Gamescom 2011

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow reigning Oct. 5

Tom Magrino
By Tom Magrino

Konami and Mercury Steam's 3D action adventure following storied Belmont family arrives on 360, PS3 in less than two months.

Gamescom 2010 has had its share of high-profile release-date announcements, with the likes of Valve's Portal 2 picking up a February 9 deadline and BioWare's Dragon Age 2 being pegged to March 8. Now, one more high-profile title has been dated as part of this year's event in Cologne, Germany, as Konami has confirmed for GameSpot that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow will arrive in the US on October 5.

Gabriel Belmont is a known Halloween party pooper.

Gabriel Belmont is a known Halloween party pooper.

First teased in March 2008 and formally announced during the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is in development for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Madrid, Spain-based Mercury Steam is spearheading development, with Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima and his Kojima Productions studio serving as support. Mercury Steam's other work includes Clive Barker's Jericho and American McGee's Scrapland.

As for the game, Lords of Shadow is set in the year 1047 and follows a new member of the Belmont clan, Gabriel, who is a member of the Brotherhood of Light. Gabriel's adventure involves roaming the land in pursuit of pieces of an artifact that can bring the dead back to life, in the process battling nefarious underworld creatures and other mythical monsters and beasts.

Beyond its free-roaming environments, the game features combat that recalls Sony's acclaimed God of War franchise, in addition to a variety of environmental puzzle challenges.

For more information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

Tom Magrino
By Tom Magrino

Tom Magrino has covered the games industry since 2006. He's been compared to Steve Martin by Ozzy Osbourne and Daniel Craig by Tim Schafer. His voice, heard largely on GameSpot's podcast, recalls that of Kermit the Frog. It ain't easy bein' Magreen.

168 Comments

  • luxus99

    Posted Sep 26, 2010 9:15 pm GMT

    I just hope that this game can really live to the expectations. I have been waiting for a castlevania 3D game for about a decade now. I'm really excited if all these year have finally paid of. Let's just hope it's not as bad as the last castlevania game that came out on PS2 seven years ago.

  • basilisk100

    Posted Sep 2, 2010 3:43 pm GMT

    This game will be greater than GOW. Just watch and and see. I am a die hard fan of God of War..believe me!!! but that crappy ten hours game Stig directed, really disappointed me. Castlevania is a great game since day one and I am sure it's going to deliver and players will be more satisfied with the game play and game length upon completion.

  • redlightstudios

    Posted Aug 25, 2010 3:42 pm GMT

    looks pretty sick so far. can't wait

  • DbzJohno

    Posted Aug 25, 2010 12:39 pm GMT

    I hate it when critics put down a game when the game has similarities to God Of War. They did that with Dante's Inferno and it got a bad review. This Castlevania Game looks really good. If It Plays like a GOW game than so what. I'm still going to get this game. Castlevania has a good number of games and this is going to be one of them.

  • mrouzi

    Posted Aug 24, 2010 6:53 am GMT

    God of war rules for ever! But this game looks quite intressting as well. Sure...im going to try this one too!!!

  • Astynax15

    Posted Aug 22, 2010 10:09 pm GMT

    if you ever played the old 3d castlevania games they played like god of war before god of war existed, as did many games before that, god of war plays like the millions of 3d platforming hack and slash games before it, so who cares... i give no credit to god of war where no credit is due. God of war took elements that had been out there for years and put them together to make a solid game with a riveting story, but it was far from new and revolutionary. This game looks to be doing the same thing and i applaud them for it.

  • MagusIM

    Posted Aug 22, 2010 8:33 pm GMT

    @JangoF-76 I agree. Its like saying God of War was a rip off of Mario 64 because they are both 3rd person 3D platformer format. What exactly could they possible do to make a 3D Castlevania game that was not in the same sort of style as God of War? FPM (first person Melee) is not nearly as fun as seeing the action from 3rd person especially with a character story driven game like this.

  • niklev83

    Posted Aug 22, 2010 3:56 pm GMT

    Looks like God of War but seems WAY more interesting !!! Will get game day one !!!

  • JangoF-76

    Posted Aug 22, 2010 8:56 am GMT

    SO sick of hearing people whine because a game has taken inspiration from elements of another highly successful game (God Of War). ALL games take inspiration from other games, just like movies and music and books and pretty much any other form of entertainment and art. There is a huge difference between 'inspired by' and 'ripped-off from'...

    This game looks wicked, and if it's being compared to God of War I take that as a good sign.

  • Resistance54 posted Aug 22, 2010 6:51 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Resistance54

    Posted Aug 22, 2010 6:51 am GMT (hide)

    tack another one on to the God of War rip offs list....still getting it but just throwin it out there

  • Uberpeber

    Posted Aug 22, 2010 12:40 am GMT

    Preorder-->

  • Coolyfett

    Posted Aug 21, 2010 6:42 pm GMT

    This seems like it will turn out ok, nice to see they are still making these games.

  • DredWulf

    Posted Aug 21, 2010 3:47 pm GMT

    Well as long as it's got Dracula I am sold. Though I keep looking and reading all over. The Main Villian's Voice Actor is Jason Isaacs and his role is unknown I think they are keeping Dracula a secret, it's not Castlevania without the series villian

  • rockwii13

    Posted Aug 21, 2010 9:31 am GMT

    Looks cool.

  • Eurodex

    Posted Aug 21, 2010 8:27 am GMT

    hope we hear some organs & such, the music might be good, but it's a bit hard to tell if they've gone for a walt disney style which will hurt the feel a bit :/
    Dark, detailed, classy & majestic is what i want to hear.

    The whip covering the whole screen looks kind of lame to me, i'm not sure what kind of expectations to have for this game, i don't remmember castlevania 64 too well. (the first 3d castlevania). We'll see I guess...

  • Bad_Medicine

    Posted Aug 21, 2010 7:02 am GMT

    Will Alucard be in this do you think?

  • AzelKosMos

    Posted Aug 21, 2010 6:46 am GMT

    Pre-ordered. Game looks amazing.

  • True_Chaos_UK

    Posted Aug 21, 2010 3:24 am GMT

    Belmontastic!

  • DEATH775

    Posted Aug 21, 2010 1:20 am GMT

    I really can't wait for this game

  • Waranabatokwa

    Posted Aug 21, 2010 12:46 am GMT

    i hope the similarities with GoW isn't like that of dante's inferno..