A Belmont without a whip? Say it ain't so...
But alas, it is. When Gabriel emerged from the events of Lords of Shadow re...or...un-christened, as Dracula, he left all vestiges of his time as a Belmont behind, including the trademark weapon of the family, the Vampire Killer whip. As the Prince of Darkness, his newfound powers mean he can draw on any number of new weapons, and is no longer limited to doing his best Indiana Jones impression. One such new weapon is the Void Sword.
First seen in the handheld Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, the Void Sword is the first weapon that Konami is giving gamers a look at in some new footage. It's one of the earlier weapons gamers will find in Lords of Shadow 2, and it's a doozy. Most vampires get their sustenance from a quick bite of whatever with a heartbeat happens to be nearby, but with the Void Sword, Gabriel can swing and slash away, and the Void Sword does the work for him, sucking enemies' health and passing it right on to the sword's wielder.
While Belmonts are indeed known for their signature skill in whip cracking, remember that Gabriel was trained as a knight in the Brotherhood of Light, and has familiarity with a large array of weaponry (and a few centuries of practice surely doesn't hurt either). As such, 'ol Drac wields the Void Sword just as well as he did the whip. Check out his sword skills in the trailer below.
The Void Sword is just one of the new weapons Dracula has. He'll also pummel foes with gloves that utilize another source of Dracula's magic, the Chaos Claws, which function similarly to the Dark Gauntlets from the first Lords of Shadow. And while the whip itself is in the hands of another Belmont, Drac's lion-taming skills are still present, and he'll use them swinging around the Shadow Whip. Expect closer looks at those weapons, as well as Drac's other abilities, in future videos.
The Castlevania franchise has been around for close to 30 years now, but this will be the first time in its history that players will actually take on the role of Dracula, an icon of horror since Bram Stoker first penned the eponymous novel at the end of the 19th century. The game will also be one of the first to really show how the vamper interacts with the modern day world, instead of an obscure and distant Belmont ancestor flailing back and forth in a 2D castle.
Not much is known about the story so far, but since trailers seems to acknowledge the first game's ending, it's assumed that Zobek has indeed warned "Gabriel" that the acolytes of Satan are preparing for his return and that the two of them must the demon lord before he can take revenge on both of them. Zobek has promised Dracula that he can free him of his immortality if he helps him, likely at the hand of one of the vampire's own ancestors. The Mirror of Fate handheld game helped fill in a few gaps here and there. The game was also ported to consoles, so you might want to give it a whirl to catch up on the storyline.
According to Cox, the game will end the short but sweet Shadow saga. With it, Konami and company are "looking to provide series fans yet another nail biter, complete with Dracula's resurrection and the Belmont clan's desire for his final destruction."
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 will be released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows PC on February 25.
