14 DAY TRIAL // 
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow seemed like a pretty good 3D entry in Konami's action adventure series and, in order to please old fans who were looking for another 2D experience, the Japanese publisher tasked Spanish developer MercurySteam with creating a new title, in the form of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate for the Nintendo 3DS.
After that, the studio worked on Lords of Shadow 2, which appeared earlier this year, but also on a high definition remake of Mirror of Fate. That title appeared on PS3 and Xbox 360 last year and has now reached the PC platform.
Does this 2D Castlevania game manage to evoke the glory days of the series or should we stick to Lords of Shadow, despite their iffy quality? Let's find out.
The narrative is delivered through stylized cutscenes of a pretty good quality, but the general animations, acting, or dialog aren't that impressive. Even so, it gets the point across and should offer a bit of insight into the lives of Trevor and Simon, as Gabriel is already the main protagonist of Lords of Shadow 1 and 2.
In terms of gameplay, the title is a side-scrolling hack-and-slash title that's clearly reminiscent of older Castlevania games like Symphony of the Night, incorporating not just a simple side-scrolling environment but also a pretty good exploration system that's marred by a not-so-helpful map system.
Unfortunately, due to the rather limited animation system, you never really believe you can make the jumps required by the game and paths that force you to drop from ledges aren't always visible, so you might end up missing plenty of areas because you didn't see the glimmer hint.
There are also many areas that require items you unlock further in the game and, while the title does have a system that allows you to pin notes on the map, so that you know to return, it's still a bit aggravating to see whole areas that you can't reach.
All the Belmonts have variations on the classic Combat Cross mechanic, such as whips, but they all feel mostly the same, and borrow a lot from the system seen in Lords of Shadow. You have regular and area of effect attacks, and you can block certain enemy moves while rolling out of the way of those unblockable attacks.
There are a few RPG mechanics in the hack-and-slash game, as you need to progress through the ranks in order to unlock more moves. As you play you also get access to different magic abilities, such as a ghostly spirit that automatically blocks enemy attacks and shields you from harmful environment hazards.
Enemies' are relatively varied, but they all follow mostly the same patterns. There's still the cheap nature of their attacks, as they can easily go after the player while you're stuck in a combat animation, inflicting quite a bit of damage. Boss encounters are designed pretty well, but they don't stand out all that much. If you like them, you can replay them through a special Boss Rush mode that's unlocked after finishing the campaign.
The visuals, while certainly remastered from the 3DS edition of the game, aren't that impressive and the colors during actual gameplay are faded and washed out. The animations are choppy, but the character models do look relatively nice.
The soundtrack has some classic medieval fantasy tunes, but it doesn't stand out all that much. Voice acting is good, but the somewhat clumsy dialog can't be redeemed.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate HD is a pretty good game that will definitely delight fans of the old franchise who are looking for a side-scrolling experience. Unfortunately, a few gameplay problems and the lackluster visuals weigh it down and keep it from becoming a truly great game.
