Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
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 The legend tells that the first SOUL REAVER was a delayed game, and that it was ultimately released by pressure of Eidos (the publisher) when it wasn't yet completed. Crystal Dynamics decided to cut the game in half, giving us an open —WIDE open— ending. This got some people pretty angered, since after all those hours of kick-ass gameplay, and right when the plot would begin to unfold, they met a dissapointing 'to be continued'.Someone even said (and very accuratedly) that the game doesn't end, it just stops. However, looking back I feel that Crystal Dynamics made the right decision. Not only the already awesome SOUL REAVER has an amazing continuation in a technically beautiful full DirectX 8 compliant game (more on that in a minute), but also both games are rock-solid rounded up products. Watching as how other developer groups decided to face thier publisher's deadlines pressures —namely, Core Desing with TRAOD— one has to admit that Crystal Dynamics made the right choice. I prefer two good half-games before one big insanely buggy piece of software crap. Plot-wise, the first game sets us in the land of Nosgoth, thousands of years after the vampire Kain destroyed the remains of the Circle of Nine, wiped out the Sarafan armies, and established himself as an emperor. We knew the story of Raziel, firstborn of Kain's lieutenants, who has been punished for developing wings before his master, and cast into the abyss. Raziel was resurrected right before his body would be completely decomposed, and given the mission to kill Kain and his vampires, in order to free their undead souls and bring back the balance to the Wheel of Fate. This would of course also grant him the possibility of taking revenge against his former master and brethren. His old vampiric skills and blood thirst have been replaced with new skills —among which count the ability to shift between the material world and the spiritual realm at will— and the hunger for souls. Raziel would take down one by one his old brothers, and finally meet Kain in a time-streaming chamber, a place from which one could travel to whatever time he wants. After a short-lived fight, Kain will exit through a time portal with a mysterious sentence: 'this is not where, or how, it ends...' Raziel follows him into the past, meeting on the other side one of the Nine Guardians of the Pillars of Nosgoth, Moebius, the Time Streamer, who would adress to Raziel as 'destroyer, redeemer, pawn, and messiah' and greet him welcome to his 'destiny'. And thus, Soul Reaver 2 begins. Soul Reaver 2 is slightly different from the first game in several ways. First, the time portal Raziel passed through following Kain, took him thousands of years before the first game, to a time when the forest were still green, the waters were transparent, the sky was blue, and the world vibrated animated with life. The Nine Pillars were still standing in all their majesty and purity, and the armies of Moebius were following the Sarafan tradition in a successful hunting of the 'undead scourge' that the vampires represented. However, things are just about to get ugly, since Raziel arrives the same day that Ariel, Guardian of the Pillar of Balance, was murdered. The day that the Circle of Nine started decaying with madness, and the very day that Kain is born to human life. Soul Reaver 2 will show a very calmed Kain that might not be the foul villain we thought; an intriguing Moebius that seems to have some hidden agenda in which he involves Raziel; a much less-powerful-looking Elder God about whose true part in all the drama there will start rising doubts; a much more mature and wise Raziel who will learn that nothing is what it seems, and will have to embark in a long journey to the past, the future, and even further into the past, in order to unravel his very important part in Nosgoth's destiny, daring to question everyone who has crossed in his path like he never did before; and LOTS —LOTS— of amazing plot twists. Along this second part of his journey Raziel will also meet a few other important characters like the old vampire Vorador from BLOOD OMEN and the legendary —and even older— Janos Auldron. As always in the series, the storyline is so complex and FULL of events, that you can rest assured that you won't walk more than 5 minutes before you found another important piece of the puzzle. The game is technically gorgeous. I love when a game takes full advantage of the API in which it's based, and Soul Reaver 2 is a lesson on how to implement the DirectX 8. Impressive poly count, huge environments, beautiful lighting effects, high resolution textures... you name it, it's all there. There are lots of in-game-graphics cutscenes, in which the expressions of the characters when talking are nothing short of impressive, they count among the most lifelike I've seen in any game so far. This is specially true in the case of the dramatic Moebius, and maybe even more in Raziel. In case you don't know, Raziel only has half a face (an almost-skinless half skull in fact), and it's hidden by a cape, leaving only his eyes uncovered. Nevertheless, they managed to make those eyes so expressive that Raziel takes a life in his dialogues like you wouldn't imagine. Comparing this to other games (like the awfully inexpressive characters of AITD4 who wouldn't even move their lips, and even the technically higly-hyped SPLINTER CELL), this crowns Crystal Dynamics as a master in the field. There are thousands of small details to pay attention that show how incredibly much the developers cared about the atmosphere, specially in the beautiful all-living forests of Nosgoth's past. The scene when Raziel comes out of the Sarafan stronghold and sees this land in all its beauty for the first time, is just breathtaking, and it just HAS to be seen. The list goes on and on, there are 'great small things' all over the place. When Raziel steps with one foot higher than the other, like in a staircase, his legs will actually position themselves according to the height difference. Weather-wise, we have just everything: fog, sunshine, nocturnal storm, snow; actor-wise, we have birds, fish, insects... The character graphics are magnificent. Not only the poly count takes full advantage of the DirectX 8 hardware and the textures are as detailed as it gets, but the design of the creatures is way better than it was in the first game. Of course, there is not much to be done about the human enemies —who are by the way most of the population of the game, unlike the first game, where they were almost all vampires— but at a point of the game there will start to appear some demons, which are really scary, starting with their HUGE size, the ferocious appearance, their fighting skills, and at a point they start talking with a menacing and disturbing voice. Download
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