to get an inital conversation going and that for me is more work than a 25 year old game is worth. This game could have been fun to play again but this platform and current version was terrible and a bad experience. Save yourself the trouble.

While this game is not completely worthless, it pales in comparison to the other games in the series from both a gameplay and storyline standpoint. Now, as others have mentioned, the reason for this is that it was developed by a different creative team. It shows. The gameplay is clunky and slow compared to its immediate predecessor, Soul Reaver 2. Many of the levels have glitchy instances, from minor instances of music suddenly being absent to major instances of being stuck in graphics, unable to open doors and proceed, and other issues resulting in having to shut the game off and reload. But the biggest grievance is the storyline and atmosphere. Although most Soul Reaver/Blood Omen games controls are tight, outside of the first and latest games in the series (Blood Omen and Defiance respectively) one would be hard pressed to that the battle controls are the highlight of the games. Fighting games, they are not. Blood Omen 2 fails to deliver the unique flavor of Soul Reaver. The vampires speak in faux-Anne Rice/ Dracula nonesense half the time, complete with bad English accented peasants in a sprawling "London" style town. The character design and visual aesthetic breaks with prior depictions of Nosgoth and feels cheap, trite, and hackneyed. Many of the antagonists are also ludicrously garbed in goth and bondage club gear with garter belt wearing warrior nuns making their first and thankfully only appearance in the BO/SR universe. The plot (The most essential aspect of any LoK game) is generally poorly written compared to the other games, with massive plot holes abounding. The boss fights, which some found a redeeming quality, are somewhat lackluster. These are not the Pillar Guardians of BO1 or monstrous vampire kin of Soul Reaver. Instead, we are provided with a bunch of fops that stepped right out of bad fanfiction to destroy. In so many ways, Blood Omen 2 fails to live up to the Legacy of Kain. The Good: The controls are tight and the levels, although lacking that particular Nosgoth flair, are large, sprawling, and undoubtedly epic. The Eternal Prison, Cathedral, and Sarafan Keep are quite entertaining. I highly recommend the Legacy of Kain series to any and all, but I cannot recommend this game unless one is a completionist. It has no relevance, whatsoever, to the rest of the series.

KAIN is THE character. A young vampire king, ready to prove his blood thirsty magnificence. Simply, a game that fo its time, invented the way of action games, puzzle and hack and slash. The music and the atmosphere are very gothic-steam punk fusion. Really wonderful and a good successor to his previous delivery. A pity that i can not add to my collection the first one, for rights issues.

Buggy, needed some patches, but the story is okay and the gameplay, pretty engaging. Had a problem with my controller tho, the game did not see it no matter how hard I tried.

Just watch the cutscenes on YouTube; it's not worth it at all, and there's a reason it's the black sheep of the series. Only play it if you truly want to, it's a waste of time.